How to weight a fluke and still get that good action?

[Shane Y]

I love fishing flukes, but shallow and weightless....is there a good way to weight them and get them down to 6 or 8 feet without taking away all that erratic action? 

[Brad in Texas]

VMC has a drop dead hook and it centers the weight on the hook so that a fluke or shad looking bait maintains some interesting falling characteristics. The general idea is to make a fluke or shad bait look like it is dying or injured.

 

If you use weightless presentations, you likely utilize this a lot.

 

I'd recommend getting as light a weighting as they offer, else build your own, to get down to the depth you want. If it is too heavy, the lure will fall down through the water column too fast.

 

Brad

[A-Jay]

Yes ~ by using a Weighted Swimbait Hook.

Mustad, Owner & Gamakatsu all make quality products here.

A-Jay

[Troy85]

I use spit shot weights and attach them to the line 1-2' above the fluke.  Its not as good as weightless, but sometimes it has to be done.

[Mike L]

A nail weight in the back, and work it on down. 

 

 

 

Mike 

[flyfisher]

Just be patient, it will get down there in due time.  I have done that and gotten some vicious hits as it flutters down the water column at a painstakingly slow pace.  

 

if you don't want to wait, i use the weighted hooks from gamakatsu or other brands but i don't like the keeper as it puts the weight in a spot that doesn't help the action.  I usually rig the bait prior to tying on so i don't have to thread the weight through the fluke and just retie as needed.  Helps me to place the weight more centered or even towards the back of the fluke which makes for great action

down deep.  

 

Another good hook is the confidence baits draggin' head

[Scott F]

If you have to have the fluke shape but want to fish deeper, I'd use a Case Salty Sinking Shad or Sinking Minnow. Shaped like a fluke, but sinks like a Senko. 

[WRB]

Keel weighted hooks are popular however the Fluke sinks horizontal. Lead nail weights allows the fluke to sink more head down giving it more jerk bait like action. Lunker city makes lead nails and I like to put 2 or 3 through sideways about 1/2" to 3/4" behind the nose end and cut it off flush to the side,adds about 1/32 oz per cut off nail piece.

Tom

[NHBull]

Add a barrel swivel up the line 2'.  It is just enough to get it to 6 feet and prevents any line twist

[Shane Y]

I appreciate the replies everybody...I have found a spot that is out of the lake and way up a river that has current and is pretty deep is why I want to weight one. I caught some on crankbaits yesterday but want to try getting a fluke in there to. 

[Log Catcher]

I usually set mine up as a Texas rig. I use either a 1/16 or 1/8 ounce sinker depending on how deep the area is.

[Big Swimbait]

Although they are getting hard to find, The Dangle Berry Rig is what you want. The weight on the hook slides back & forth when you twitch/jerk the bait. It is VERY erratic. Fishin' World in Dallas had them the last time I was there.

[d-camarena]

Vmc drop dead hook is the best ive ever used for a fluke

[JustJames]

6-8 ft, I would use Yamamoto D-Shad, a tad heavier than Fluke, otherwise weighted hook.

I also add round spit shot weight to my hook, the same way as @1201vilbigshown (btw where can I find those weight?). I found the weighted hook in 3/0 - 4/0 a tad too heavy.

[Brad in Texas]

11 hours ago, d-camarena said:

Vmc drop dead hook is the best ive ever used for a fluke

For when an angler wants a weighted hook as we are discussing, me too. 

 

One thing I didn't mention about this hook in an earlier post is that the VMC's have a much longer shank than most others. I like that aspect. I usually remove its centering pin and put on an Owner CPS.

 

Between the CPS being a stable but wobbling anchor point for the nose of a shad or fluke, this, and the long shank, it just really provides for a nice "bite-down" zone for the bass to get hooked.

 

If you see a typical underwater scene on video, watch a large tank at a BPS, zoo aquarium . . . with fish of all sizes occupying areas in close proximity, they show fish of all species and size variations - big bass, smaller bass, bluegills, minnows - sort of co-existing. You see this, too, at certain times of the day in the Sahara desert where videos show various species (hunters and the hunted) all together drinking from a water hole. But, what always stands out to predators is something dying or injured. Predators are attuned to seeing it as an "easy meal." It makes your plastic the "go to" choice among many others. 

 

At least a few anglers have mentioned that bass will hit something falling through the water column when it is floating down horizontally as if it is stunned, injured, dying. Of course, this doesn't mean at times they don't prefer to chase something moving darting around up and down through the water column looking frisky.

 

I do better trying to use a retrieve that emulates something injured.

 

Brad

[Munkin]

Wrap solder around the hook shank.

 

Allen

[J Francho]

On 7/2/2018 at 10:40 AM, Mike L said:

A nail weight in the back, and work it on down. 

 

 

 

Mike 

This works great.

[BHal14]

On 7/2/2018 at 9:55 AM, Brad in Texas said:

VMC has a drop dead hook and it centers the weight on the hook so that a fluke or shad looking bait maintains some interesting falling characteristics. The general idea is to make a fluke or shad bait look like it is dying or injured.

 

If you use weightless presentations, you likely utilize this a lot.

 

I'd recommend getting as light a weighting as they offer, else build your own, to get down to the depth you want. If it is too heavy, the lure will fall down through the water column too fast.

 

Brad

I love those Drop Dead hooks by VMC, they are a lil longer in the shaft, but the placement of the weight is perfect! Whether a fluke, or a swim bait this is my weighted hook if choice on the lighter side of belly weighted hooks. 

[PaulVE64]

Flukes on a donkey rig. And I use the big swivels.

 

[paulmandude]

On 7/3/2018 at 1:35 PM, Munkin said:

Wrap solder around the hook shank.

 

Allen

Could you recommend wire size?

Thanks!

[rgasr63]

The super fluke is normally a great bait and falls great for water up to about 8 ft down. If I want a faster drop the Strike King Caffeine Shad is much faster. If I need more depth faster I use the Vmc Drop Dead hook. Mustad also has a adjustable weight hook too. 

[Catt]

On 7/2/2018 at 9:40 AM, flyfisher said:

Just be patient, it will get down there in due time.

 

^^this^^

 

Y'all need to Google Mark Pack, he fished his M-Pack Shad down to 20-25'. Results were numerous 50#+ stringers!

[Munkin]

8 hours ago, paulmandude said:

Could you recommend wire size?

Thanks!

 

You can just look and see what size should work the best. Some of the solder is way to big to use for this. Use the smaller size and then put a piece of heat shrink around it.

 

Allen

[Ski]

1 inch finishing nail in the bottom center.