what colors are working best for yall normal blacks, greens and browns or shad colors I bought alot of wild color senkos before I found the same natural colors a were best for me. Chart.and white caught me way better than it did fish and do the smaller 3 inch ika work as well .

Gotcha. "Fat Ika".

Honestly, I haven't discovered a consistent new worm setup in well over a year. I just get so used to using what I already know. But it would be nice to add another rig to my arsenal.

What has sold me so far is the "rigged skirt up" part. I like that trick.

I like dark colors: 194J, 208, 297.

This has been my #1 lure for largemouth over 5 lbs for the past two years.

The difference between the Fat and regular Ika against the Flying Lure is that you don 't have to purchase any "special" Flying Lure Kit, nor special jigheads nor special spare baits, Ikas are readily available anywhere, oh well, almost anywhere; besides the Flying Lure only swims away from you if you let it fall on a slack line, otherwise it doesn 't swim away from you. The only problem with the Fat Ika is that the bait is pretty beefy so you need a good wide gap hook or when you try to make the hookset you hook nothing.

The Ika is indeed a Magic Bait : : :

For lunch today, I went by my local bait shop (bitter's bait and tackle). I wasn't too surprised to see that he didn't carry the Fat Ika.

When I got back to work, I checked Bass Pro Shops on-line to see if they have it. I live in Orlando and figured I'd just stop by later this week. But they don't offer it either.

So it looks as though I'm going to have to order them on-line if I want any Ika's.   >

Ok, after a little bit of net surfing, I've found the following:

Gary Yamamoto Fat Boy Ika

Gary Yamamoto Ika

Gary Yamamoto Tiny Ika

I take it yall were referring to Yamamoto's "fat boy ika".... ?  :-?

4" Fat Boy Ika

In all their literature, Yamamoto refers to the lure as the Fat Ika, but I see on their website it is actually called a Fat Boy Ika (92F-10). You can order them direct. My suggested colors are 194J, 208 & 297, but there are many others to choose from.

Thanks for your help.

So, is that where you buy em too? On-line?

When I went by the baitshop today to ask if they sold a worm called a Fat Ika, Mr. witty baitshop dude replied,

"A what? A Fat Ika!?!?!? Uhhh yeah! I got yer Fat Ika right here!!! If you want you can meet me out back and I'll let you hold it!"

Everyone's a comedian.  :

;D

I buy most of my GYCB direct, they obviously have the best selection, but you don't save any money!

I ordered some Fat Ikas this morning along with the regular MegaStrike, the GYCB Crawfish MegaStrike and some Gamakatsu 4/0 EWG hooks. Here fishy, fishy!

Interesting information. I am going to order some Fat Ikas. RW, I know you mentioned the darker colors but have you tried any of the lighter ones. Exactly what is the Fat Ika supposed to immitate?

A crawdad.

No, but that doesn't mean anything. I ONLY fish dark and/or natural colors. Maybe all the other colors work, I just don't fish them.

how would you rig and fish it in 6-7' weeded more open water? Would you still use it skirt up? Sounds like you would kind of fish it like a senko, right?

You may want to wait until the water warms up a little, depending on where you live. Rember this is a weightless presentation in water <12' deep. So,  if your bass aren't there yet, you can't catch 'em!

Gobble- Practice makes perfect.

RW,

Do you use the Fat Ika for smallies? If yes, do you fish it the same way as you do for LM.

Thanks,

Bugman

I'm pretty sure he does.

Very interesting read RW

Spurred by your previous endorsment of the Fat Ika, my cabela order has arrived last week.

If I didn't have to go to Jersey on business, Mr. Ika would have been put to the test by now.

I'm looking forward to rigging them 'skirt-forward' and backing them into the veggies

Roger

darn, it's so easy to sell you guys on new baits...magic baits....gotta love it!! ;D

bugman,

The Fat Ika is very productive for smallmouth, too.  In still water, like on a lake I have had some success, but I generally fish deeper for smallmouth. I have not used it extensively in strong current, again, I ususally fish deeper water and this lure will not fall fast enough to get down deep in moving water without weight. I don't use weights with the Fat Ika becaus the "magic" is created by the slow fall and weight would have a big impact on the action. It might work, I just haven't tried it weighted.  

Thanks RW

I plan on giving the "magic lure" a try on some of Lake Erie's shallow bays this spring. Ill let you know how it worked.

Bugman

The Fat Ika has been my go to bait since RW talked about them last year.  I also think you get a better ratio of hook sets that you do with a senko, just because they inhale the IKA and sometimes the senko is picked up by the tail only.  The other thing is that they really don't let that thing go.  I also rig them skirt up with a 3/0 or 4/0 red ewg gammie.  They are a little tricky to rig at first and like all Yamamoto baits the break apart very easily.  I always carry lock tite from walmart and you can repair a small tear pretty quickly and get it right back in the water.  Lastly you can throw them a mile un weighted.

Man...the more I hear about these the more I wanna try 'em out. I have the Gammie hooks already and the pics of how they are rigged. Does anyone happen to know where there may be an animated or step by step pics of how to rig them both ways? Also, what situation would you use the forwards rig in and what situations for the backwards rig? I know the colors recommended were 194J, 208, 297, but is therea website that shows what colors these are?