Best IMA Lures On The Market: Since I first started lure fishing many moons ago, IMA lures have always been the front runner in my lure box. I should imagine that every serious lure angler out there has some version of an IMA lure in their arsenal. We go through some of our personal favourites, along with some of the IMA lures we will experiment with in the future.
Here are just 5 great IMA lures to get your teeth into
- IMA Komomo II
- Salt Skimmer
- SF125
- Hound 125F Glide
- Rocket Bait
KOMOMO II
This has to be my favourite IMA lure. It just plain catches; it’s that simple. Great for shallow waters and deeper waters, this subsurface lure is an all-rounder.
Variety
Right, let’s not get bogged down with every different type of Komomo II lure out there because there are loads. These are some of my favourites, in no particular order.
- The Joker (Flashing Plate)
- Cotton Candy
- Mullet
- Chameleon (Flashing Plate
- Chart Pearl
Differences
Believe it or not, there are a couple of differences between some of the Komomo II lures. The most annoying is with the ‘Cotton Candy’, and ‘Mullet’ is when the finish starts to wear off, especially if you are consistently catching. I have stopped using the ‘Cotton Candy’ for this reason.
I really can’t, for the life of me, wonder why IMA don’t cover the paint with something much more hard-wearing, like an epoxy resin. In my opinion, that’s why I would stick to the flashing plate versions of the lure. Ultimately, you could do this yourself, but you shouldn’t have to if you’re paying up to twenty quid for them at the end of the day. They’ll want you to put your hooks on next.
Lol, now that I have completely put you off buying the ‘Cotton Candy’ and the ‘Mullet’, they are still a great lure to have. You could always spray them white if they get too chewed up. Pure white can be lethal in the exemplary scenario, and IMA does not do a white version.
Casting
Walker or the Rocket Bait, ‘ the Komomo will fall short in the distance stakes. However, the Komomo II is only 15 grams, so relatively light compared to the other lures. I wouldn’t go any lighter than a 15g lure anyway.
The Tackle House Feed Shallow is another lure that falls short on the distance stake, but I will always take one anyway. Distance isn’t always that important regardless; it just helps when the water is a bit murky closer in, so sometimes I would go for a missile lure to find that clearer water. As I have said so many times, clear water is not always an option.
The IMA Salt Skimmer
Great Surface Lure
The Salt Skimmer is an excellent topwater lure. I have the ‘Mullet’ and the ‘Cotton Candy although this version has a different stricter finish than the Cotton Candy Komomo II.
In the video above, this is the “Salt Skimmer’ doing the business. That session was in the daytime and for our neck of the woods, excellent conditions. The two fish tell me that this was probably a large shoal of schoolies chasing after baitfish. They were attacking everything that moved that day. I have never caught two fish on one lure; that was the Bassman filming that video with his headcam.
Casting
Again, not the heaviest of lures, but it still casts better than the Komomo II. Yes, I know they are two different types; I’m just saying. I think that most surface lures seem to cast better anyway. Some are pigs like the Duo Realis but generally, they cast well. As for weight, I have been using the 16-gram version, although there is another 21-gram version.
Action
A ‘Walk the Dog’ action is preferred for the ‘Salt Skimmer’. Just a slow retrieve with the rod tip high, gently tapping away should have that ‘Salt Skimmer’ dancing with joy. It pays to have a quality lightweight lure rod. Generally, I have noticed the more you pay, the lighter the rod seems to be. Don’t get me wrong; the cheaper rods will still get the same results. It’s just easier to keep tapping away for more extended periods with a lighter rod.
Patterns
Again, there are a few options here, so here are just a few “Salt Skimmer” beauties to get your credit card into action.
- Mullet
- Cotton Candy
- Joker
- Sardine
- Gold
Noise
There are two different types of ‘Salt Skimmer’ (that I wasn’t aware of): a silent version and the other one that rattles. I would only use the rattling one because that is one of the things that can attract the bass, even more so for surface lure fishing. I can imagine using the silent version when the water is like a millpond.
I am not the most excellent surface lure fisherman, so maybe the rattle doesn’t make that much difference. However, when the water is choppy, it must be more challenging for the bass to spot the lure. So something with a good rattle would come into play and be more effective.
IMA KOMOMO SF125
This great lure is like the Komomo II big brother. The Komomo SF125 is slimmer looking and has three treble hooks to hook that beast of a bass. I prefer just the two hooks, but I can’t complain; I will continue to use them. It’s just less hassle with just the two hooks like the Komomo II. This slim lure comes in several classic patterns such as:
- Bora Mullet
- Joker
- Cotton Candy
- Clear Crown
- Sardine
Casting
Yes, this lure is a bit of a missile. It casts way better than the Komomo II, even though it’s only a tad heavier at 16-Grams. And still, a subsurface lure which is excellent for the shallow areas where we fish around the Kent coast.
Popularity
This fantastic lure is a prevalent choice in places like Cornwall and Pembrokeshire. It was a guy from those regions who had written about the SF125 on one of the popular forums; it just looked like a winner straight out of the box, a must-have lure.
Ima Hound 125F Glide
At the beginning of this post, the question is: ‘What are the best IMA lures on the market? The answer is quite simple: Generally, all of them. That doesn’t mean you need to go out and buy every single IMA lure out there. This guide is for anyone who has not discovered some of these fantastic lures.
Sure, you may have already come across IMA and probably got them anyway. There are countless other makes of lures out there that are equally effective; sometimes, picking the right ones out can be challenging if you don’t know what you are looking for as far as lures are concerned. So for those people, IMA is a great place to start.
Now the Hound 125F Glide is a beast of a lure. Reading reviews from others should be enough for you to buy this cracker from IMA. Incidentally, I have just seen the ‘Black Notch’, and my bank card is sweating straight away. It just looks terrific for those pitch-black nights of total darkness when nothing else seems to be working.
Casting
It isn’t any wonder why this lure is so popular; It casts like a missile. Weighing in at 20 grams and that dynamic shape, it’s plain to see why it’s an absolute flyer. I mentioned the Savage Gear Sandeel Surf Walker earlier on, and if you look at the shape of this lure, you can see why it is probably my best lust for distance. The Hound is the same shape but not as long (I can not get the Surf Walker in the lure box).
Deeper Diving
One of my favourite deeper diving lures is the Zonk. The Hound is on par with the Zonk, for it too can scale around 70 cm to the meter mark, which is excellent. You may laugh because I mention fishing shallower waters around our Kent area. We still occasionally get to use the Hound and the Zonk on the spring tides but still have to be careful; these lures prove tricky to get hold of at the end of the day.
IMA Rocket Bait
With the IMA Rocket Bait, you really must have your wits about you. The Rocket Bait is the smallest out of the four we mention but definitely. not the lightest. Its sinks light a lead weight, to be honest. Rule of thumb: DO NOT STOP REELING WHEN YOU CAST OUT. If you do, it’s going to work out expensive unless you’re fishing over sand. Yes, mugging here has made this costly mistake on a few occasions.
Nightmare Scenario
On one fishing trip, the wind was blowing a hooly. It makes things even more annoying because I hate fishing in the wind. I had cast out my braid and had somehow wrapped it around the rod tip. Because we were up to our nuts in the water, I tried to wave the line free. But forgot about my sinking
Oh well, 20 quid down the drain. Even more annoying was the fact that this Rocket Bait was the Sardine. I had four different types of this Rocket Bait, and the Sardine had been the only version I had caught any bass. However, the Bassman had been crushing it on the Mullet, sickeningly crushing it. When I tried to replace the Sardine, I just couldn’t one.
Casting
Well, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out what I’m going to tell you. Yes, it casts like a bullet. Like I said earlier, it’s almost like a weight. You can see from the picture that it just flies. I almost forgot I lost two Rocket Baits on the trot that night, so cast with caution. Yes, other lures sink like the DUO Bay Ruff and the Zonk 120 but not like the rate as the Rocket Bait.
Conclusion
The 5 IMA lures to get your teeth into are great but try and purchase patterns similar to what you have already caught. I have lures that never see the light of day and wondered why I ever bought them in the first place. But these lures are winners, so hopefully, you can get hold of them. Good luck.
Your link to the e-book doesn’t seem to work. Any ideas?
Thanks Ken, all sorted working now. Any problems send me a direct message via email and I’ll send it that way.
Thanks again.
Keith