curiosity about fishing fluke style baits...

[OkobojiEagle]

When fishing fluke styles baits with the molded groove (presumably on the bottom), do you fish it groove on the bottom or top? I'm a groove on top, hook point hidden in the groove guy.


oe

[Damn Yankee]

I prefer slot on the bottom,imho it hides more of the hook and is slicker through weeds.No wrong way to fish it.

[Alan Reed]

49 minutes ago, OkobojiEagle said:

When fishing fluke styles baits with the molded groove (presumably on the bottom), do you fish it groove on the bottom or top? I'm a groove on top, hook point hidden in the groove guy.


oe

I fish with the groove on the bottom which allows me to keep the hook point and not have it popping out and  getting snagged when it gets a little hung up.

[Tucson]

2 hours ago, Alan Reed said:

I fish with the groove on the bottom which allows me to keep the hook point and not have it popping out and  getting snagged when it gets a little hung up.

 

OK, this makes sense.  Wasn't too sure myself.

[jr231]

Plenty of ways to rig a fluke. More than I even care to try... I usually throw the fluke belly down and tex-posed with a 3/0 wide gap hook. Easily skin hooked if I'm in taller weeds. 

 

I've used a 3/0 worm hook and truly Texas rigged it and this way works too. But usually.im fishing the fluke in 12-6 feet of water and don't usually let it sit much. Just darting around through the water columns. Subtle twitches falling on semi slack line. Braid and a spinning rod lets me cast a weightless fluke farther than I need to, and also helps drive the hook home at those distances. 

[Mike L]

I hook belly down also which I think is the way it was designed to be, but it's one of those plastics that have a 1/2 dozen effective options.

 

I rig with a 1/32 nail weight just behind the head on a 4/0 skip gap hook on a casting setup with 14lb flouro.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[fishwizzard]

I start them belly down, then as the get ripped up I switch them to belly up to get a little more life out of them.

 

Also, if you use twistloc hooks, Zoom Supers last a long time, a tiny pickerel turned this one inside out and I was able to catch on it after. 

[kickerfish1]

I have no idea why you would want to fish the bait up side down the belly slot on top. You might as well wacky rig it while your at it.

[buzzed bait]

i fish with the grooves on the bottom and assumed everyone else did too.....  until this past saturday when i noticed my dad rigging one up with the grooves on the topside....

[the reel ess]

I'm a "bottom guy" LOL. But I saw a YouTube video of a guy using a smaller finesse hook and nose-hooking the bait. I tried it with a Mann's Hardnose fluke and it made quite a difference in action and hookups. It seems the bass bite the bait head first when they can and I was hooking almost every one in the roof of the mouth. These are almost like circle hooks. If you yank too hard you'll pull the hook out. Just tighten up and keep reeling and the fish will stay hooked up. The hook in the nose allows for more shimmy and realistic swimming action in the middle of the body. And the Hardnose fluke is made of some tough material in the nose that lasted all day. In fact, that same bait is still on that rod.

 

 

[.ghoti.]

With the belly up, rigged upside down, you can make it wlak the dog under water. Takes a little practice.

[OkobojiEagle]

19 hours ago, .ghoti. said:

With the belly up, rigged upside down, you can make it wlak the dog under water. Takes a little practice.

 

 

It doesn't take much practice.  A more horizontal glide that stays sub-surface easier.  Also, I like to open the hook gap very slightly which makes it a little harder to bury the point back into the bait... but, I can bury the point lightly into the side of the groove.  I like fishing the bait rigged this way over and through submerged weed tops.  Bass in my lakes don't seem to mind it swimming upside down.

 

oe

[d-camarena]

Try a vmc death stick hook with flukes. Your welcome

[Big Swimbait]

Try the Dangle Berry Rig. The sliding weight on the hook shank makes the bait dart in ways you can't do with just the rod. Works great on Trick Worms too.

[Crestliner2008]

I always fish flukes nose-hooked with a size #1 circle hook. The fluke's power is in it's open water action, either walking the dog or any other erratic retrieve styles. No reason to be using an off-set worm hook, in my opinion. This open hook arrangement is extremely effective and sets great. If you want to use it in weeds, I suppose Texas rigging with an off-set would be an advantage; but there other, more effective presentations in those situations. JMO!

[fishwizzard]

8 hours ago, 1201vilbig said:

Try the Dangle Berry Rig. The sliding weight on the hook shank makes the bait dart in ways you can't do with just the rod. Works great on Trick Worms too.

 

Ah Ha!  I have had a few small bank sinkers in my fluke kit for months and I could not remember why I put them in there.  Never actually tried the rig, will have to give it a go tomorrow.  

[Big Swimbait]

1 hour ago, Bunnielab said:

 

Ah Ha!  I have had a few small bank sinkers in my fluke kit for months and I could not remember why I put them in there.  Never actually tried the rig, will have to give it a go tomorrow.  

 

Make sure the weight is able to move on the hook. The really great action comes from the weight sliding back & forth making the bait do the happy dance when you twitch the rod. I buy them already assembled in my local tackle store.

[RoLo]

When the slot is used to hide the hook-point, the Fluke of course will ride upside-down,

but I'm sure that has absolutely no ill-effect at all. Although I hook a Fluke from the bottom-up,

I do that for a different reason entirely. In the weedy natural lakes we fish,

"weedlessness" is King of the road. Skewering the Fluke from the bottom-up

allows me to totally bury the hook-point in plastic. Two things make that feasible:

1) The plastic back of a Fluke is only about 1/8" thick, but the point is already on the verge of breaking out

2) I use braided line

 

Roger

[Bankbeater]

Slot down, weightless, and I let it sink to the bottom before I start working it back.