Flukes

[187yak]

I finally caught one on a fluke. Just a pound or so. I am so appreciative of this site. I read here to slow down in cooler water. Did that. Read two pops of the rod tip and let it soak. Did it. Read a Carolina rig should be drug. Did it with a pegged weight and a foot or so of leader. Combined all this in my retrieve and boom it worked. Thanks guys 

[burrows]

58 minutes ago, 187yak said:

I finally caught one on a fluke. Just a pound or so. 

Congrats on breaking the ice on the fluke! Now it’s just gonna be hard to put it down fluke is one of my favorite baits to fish probably one of my most confident plastics.

[187yak]

Thanks. I was thinking the same thing . I think between it and senkos is all I need. Well I have been using some craws to no avail. I used to slay bass in golf course ponds with them when I was a kid. I’m going what’ve to upgrade to a boat from my kayak to make room for my worms and flukes. Lol

[Derek1]

Flukes are allot of fun to fish weightless if you can, cast and twitch back. They are great here around June it’s all you need. 

[bigjean663]

A weightless fluke is a crap ton of fun. Took me I don’t know how many times to get to where I could get a consistent bite on it. Three or four trips later I got to where I can cast it and fairly guickly get the cadence right that they like. 

[TOXIC]

I never leave home without my fluke rod and Yamamoto DShads.  So many different ways to rig and fish them.  

[ItsHardwick]

I’ve never had much confidence or success in fluke style baits but I just made a big(ish) order of them anyways haha. I’ve decided I’m going to do the same thing I did with jigs and other stuff I had no success with and are now some of my confidence baits. I’m going to fish them exclusively until I figure it out. 

 

What’s y’alls favorite setup to fish fluke style baits on?

[burrows]

25 minutes ago, ItsHardwick said:

 

 

What’s y’alls favorite setup to fish fluke style baits on?

I fish a fluke on a 6’10 medium fast bait casting rod most of the time. 4/0 light wire EWG t rigged always, I mainly use the original super fluke. 

A good way to start out fishing a fluke is a jerk jerk pause count to 10 jerk jerk pause and repeat after a wile you can change the retrieval’s and or cadence depending on what is working I think this is the basics and will get you on fish it’s still fall and the soft jerk bait is still effective but it’s getting cold soon and the hard jerk bait will come into play.

[Derek1]

Weightless t rigged or nose hooked depending on the weeds. Twitch,twitch pause. Through the nose you can use a smaller hook. Bassresource has a couple good fluke vids you should check them out. Also t rigged I’ve found you kinda have to let them have it for a second for a better chance at the hookset. In my expirience I just seem to miss a few also. Good luck when the fluke bite is on it’s awesome and allot of fun. 

[Munkin]

Fluke are an awesome bait that anyone can master in a short period. Cast them out with a EWG hook that doesn't kill the action and just make them look like a baitfish upon retrieve. 

 

Allen

[fishwizzard]

12 minutes ago, Munkin said:

Fluke are an awesome bait that anyone can master in a short period. Cast them out with a EWG hook that doesn't kill the action and just make them look like a baitfish upon retrieve. 

 

Allen

Flukes, along with the Ned, were the first lures that got me catching bass consistently. They are just super fun to fish and a wide range of retrieve speed and cadence seems to produce.  

 

 The first time I had a good sized ~3lb bass come up and grab a fluke right at the surface is burned forever in my mind.  I remember thinking, "Welp, I don't see why I need to try any more lures, they can't be better than this!". 

 

[Dom Hendricks]

I run a swivel on all of my fluke setups. They can give you line twist problems especially of burning them back. 

[TnRiver46]

I get a lot of bites but miss about 95% of them. I use 4/0 and 5/0 to try to increase hookups and still miss most bites. Anyone have any advice? I have tried letting them eat it longer and they thrash it like a terrier and spit it out. If I set fast I just pull it out of their mouth 

[Mobasser]

Flukes can be great lures at times. I usually go with the Zoom super fluke. Throw it unweighted, let it sink a little, and twitch it back. If you can find concentrations of baitfish this fall the flukes should work well.

[burrows]

6 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I get a lot of bites but miss about 95% of them. I use 4/0 and 5/0 to try to increase hookups and still miss most bites. Anyone have any advice? I have tried letting them eat it longer and they thrash it like a terrier and spit it out. If I set fast I just pull it out of their mouth 

80%  of my bites are hard strikes so very easy to detect and set the hook.

Keep an eye on your line! Very important. Jerk jerk pause reel in slack jerk jerk pause reel in slack, a lot of times that strike will come before you reel in the slack! and that’s when you have to watch that line always.

cant catch anything on a fluke? Try a slower approach cast out dead stick one minute and pop it off the floor let it fall dead stick it again as long as one minute even longer and pop that sucker up and your gonna get a bite. Dead sticking a fluke is very effective just be patient watch that line. 

 

[Derek1]

6 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

I get a lot of bites but miss about 95% of them. I use 4/0 and 5/0 to try to increase hookups and still miss most bites. Anyone have any advice? I have tried letting them eat it longer and they thrash it like a terrier and spit it out. If I set fast I just pull it out of their mouth 

I miss a few also. Just make sure your hook is just skin hooked a little bit or sitting right on the back, so not so much plastic to go through. Nose hooked if you can should increase hook ups. 

[fishwizzard]

For Zoom Supers, you can rig them upside down so the hook point is hidden in the belly slot so it's still weedless, but is much easier to pop out.  

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, fishwizzard said:

For Zoom Supers, you can rig them upside down so the hook point is hidden in the belly slot so it's still weedless, but is much easier to pop out.  

Thanks! I’ll try that. My problem is not getting bites or detecting  bites, it’s hooking the bites 

[TOXIC]

If you want a quicker hook presentation, do not skin hook when you rig Texas style with the EWG hook.  I use a 4.0 and do skin hook so I let them take it a little longer.  Usually there is no nipping at a flue.  They take it.  Here are a few rigging tips:

 

I throw a Yamamoto DShad a LOT.  It is one of my go to baits.  I have rigged it many different ways but weightless is the most deadly for me.  Depending on how I want the bait to act, the key is where you insert the hook in the nose for a weightless Texas Rigged bait.  Straight in the center will give you a flat level fall. to the top and the bait will dive when you twitch it, to the bottom and the bait will climb on the twitch.  Likewise left or right of center will move the bait sideways.  There are a lot of minor adjustments in between those that I mentioned that will dictate the baits movement. 

[Brad Reid]

Well, one sure-fire way to increase the odds of a fish staying hooked is to revert to a straight-shanked hook, T-Rig it so that the point remains embedded in the plastic . . . but the hook point is then resting at an angle where once you set the hook, it comes bounding out of the plastic to snag cartilage or tissue. I just never get this sort of hook up ratio with flatter lying hook points (offsets and EWGs).

 

I do acknowledge that some of the newer offsets and EWGs are addressing this issue with some design improvements to make the point more likely to snag the fish.

 

Another rigging? Use a 3/0 or 4/0 60 degree bend jig hook and attach a medium sized Owner CPS centering pin to it. Screw on the fluke or shad bait, then finish it like a T-Rig. What happens is a fluke or shad screwed on to a CPS has a softer "bite down" and a bit more range for the fish to chomp down and encounter the hook tip more easily.

 

Finally, when it is slow, cast it, let it sink, jerk it a few times . . . but be certain to let it, from time to time, float all the way to the bottom and just sit there. Bass will often pick them up just like a worm if they are feeding on the bottom. If no bite, jerk it up off the bottom hoping for a reaction bite.

 

Brad

[NittyGrittyBoy]

No wrong way to fish a fluke. Hook em and fish

[JustJames]

@TOXIC I want smaller size D-Shad let say 4", would this be possible?

Like now I pay all my attention to Fluke Jr. But sink rate is killing me. I like D-Shad a lot especially when fish deep water due to sink rate and material just like Senko.

My first fish this morning with this pixy on Zoom Super Fluke Jr. Money well spent I guess ? 

[TOXIC]

Sorry, The DShad is only offered in 5" size.  I have never needed a smaller version.  I am embarrassed to say I have had some really small bass eat the DShad.  I almost wish it was offered in a larger size.  

[TnRiver46]

Thank you very much @Brad Reid, that’s exactly the kind of info I was looking for 

[187yak]

I finally caught one on a fluke. Brad is right. Jerk jerk pause worked for me. I’m in the south and it’s started cooling off. I like to use a pegged bullet weight. About 14” leader with a red glass bead on it.  These guys on here have tons of great advice.