Inchiku lures catch fish

Inchikus have been the most productive and popular snapper bottom-fishing lures for the past three summer seasons, and they are here to stay.

Inchikus are Japanese-inspired, small, 15-240g, finger-sized, weighted, lures, rigged with a free swinging octopus skirt with chemically sharpened assist hooks.

They are best fished on light braid (10-15lb) and basically bumped on the sea floor, while drifting. Hooks should be light. The “knock off ” heavy-hook inchikus reduce the hook-up rate when fish are finicky, and also tangle about the main line on the drop.

Inchikus are not so much retrieved from the sea floor as raised, in a stutter-motion. Or if the fishing is slow, dragged along the sea floor. Fish often inspect lures with their mouths even if they are not feeding, so if you detect a tug on an inchiku, don’t strike because the sharp hooks will do the job. The hooks are light, so a drag rating of about 3-4kg is ample.

The reward for having to use light hooks and light drag settings, is the hook ups during tough times. Colours are more important in the shallows (8-50m). Glow, blue, and green lures work best in the 40m plus range as most other colours dissipate at depth.

The list of what inchikus won’t catch is small. I’ve seen bonito, gurnard, John dory, mackerel and snapper after snapper, up to 16lb, caught in all conditions.

Inchikus are almost the silver bullet of fishing. They last all day, give you more, easier, lure movement and increased contact time on the sea floor: which equals more fish catching.