It's the Week of the Coike! The Top 3 Stories from Fishing on SI

The Coike bass lure craze is driving major attention in Fishing on SI’s most-read stories this week, centered on a broader “urchin bait” trend heading toward 2026. The publication points to a fast-rising interest sparked after ICAST and asks how the 2026 urchin-bait movement could transfer to fly fishing, highlighting anglers’ skepticism until results in the water. A second story focuses on Hideup’s Coike and says original baits sold out quickly, with competition emerging after tournament success and industry copying. A third report describes the lure as a dense elastomer ball covered in soft spines, likened to a sea urchin. The articles cite Elite anglers Taku Ito and Kyoya Fujita, and note that during a late-spring one-month period, anglers won three major tournaments using an urchin-style bait.