[Lure] [Review] Yamamoto Fat Ika

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 I found that Gary Yamamoto Fat Ika has big followers in the Japanese Bass anglers' community. Many say it's the best Bass Fishing Lure that could be better than Senko. 

 I did not believe in it since I was a huge fan of Senko. Better than Senko? No way. But one day, I decided to give it a shot. At that time, I was into jigs (rubber Jigs). My main field was a rocky shallow area easy to get snagged. I lost many jigs and it was so frustrating. Then suddenly one idea came up in my mind. "Oh, Gary Yamamoto Fat Ika looks like a rubber jig! If I'm using it with a nail sinker and an offset hook, it would be way less snag than jigs!".

 I opened the laptop and order it on TackleWarehouse. In a couple of days, it was delivered. 

 The result was... amazing.


Waki's recommendation.

Back-slide setting:

 Fat Ika has a bulky body made of a salty Gary Material. It's enough heavy to cast using Baitcaster. And it has skirts with many tentacles. 
 I set an offset hook from the skirt side. Reverse Rigging. We call it the "Back-slide setting" in Japan.

 This setup is very popular in Japan. I guess many anglers use only this rig for Fat Ika. I am one of them. 

 When I want to have a faster falling down speed, I would put a nail weight in the head. 1/64oz to 1/16oz.


How to fish?

 When we fish a cover, let's pinpoint cast it close to the honey spot. Then get it free-fall. Give enough line slack. With a Back-slide setting, the Ika is sliding down into the cover. Once the lure touchdown the bottom, stay for secs. If nothing happens, then lift it up and fall it down again. After 2 to 3 times doing it, let's retrieve and hit another honey spot. Yeah, as same as Texas rig.

 When we fish open-water, slow dragging on the bottom also works fine. 

 I put all my knowledge into this video. Please check this out!

 Fat Ika tutorial video by Anger Waki :)

 In Japan, the company Smith publishing Fat Ika with Gary Yamoto International. It has a wide range of color variations but is very expensive. Twice expensive than it's in the U.S, You can see how many colors we have in Japan here. (Smith web page).



 Thank you!
 Angler Waki.

Location: California, USA

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