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The Fat Ika's football-shaped body is a good mimic of a juvenile shad or small bluegill. It casts like a bullet, sinks quickly and it's loaded with salt using a patented process.

The Fat Ika is similar in shape and weight to a small fat-bodied crankbait. Unlike a crankbait however, the Fat Ika can be rigged weedless and snagless. The Fat Ika weighs over 3/8 oz. by itself - and almost 1/2 oz. with a 4/0 Gamakatsu Super Line hook (64 series) in it, which is what I like to use, says Internet bass fishing celebrity, Russ Bassdozer. I like the heaviness of the Super Line hook with a heavy rod and stout line. A Gamakatsu 4/0 EWG (63 series) can also work well on a more moderate action rod. Keep in mind, not all hook models are the same size. A 4/0 is not always the same size as another 4/0 model. So, you want the longest, widest hook you can rig it.

"On the hookset, because it is so fat, you cannot bang-set on them with this bait," says Russ. A fast power set will only take the bait away from the bass, probably ripping up the Fat Ika in the process. When a fish has got the Fat Ika, it will usually turn and move away with it. If not, a little rod tip pressure - putting a little load on the rod tip - will get the bass moving off with its meal. A stiff rod is needed, but not a stiff tip. The soft tip develops tension pressure as the fish moves off and the line tightens, loading the tip, pushing the bait down from the barb, exposing the hook point which catches behind the lip bone or in the corner of the mouth before the bait pops out. Don't worry, the bass will have its lips pursed down and its mouth cavity depressed to prevent the bait from squirming out. When you sense that happening, you set using the power in the stiffness of the rest of the rod to drive the hook home. All this happens in a slow-motion instant. I think the above is a good way to describe it - hard to put into words - but easy to get the knack once you experience doing it.

As for fishing tactics, I mostly use it as a drop bait, deadsticking it just like a Senko which gives the Fat Ika a horizontal fall like an injured sinking baitfish, says Bassdozer. As it sinks, it exhibits the subtlest quivering action and an unpredictable little soft shoe shuffling step every so often. As it falls, that built-in side to side sashay is all a bass needs to see some days. Other times, it can require skillful rod english by the angler to create an underwater "walk-the-dog" action. Take time to learn how to do this, and stick to it. Just walk the Fat Ika up to the crown of an underwater bush or tree, then kill the action to let it sashay down through the limbs. A big key is most bites come when the Fat Ika is falling.

And unlike most guys, don't overlook the deeper 10 to 20 foot zone with the weightless Fat Ika.  With a hook, it weighs 1/2 oz and sinks quickly into this often overlooked deeper zone.

Here's more of what Inside Line magazine writer Cap'n Jack Duggins says about his success on smallies in Maine with the Fat Ika: "While most folks like to downsize lures for smallies, I like to use bigger baits. I do catch some largemouths but if I am targeting bronzebacks, I usually get bigger fish. The Fat Ika is not really a huge bait, but it's big enough, and it it is the size of the local crawfish up in Maine. Smallies jump on them. I use the 92F (Fat Ika) with a # 4 Yamamoto Split Shot hook, inserted into the end with the skirt. The slower you fish these baits, the better the bite seems to be. I think the fish like the slow fall and they just pick them up and swim off. Just remember not to set the hook on the Split Shot hook! A slow rod sweep once the line comes tight to the fish will do it."

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