When you are the tired of the guy next to you out fishing you - our baits can help. The 4-inch I'A - "Moi Candy" is a unique bait that has a similar profile as many of the baitfish that are on the menu of predatory fish in both saltwater and freshwater. The larger 4-inch profile usually means larger fish caught when fished as compared to fishing smaller baits like the standard 2-inch curlytail. The larger profile will also help you weed through all of the undersized fish biting your hook. Because the smaller fish will useally avoid a larger baits. When fished inshore, in Hawaiian Waters, this shape is effective on Moi and Papio. However, it catches more than just moi and papio. You can rip this bait through the water, or a rip it through the water and pause, or retrieve it slow, or do a slow and pause, or just a slow retreive like a lizard fish, Hawaiian flounder, or oama swimming slowly along the bottom grazing for food, or anything in between and it will catch fish. It has a subtle twitch when it slowly sinks on a pause.
So, what type and style of hook to use for this bait? There are many hook choices that would work well with this bait. Much of hook selection is personal preference and up to the style of fishing that you are doing as well as the type of structure that is in the water in the area that you are fishing. However, what is important is that the hooks are super sharp. Sometimes, new hooks just out of the bag are not sharp enough. To sharpen your hooks use a good diamond file to get the best point on a hook. Just as a guideline here are a few hook sizes that have been used successfully with this bait:
BKN #10
BKN #12
BKN #14
No matter what style or brand of hook that you choose to use, if it's about these sizes it should work - just use this as a starting point.
Since this is a new shape for us, and if you find that one of your favorite colors is missing and you would like to see it listed as an option, please contact us and we will do what we can to add it.
Here are some of the fish caught while testing our I'A - Moi Candy baits:
