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Posted

Fishing a local pond by my house and every morning the bass tear up the bait fish on the shoreline. The problem is the place is full of hydrilla and Everything I throw gets snagged or covered. I had a few bites on a frog but that fell off quick and they totally ignored my Texas rigged worm. So Doing research on these boards I have decided to go with a fluke. The problem is the fluke just twirls in the water making it useless. So I went to wally world and bought these weighted hooks. I know the weight will keep the bottom of the fluke down but my question is did i get to much weight on the hooks? I have also herd of jigs being used and I have one but Just curious how a jig would not get covered in hydrilla with the exposed hook?  Thanks guys.

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Posted

That isn't too much weight at all, you'll be fine with that. If you find the flukes get torn up too much, try a weighted hook from Owner with the screw lock, i find that helps my basis last longer.

  • Like 1
Posted
1 hour ago, Jonathan Evans said:

Fishing a local pond by my house and every morning the bass tear up the bait fish on the shoreline. The problem is the place is full of hydrilla and Everything I throw gets snagged or covered. I had a few bites on a frog but that fell off quick and they totally ignored my Texas rigged worm. So Doing research on these boards I have decided to go with a fluke. The problem is the fluke just twirls in the water making it useless. So I went to wally world and bought these weighted hooks. I know the weight will keep the bottom of the fluke down but my question is did i get to much weight on the hooks? I have also herd of jigs being used and I have one but Just curious how a jig would not get covered in hydrilla with the exposed hook?  Thanks guys.

BpbA1Ga.jpg

What do you mean by "twirling around"? Not sure if you're referring to the side-to-side motion in the water that a lot of fish seem to like. I've had a lot of luck using a fluke above the hydrilla and letting it settle into the weeds.

 

As for the jigs, streamlined, heavy jigs can really get through cover well. The Nichols Mango Jig is a great example:

Posted

They "twirl" because they are not hooked exactly straight. 

 

 

  • Like 11
Posted

It takes some practice but once you get used to rigging them, you'll get them straight every time. Watch a couple of YouTube videos on how to rig them, that might help too.

  • Like 2
  • Super User
Posted

With some baits ( like flukes) rigging them straight makes a significant difference - other baits not so much.   Not a big fan of that style of Gammy hook.  Owner and other brands of weighted hooks with the screw lock work better for me.

Not really a big fan of flukes.   Culprit, Strke King, Yum & Yamamoto all make bait fish imitators that work better for me than flukes do.

  • Super User
Posted

It may help to place the hook on the side of the fluke (worm, crawdad, etc) first so that it is perfectly straight.  This will give you reference points so you have a better idea as to where the hook should go in, the angle of the hook, where it should go out of the bait, etc.  As many years as I've been fishing I STILL sometimes mess it up and I still have to go back to basics.

  • Super User
Posted

Many years ago, I tried flukes and had same experience -- I honestly didn't throw another fluke for years.  Rigging straight was  only a small part of my issue.  I was trying to 'swim' them -- like I might a swim jig or paddle tail.  Flukes are the killer bait when you AREN'T trying to 'swim' them.  Toss 'em weightless and let them settle and spiral and twist and whatever they want on slack/semi-slack line.  Retrieve them with jerks and pauses.  Neither you, nor the fish, will care at all if they are twisting, twirling, spinning, etc.  Throw it weightless and jerk the slack line -- vary your jerks and pauses...and hold on tight

 

I do, at times use weighted hooks, but again...I am not trying to swim them, so an unpegged texas rig works better for me than weighted hook --- it allows more 'erratic' action for me

  • Like 6
Posted

if you must you a weighted hook for a fluke, by all means, use a screw lock instead of the one shown. i like a plain old hook myself for the fluke and a screw lock/weighted hook for the swimmig fluke.

  • Like 1
Posted

Think of a weightless fluke is a soft jerk bait as opposed to a paddle tail swim bait. If you just twitch it it will dart around without moving forward much while sinking slowly which is a killer technique. Look up the "donkey rig" if you want to really make it have crazy action.. 

  • Like 1
Posted
5 hours ago, Choporoz said:

Many years ago, I tried flukes and had same experience -- I honestly didn't throw another fluke for years.  Rigging straight was  only a small part of my issue.  I was trying to 'swim' them -- like I might a swim jig or paddle tail.  Flukes are the killer bait when you AREN'T trying to 'swim' them.  Toss 'em weightless and let them settle and spiral and twist and whatever they want on slack/semi-slack line.  Retrieve them with jerks and pauses.  Neither you, nor the fish, will care at all if they are twisting, twirling, spinning, etc.  Throw it weightless and jerk the slack line -- vary your jerks and pauses...and hold on tight

 

I do, at times use weighted hooks, but again...I am not trying to swim them, so an unpegged texas rig works better for me than weighted hook --- it allows more 'erratic' action for me

You are the man! I hit the pond this morning and Tried the Fluke with the weighted hooks for about 45 minutes with no luck. So I Pulled out my phone and followed your instructions. Threw the fluke on a 3/0 Gamakatsu. I have fished this pond 3 times and no action besides a few nibbles. I throw the fluke weightless as you instructed worked it following those instructions. 3rd cast!

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Thank you so much man. I cannot tell you how much i appreciate it. Just amazing how a few tips like that can just turn the bite on!

 

  • Like 7
  • Super User
Posted

I love super flukes with 4/0 gamagatsu worm hooks.  The belly slit helps getting them rigged straight.  The comments on action are right on target, you want to let them fall freely for quite a few seconds, then "twerk" or "twitch" them, just little ones.  If rigged right they will go straight some times, left some times, right some times.  Many fish will not come up all that far for them, so if your fish are in 8-10 feet, you probably will have to fish them slowly enough to get them down about 5 feet.

Also, they are not a dingy water bait, in my opinion.  Best in clear.

I've not fished them weighted very much, and haven't done all that well.  But if fish are quite active, i see no reason why fishing them simply on a jig of appropriate weight and hook size wouldn't work well.

Posted
21 hours ago, Choporoz said:

Many years ago, I tried flukes and had same experience -- I honestly didn't throw another fluke for years.  Rigging straight was  only a small part of my issue.  I was trying to 'swim' them -- like I might a swim jig or paddle tail.  Flukes are the killer bait when you AREN'T trying to 'swim' them.  Toss 'em weightless and let them settle and spiral and twist and whatever they want on slack/semi-slack line.  Retrieve them with jerks and pauses.  Neither you, nor the fish, will care at all if they are twisting, twirling, spinning, etc.  Throw it weightless and jerk the slack line -- vary your jerks and pauses...and hold on tight

 

I do, at times use weighted hooks, but again...I am not trying to swim them, so an unpegged texas rig works better for me than weighted hook --- it allows more 'erratic' action for me

This seems to be what I do whether I like it or not and the fish love it. I can't even tell you how many flukes I've gone through this year. I just kind of throw them out there and just fiddle around with them. No consistency in my retrieve, no apparent technique, just messing around. Then BAM, fish on! 

  • Like 1
Posted
16 hours ago, Wayne P. said:

 

You want the Fluke to Twerk instead of Twirl.

 

Clearly, you've got it working for you thanks to Choporoz.  I started fluke fishing this year and had the same experience.

On one hand, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!  But, here are still a few more ideas to consider:

Nose hooking the fluke instead of T-rigging has also worked well for me.  I've done that with an octopus or similar hook, particularly when I've been fishing stick baits and decide I want to switch to in order to fish more actively (say, along a shoreline) or to fish close to surface for a bit, without taking the time to switch hooks.  I know, switching hooks doesn't take long.  But the bait tends to fish closer to surface and has a little different action.

Another approach to address the twirling to add a swivel.  Some interesting comments in an archived thread on this, and on Zoom's site:

http://zoombait.com/2009/08/how-to-rig-zoom-super-fluke/

Posted

I usually throw flukes weightless, but sometimes if I want or need to get it deeper I use a 1/8 oz screw in weight in the nose. It results in a faster erratic action when you twitch it on slack line, and it can be very effective, especially if the fish are deeper or more aggressive. Casts farther, too.

Posted
18 hours ago, Wayne P. said:

You want the Fluke to Twerk instead of Twirl.

I keep misreading the title of this post every time and think it says "Twerking flukes and a missed opportunity" for a split second and I chuckle to myself each time. Maybe if one were to wacky rig it, it would twerk. Talk about a bait with action....

Posted
8 hours ago, snake95 said:

Clearly, you've got it working for you thanks to Choporoz.  I started fluke fishing this year and had the same experience.

On one hand, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!  But, here are still a few more ideas to consider:

Nose hooking the fluke instead of T-rigging has also worked well for me.  I've done that with an octopus or similar hook, particularly when I've been fishing stick baits and decide I want to switch to in order to fish more actively (say, along a shoreline) or to fish close to surface for a bit, without taking the time to switch hooks.  I know, switching hooks doesn't take long.  But the bait tends to fish closer to surface and has a little different action.

Another approach to address the twirling to add a swivel.  Some interesting comments in an archived thread on this, and on Zoom's site:

http://zoombait.com/2009/08/how-to-rig-zoom-super-fluke/

Choporoz is the man! Like I said its amazing how only a few tips can turn a skunk day into a productive day. It really shows you how a bass can see the action of a lure and tell that something is not right with it. I use to watch a guy on ESPN called bass professor. He would talk about how a bass can tell if the lure is not acting right and not commit to the strike. 

Also thanks everyone for the input. This is why I love being apart of this community. I have fished this place the last few weeks and not one bite. Now I have something that works. I will tell you that watching the bass feed is a cool site. they push the bait fish up close to shore and when they go in for the kill the water looks like it is boiling! A very cool site and a example of a perfect predator.

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