HINOTSU - REAL IKA SQUID SINKER WITH CLOTH 95g/115g/150g/173g SQUID FISHING

Hinotsu Real Ika Squid Sinker With Cloth 95g / 115g / 150g / 173g

The Real Ika sits between the two squid jigs it shares a tackle box with. A bare metal lead sinks hard and gives the rig rhythm but offers a squid nothing soft to hold; a light cloth sutte looks and feels right but will not reach depth in current. This one is a weighted sinker dressed in a textured cloth body, so it goes down like a lead jig and, once it is there, behaves like an egi — something a squid wraps its arms around and keeps hold of instead of testing once and letting go. Balanced internal weight keeps it descending steadily in a horizontal posture, the cloth carries 3D eyes and flexible skirt strands that keep moving on the pause, and UV-reactive and luminous elements hold visibility in deep or dark water. Double-layer stainless crown hooks give two rows of contact points. Four weights, seven colours.

Key Features

• Weighted body with a textured cloth wrap — the sink rate of a lead jig with the feel of a sutte
• Balanced internal weight for a stable descent and a horizontal posture on the drop
• Double-layer stainless-steel crown hooks — two rows of sharp contact points
• UV-reactive and luminous details for low light and depth
• 3D eyes and flexible skirt strands that keep working during the pause
• Hydrodynamic profile designed to reduce tumbling in current
• Four weights: 95 g, 115 g, 150 g and 173 g, in seven colours

How To Fish It

• Choosing the weight — Three things decide it together: water depth, current speed, and how fast the boat is drifting. Forty metres on a slack tide is a different problem from forty metres with the boat pushed along by wind. Start at 95 g for shallow ground or slack water, 115–150 g for a working tide at moderate depth, and 173 g for deep marks, running current or a fast drift. The test is your line angle: if it streams away and you lose the bottom, go heavier; if the jig hits bottom fast and stays dead, go lighter and let the fall do more work.
• Work the fall, then the pause — Drop to the bottom, wind up three to five turns with short sharp lifts, then stop dead and hold for five to ten seconds. Because the cloth body falls slower and flatter than bare metal, the fall itself is fishing — give it time. Squid attach on the pause, almost never on the lift.
• Search in bands — Squid stack at a depth rather than spreading through the column. Work upward in stages of a few turns until one takes, then repeat that band on every drop.
• Never strike, never stop winding — A take feels like added weight, or a tip that stops springing back. Lean the rod over slowly to load it, then wind at one constant speed to the boat. Crown hooks have no barbs, so any slack lets the squid pull free.
• Charge the glow — Hold luminous patterns under the deck light or a UV torch for twenty to thirty seconds before each drop, and again whenever the glow fades.

Target Species By Region

• Southeast Asia — Sotong (bigfin reef squid) and cuttlefish on night boat trips from Malaysian, Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian ports — the heavy end of candat sotong, over reef edges, wrecks and deep lit anchorages.
• North America — Market squid and Humboldt squid on Pacific night charters, and squid taken deliberately as fresh bait for rockfish, halibut and tuna trips.
• Japan & East Asia — Kensaki-ika, yariika and surume-ika on ika-metal boat trips, and aoriika where the drift runs too deep or too fast for shore eging tackle.
• Australia, Middle East & Europe — Southern calamari and arrow squid from boats and deep jetties; cuttlefish on Gulf marks; European squid and cuttlefish on Mediterranean and Atlantic night grounds.

Specifications

Colour codes: 01 Blue Orange, 02 Red Blue, 03 Pink, 05 Red Yellow, 06 Red Head, 07 Red Pink, 08 Real Shrimp.

Recommended Pairing

• Ika-metal or light boat rod with a sensitive solid tip, rated to carry the weight you intend to fish
• PE 0.6–1.0 braid with a 2–3 m fluorocarbon leader — thin line cuts current and keeps the jig under the boat
• 2500–3000 spinning reel or a small baitcaster with a smooth start-up drag
• Can also be fished as the bottom weight with a lighter sutte on a short branch line 30–50 cm above it
• Carry one luminous and one darker colour in each weight — squid change preference through the night