Super Fluke Is Barrel Rolling

[OTR366]

Hi Guys,

 

This past weekend I noticed upon slow steady retrieve my Super Fluke was doing barrel rolls.  Is that the action I should expect?

 

it's not clear to me what action to expect.

 

I had it rigged as follows;

 

Weightless

4/0 round bend offset Gamakatsu Superline

12-15" 12 lbs mono leader attached via swivel to the main line

 

I rigged it the same on my spinning reel and baitcaster but the result was the same.

 

Thanks

[A-Jay]

The are a few different ways to effectively work a fluke.

 

However, a constant retrieve is routinely not one of them.

 

A stop & go presentation derived with a small number of short rod twitches is usually where the magic happens.

 

Do not do the constant retrieve.  Work the fluke with a twitch & pause action.  Be sure to wait at least a second or two (and usually 3 or 4) before the next few twitches and you'll find that the rolling & line twist will be gone and more importantly, if you're fishing in the right place & conditions, you'll catch a few bass.

 

Good Luck

 

A-Jay

[Choporoz]

Weightless flukes will usually roll some.  The better (straighter) you rig it, the less it will tumble.  Since I retrieve it with mostly a series of twitches, vice steady, I don't pay much attention to the rolling anyway....between jerks it will fall more or less upright.  I will say that I also usually use mojo weight instead of weightless

[OTR366]

Thanks for the advice fella's.  

 

The lake I am headed to this weekend is reporting good top water action and I don't want my presentation to be the reason I miss a chance to set a hook.

 

OTR 

[A-Jay]

Thanks for the advice fella's.  

 

The lake I am headed to this weekend is reporting good top water action and I don't want my presentation to be the reason I miss a chance to set a hook.

 

OTR 

 

You're Welcome & Good Luck.

 

A-Jay

[Choporoz]

May just be semantics, but I don't generally consider my fluke presentation to be in the topwater realm.  SOMETIMES, when gliding it across badly weeded over water, maybe.  But few of my fluke strikes break the surface -- usually its on the pause/fall.

 

Doesn't mean you can't skim it and be successful.  But, if I was wanting topwater strikes I'd be carrying a dogwalker, a popper, a frog and a buzz bait at a minimum.

[J Francho]

Chop, try an ElaZtech fluke, and you will change your tune about it being topwater. .

[Choporoz]

JF, I'm going to keep that in mind...but to be perfectly honest, that'll be a tough sell for me....I'm one of those lazy ones that's given up on elaztech ---- besides, I find it hard to imagine me choosing that over a weightless Keitech SI on the surface....that tail gets me excited even before a bass ever catches sight of it. 

[J Francho]

The fluke is what got me into elaztech. You could do your fast twitching, across the surface, and then kill it. Instead of sinking, it floats. Just another tool to have.

[Matthew2000]

Thanks for the advice fella's.  

 

The lake I am headed to this weekend is reporting good top water action and I don't want my presentation to be the reason I miss a chance to set a hook.

 

OTR

I like when it barrel rolls on top. I catch a few fish doing that.

[hatrix]

Usually I work a fluke as a topwater or for the most part. I have always had the best success working it quickly on light wire worn hooks. A bunch of quick twitches so it noses up out f the water works great or constantly twitching it super fast over vegetation that comes up the the surface so it is darting all across the top of it.

[Ozark_Basser]

A keel weighted hook will keep it from rolling, but you're better off doing a twitch twitch pause sort of retrieve like Ajay suggested.

[SirSnookalot]

Make sure to center the hook, that will help with the roll but it's still going to happen.   I also use them as top water lure in areas of vegetation, clean water I'd use them on a jig head or nose hook it.

[J Francho]

The random an occasional rolling is what triggers bites. Not sure why you want un-fluke a fluke.

[MSPbass]

The hook absolutely needs to be straight; which is why I always use EWG hook on flukes with either an exposed tip lying in the top groove or Tex posed.  Try that in place of a round bend maybe?

[OTR366]

The random an occasional rolling is what triggers bites. Not sure why you want un-fluke a fluke.

 

It's not that I want to "un-fluke a fluke" but more what action I should expect.  I'm new to using Flukes and didn't know if rolling is normal or something wrong with the way I have it rigged. 

[Choporoz]

The hook absolutely needs to be straight; which is why I always use EWG hook on flukes with either an exposed tip lying in the top groove or Tex posed.  Try that in place of a round bend maybe?

This (absolutely straight obsession) was my big problem with flukes when I first started using them.  I might spend 15 minutes trying to get it absolutely straight....and then give up.  Now, I suppress my OCD and just rig it -- I don't want a crease in it, but less than perfect is more than good enough for me.

[MSPbass]

My OCD prevents me from fishing a fluke if it's barrel rolling like this and not gliding and turning around on the snap

[J Francho]

Hopefully a more detailed post will help. A look at our articles section for more in depth info on flukes may help too.

So, a “fluke” is a descendent of the venerable Slug-O. The way it is intended to be used, is cast out, let settle, and twitch the rod tip to move the bait. When you accumulate enough slack, reel in and repeat the process. The bait randomly will veer left, right, up, down, do loopty-loops, etc. How quickly you run through these steps depends on how deep you want the bait to run, and how much weight you’re using. Depth and speed can be tuned by weight, and that can mean using a small wacky hook through the nose, to a heavy duty EWG. You can also use weighted swimbait hooks, or add your own.

When rigging, try to get it as straight as possible, though it really doesn’t have to be perfect. If your bait is “barrel rolling, you’re either just reeling it in, and not letting the bait do it’s thing, or you’ve rigged it on the hook very poorly. Even correctly rigged, some twist is inherent. Coupled with the fact that most use a spinning rig to skip the unweighted bait, and you may want to consider a swivel and leader arrangement. When I do this, I use a rig with braid – usually 20#, and an 8-12# leader of fluoro or copoly. Before tying the swivel to my mainline, I thread a small plastic bead onto the mainline. It serves to protect my tip top, and as an attractor, of sorts. To me, it looks like a minnow chasing a bug.

There aren’t any rights or wrongs, but try to do something too far outside the normal use gets you bad results, like barrel roll. If you are still convinced that the barrel roll is “wrong”, consider trying a light swimbait hook 1/16 to 1/8 oz. and a more aqua dynamic bait with a paddle tail better designed for swimming.

[OTR366]

Thank you J Francho, good information which I appreciate.  

 

This past weekend I spent time experimenting with a Super Fluke and various round bend, EWG, weighted and un-weighted hooks, paying close attention to "straightness".  All the experiments were on my bait caster which has 30# braid and a swivel to 12# mono.  All the configurations I tried resulted in "Barrel Rolling" with a steady retrieve but not with a "pop, pop, pause" retrieve.

 

I'm pretty confident I now know what action to expect and it was not a rigging error on my part.  

[J Francho]

If you want to reel it in, use a bait designed for that. There's plenty of "swimbait" plastics out there to pick from. Or put the fluke on a scrounger head, just don't tell A-Jay I told you so.

[OTR366]

If you want to reel it in, use a bait designed for that. There's plenty of "swimbait" plastics out there to pick from. Or put the fluke on a scrounger head, just don't tell A-Jay I told you so.

 

I'm new to bass fishing and am just getting started putting a bait/lure arsenal together. Swimbaits, spinnerbaits and buzzbaits are all on my list of future tackle.

 

Mum's the word...I wont tell A-Jay. 

[J Francho]

Go slow, pick baits that either appeal to you or solve a problem where you fish. Get proficient, and move to the next bait. Have fun, above all.