MAJOR CRAFT - SOFT UKI 6cm/7cm/8cm SUTTE GSUS SQUID JIG

Major Craft Soft Uki Sutte GSUS 6 cm / 7 cm / 8 cm Squid Jig

An uki-sutte is a floating sutte. Where a metal sutte or an egi is weighted and falls, the GSUS is buoyant, so on a slack branch line it lifts and hangs level in the water instead of nose-down. A soft, cloth-covered body gives it a small squid or shrimp profile that breathes on the pause rather than sitting stiff, luminous sections keep it readable in dark water, and two tiers of fine crown hooks cover a wide area when a squid pulls it in.

The standard ika-metal pairing. Japanese ika-metal fishing runs a weighted metal sutte at the bottom of the leader and a floating uki-sutte on a short branch line (edasu) 40–60 cm above it. The metal jig carries the rig down and holds the depth; the buoyant uki-sutte above it stands off the main line, sits horizontally, and moves on its own with the drift. Squid that will not commit to the harder metal bait very often take the soft one above, so fish both and duplicate whichever gets hit.

Key Features

• Floating (uki) sutte — sits level on a branch line rather than falling
• Soft, flexible construction for natural movement on the pause
• Cloth-wrapped finish, high-contrast patterning and luminous glow sections
• Two colour codes, #04 and #05: a red-and-white stripe and a pink-and-blue spot pattern
• Double-tier crown hooks with many fine points, and a reinforced front eye

How To Fish It

• Rig it above the metal — Tie a 10–15 cm branch line into the leader about 40–60 cm above a metal sutte and clip the uki-sutte to it. Keep the branch short and stiff so it stands clear and does not tangle on the drop.
• Count down to the layer — Drop to the bottom, then wind up a set number of turns. Squid stack in a band, often well off the bottom; repeat the count that produced.
• Slow lift, controlled drop, long pause — Lift the rod 30–50 cm, lower it under control, then stop dead for several seconds. On the stop the metal jig settles and the floating sutte rises and hangs, which is when most takes happen.
• Never strike — wind instead — The bite feels like the rig going heavy, going light, or not dropping. Sweep gently into it and wind steadily under tension; the squid is hugging the bait with its arms, and slack lets it release.
• Charge the glow — Hold the luminous sections under the boat lamp for twenty to thirty seconds before each drop, and work the shaded edge of the light pool.

Target Species By Region

• Southeast Asia — The candat sotong dropper bait: bigfin reef squid (sotong torak) and cuttlefish (sotong katak) on night boats out of Terengganu, Pahang and Johor, and off lit jetties.
• North America — Market squid on West Coast squid boats and lit California harbours, on multi-bait vertical rigs.
• Japan & East Asia — The technique it was built for: kensaki-ika, yariika and surume-ika on ika-metal and omorig boat trips, plus Korean and Taiwanese night squid boats.
• Australia, Middle East & Europe — Southern calamari and cuttlefish over weed and reef in southern Australia; European squid fished vertically on Mediterranean marks.

Specifications

SKU codes: 371189710 and 371189727 (6 cm); 371189789 and 371189796 (7 cm); 371189840 and 371189857 (8 cm).

Recommended Pairing

• Short ika-metal or omorig boat rod with a soft solid tip — the tip is the bite indicator
• Small baitcaster or 2500-size spinning reel, PE 0.4–0.8 braid for depth control
• Fluorocarbon leader of roughly 8–16 lb, with a short stiff branch line
• A metal sutte below it, weight chosen for depth and tide; step up as the drift picks up