If you walk down the tackle aisle of any bait shop in America, we all know what your average bass lure is supposed to look like. A small minnow, a bluegill imitation, a worm or a crawfish, maybe a bug or even a frog… basically bass lures are made to mimic forage. What do bass eat? Make something that looks like that and put it on a hook. It’s been the same for decades.
But right now, one lure is not-so-quietly taking over the tournament scene and cashing massive checks across the country, and it looks absolutely ridiculous. It’s called the Coike (made by Hideup), or in general, the “urchin” bait, and if we are being completely honest, it doesn’t look like anything you’ll see in any freshwater fishery in America. It doesn’t even slightly resemble anything close to what a bass might eat in the wild. It looks like a hairy golf ball or Koosh ball that’s been hiding in someone’s attic since 1997. Guys like my dad think it’s absolutely ridiculous, but the guys throwing it are hauling in absolute monsters.
Serious anglers have been on to the urchin and/or dice-style baits for a while now, but The Bassmaster Elite Series event on Santee Cooper last week proved to be a coming out party for the new Japanese bait. Chris Johnston won on it, Brandon Palaniuk finished second on it, Drew Cook finished 3rd on it, and Cory Johnston finished 4th using a 6th Sense urchin bait… all in all, half of the top 10 was using an urchin-style bait, and the proof is there, they WORK.
Everybody and their mother wants to get their hands on it (which is why they’re sold out just about everywhere in the universe) but we’re gonna walk through everything you need to know about the hottest bait in the country. The entire lineup of Coikes and other brands that make urchin baits, the gear to throw it, the type of hooks, how to work it… we’re gonna tackle everything.
*This post contains links through the Tackle Warehouse Affiliate Program. While all products are independently selected by our expert Riff Outdoors team, if you use these links to make a purchase, we may earn a commission.
Why It Works
The Hideup Coike was originally designed in Japan. The bass over there are heavily pressured, which is why Japanese anglers and tackle companies are always trying to innovate. If you see something really cool or really popular, there’s a good chance that it originated in Japan… not always, but often times the hottest baits in Japan will show in the States a year or two later.
When it finally crossed the Pacific, US anglers realized it solves a few massive problems on the water:
Maximum Water Displacement: Bass use their lateral lines to feel vibrations in the water. Those dozens of little rubber spikes push a ton of water in every direction, creating a completely unique vibration that a bass hasn’t felt a million times before.
The Defensive Posture: When a bass approaches a standard craw imitation on the bottom, it just sits there. When a bass approaches a Coike, the spikes fan out, making it look like a defensive creature puffing up to protect itself. That triggers a violent reaction strike.
The “LiveScope” Factor: Because the Coike has such a dense, spiky profile, it lights up on a LiveScope screen like a Christmas tree. It is a sniper’s dream for picking off suspended, finicky fish.
Types Of Urchin Baits
Of course, the Hideup Coike Fullcast is the main deal that many anglers are using, but Hideup actually offers a handful of different sizes and profiles, and even the Coike Fish, which is similar, but looks like a little ball of tiny minnows. The Coike Fullcast is 23mm, but they offer a 17mm, a 13mm, and even the OG Kyu (the first iteration of the bait), which comes in at a tiny 9.5 mm. And finally, the Coike Thunder is also more of a fuzzy worm profile. Unfortunate, most of them are completely sold out right now, but I’ll link to them at Tackle Warehouse anyways (they’re having a Memorial Day sale right now), and should be restocking soon.
Hideup Coike Fullcast – $20.49
Berkley just dropped the new MaxScent ‘Moeba, which comes in quite a bit cheaper than the Coike, and also doesn’t require a nail weight to get the perfect fall rate. Yamamoto makes the Uni, and 6th Sense is about to drop a new one called the Abstract, so stay tuned for that. There are a few others as well on the market, and you can expect any bait maker that doesn’t have one to be working on it ASAP. Finally, the one that actually has the most SKUs available, the Hag’s Prickly Pear, which is also the most affordable rendition of an urchin-style bait.
Hag’s Prickly Pear 19mm – $7.99
Rigging the “Coike”
There seems to be a ton of different ways to rig the Coike, and I think Santee Cooper gave anglers an inside look into how a lot of pros are doing it. I was personally using a straight shank Neko hook until I watched Chris Johnston on Santee Cooper, and have since transitioned to the treble hook. Actually, a quad treble probably gives you the best hookup ratio with that extra prong, but Mustad also makes a treble where one prong sticks out a little further than the other two. But depending on which size Coike you’re using, it can be fished on a drop shot, Neko rig, Jika rig, or even your standard ball head jig in some cases. Core Tackle also makes a dice rig which I haven’t had a chance to try yet, but looks like a super cool hook and weight in one complete package.
And as far as rod and reel go, most guys seem to be fishing it on your standard worm rod… a 7-foot to 7’3″ medium heavy fast action rod, but you could probably throw it on a medium heavy spinning rod as well.
Hook Options
You have your standard Neko hook that you can use to rig an urchin bait, but there might be a little slippage down the shank at times. You also might have a lower hookup ratio with all the tentacles acting like little weed guards. It’s the easiest way to go, and definitely works, but perhaps not the most effective way to do it.
VMC Neko Hook, Size 1 or 2 – $3.99
Here’s two treble hook options that I like… the Quattro obviously gives you an extra hook option, but the Mustad sets up nicely for this by pushing the two hooks out a little further away from the bait.
Mustad KVD 1x Strong 2x Short Triple Grip Treble Hook – $7.99
Decoy Quattro X-S21 Hook – $9.89
This is your do-all package. If you know anything about Core Tackle, you know they’re actually trying to innovate bass fishing rigs, and have done a great job of doing so. I use a ton of their stuff, and have yet to try the dice rig, but it looks like a great option for these kinds of baits.
Nail Weight
Depending on which bait you’re using, and how deep you’re trying to fish… you’re going to want to use a nail weight to get the Coike down to the fish. It is way more expensive, but I generally prefer to use tungsten because it is a more dense material. That means you can use a smaller package to get the same weight as lead, but it also shows up a little clearer on forward facing sonar as well.
Cipher Fishing Tungsten Nail Weights – $8.16
Z-Man Neko Shroomz Wacky Rig Nose Weight – $5.79
Where & How To Fish It
Honestly, there really isn’t a wrong way to fish it… you can fish it like a wacky rig or a Neko rig around docks, laydowns, rock structure, deeper weed lines, anywhere you’d fish a wacky rig. You can fish it out in open water for schooling bass, and work it with a series of twitches and pauses, the same way you would work a jerkbait. You’ll generally get the bite on the pause, where you’ll feel it on the next twitch as the rod loads up, but sometimes, they’ll just hammer it and then the fight is on. You can also put it on a dropshot, hop it along the bottom… the possibilities are pretty endless.
The real challenge now is just getting your hands on one because they’re flying off the shelves so fast… but once you do, just get out on the water and give it a try. I promise, it’ll be worth it.
