Concern about soft plastics not sinking fast enough

[livemusic]

I like to fish a super fluke or other soft plastic. Especially the super fluke, if fish are real shallow, the slow fall can be good. But if I want the fluke to get down faster, how? I could add weight to the hook or use a manufactured weighted hook or add weight to the lure. But what about using a fluorocarbon leader on braid line? Fluorocarbon sinks, right? Do you think that would help at all?

 

Other than that, I am also simply curious about using a leader attached to heavy braid. I have a frog rod/reel that has heavy braid (50 or 60 lb, I don't recall) and I like to throw this pretty expensive rig but I'd rather have smaller diameter something attached to the plastic. To, hopefully, spook less fish due to visibility. Mind you, I rarely fish clear water but want every edge.

[Mike L]

Put a nail weight either through the nose or across the back depending on how you want it to fall. 
 

 

 

Mike

[Deleted account]

I fish weightless flukes on 10 lb mono down to about 4 feet, I'll go to 10lb braid with a leader down to about 6 ft. If the fish are consistently deeper than that, I'll weigh them down, usually with a finishing nail. I like a round bend hook, so I usually don't go with a weighted EWG, but they work ok enough.

[fishingtx]

Just put an 1/8 oz lead bullet weight unpegged and unpainted in front of the hook on a texas rig.

[InfantryMP]

Belly weighted hook. I like them because it makes the fall level. If you want a level fall that is. If you want a front heavy dive then the nail weight could work out for you. 

[MN Fisher]

1 hour ago, livemusic said:

But what about using a fluorocarbon leader on braid line? Fluorocarbon sinks, right? Do you think that would help at all?

 

1 hour ago, livemusic said:

Other than that, I am also simply curious about using a leader attached to heavy braid. I have a frog rod/reel that has heavy braid (50 or 60 lb, I don't recall) and I like to throw this pretty expensive rig but I'd rather have smaller diameter something attached to the plastic. To, hopefully, spook less fish due to visibility. Mind you, I rarely fish clear water but want every edge.

Well, there's the problem right there - braid is very buoyant and you'd need a long leader (12'+) to overcome that enough to get the plastic down further without weight.

 

I'd personally toss it on a different rig that has FC as mainline - leave the braid behind for weightless plastics like worms, flukes, etc.

 

6 minutes ago, bass4life.... said:

Just put an 1/8 oz lead bullet weight unpegged and unpainted in front of the hook on a texas rig.

 

For this, I'd actually got lighter - I have 1/16oz bullets for really light tossing.

 

4 minutes ago, InfantryMP said:

Belly weighted hook.

 

This is actually my preferred method of getting flukes down further. 1/16oz and 1/8oz are what I have for belly-weighted hooks depending on A: what plastic I'm using and B: How deep I want it to go.

[Fishes in trees]

I like the VMC Drop Dead weighted hooks.  They come in various sizes & weights.   For me the 4/0 1/8 oz size works best.    If I had to go heavier, I'd use a tungsten worm weight pegged to the nose.

[Bass Rutten]

Splitshot or mojo rig, I usually put a 1/16 or 1/8 oz weight anywhere from 9-24” from the hook, you could peg a worm weight or gremlin makes a bullet shaped crimp on weight.

[Deleted account]

57 minutes ago, bass4life.... said:

and unpainted... 

LOL

[JustJames]

Depends on how you want to fish those Super Fluke. If you wanna fish like normal fluke “fast”, jerk jerk pause, jerk jerk pause you don’t use weight or as light as possible. I can fish Super Fluke down to 8-10’ unweighted. You alternative would be using Yamamoto D-Shad or Caffeine Shad which heavier and sink a little bit faster. Now if you wanna fish Super Fluke like “Senko” jerk jerk and let it sink down to bottom, I like to use 1/16oz belly weight, @Fishes in treesmentioned VMC drop dead is pretty good but I would go one size smaller than your typical EWG hook.

I fish fluke only on Copolymer 8lb or FC 10lb no braid here which would effect sink rate and action.

Another option if you want, adding split shot to CPS twisted lock hook. If you look closely at the hook you will see small split shot.

 

[OkobojiEagle]

Develop a little patience... the seductive wiggle as a fluke SLOWLY falls will entice out-sized bass to take a closer look.

 

oe

[padon]

buy the yamamoto d shads. they are full of salt and fall faster than a fluke but dont lose action like the fluke does when you weight it. same darting dodging action but a better sink rate.

[livemusic]

6 minutes ago, OkobojiEagle said:

Develop a little patience... the seductive wiggle as a fluke SLOWLY falls will entice out-sized bass to take a closer look.

 

oe

 

I suspect there is something to that because the fall/glide is amazing. I usually cast to cover, we have a lot of trees and stumps here. If you don't get bit right around that cover, might as well reel in and throw to the next spot. Impatience during the fall isn't good I suppose. I dunno how long it takes to fall to the bottom at, say, 4-5 feet but it can't be THAT long!

[OkobojiEagle]

1 hour ago, livemusic said:

 

I suspect there is something to that because the fall/glide is amazing. I usually cast to cover, we have a lot of trees and stumps here. If you don't get bit right around that cover, might as well reel in and throw to the next spot. Impatience during the fall isn't good I suppose. I dunno how long it takes to fall to the bottom at, say, 4-5 feet but it can't be THAT long!

Suggested retrieve to try with a fluke... cast to cover, let the bait fall on slack line to bottom, give a 4-5 second count laying on the bottom, snap sharply upwards, let settle for only 1 second, snap sharply upwards again, let settle for only 1 second, continue until you've worked the bait to the surface, let the bait fall on slack line again to bottom, repeat until you're certain you've fished it completely away from any bass holding cover.  Don't be in a hurry to end your retrieve and cast to a new spot, that PB bass may need to watch your dying bait for a bit.

 

Give this retrieve a try on a couple of occasions, who knows...

 

oe 

[BlakeMolone]

Storm makes lead strips you can wrap around your hook, also dropping down in line size will let your bait fall faster. A fluke fishes way better for me on 10 or 12lb big game vs 15lb.

[CrankFate]

Add a weight. Buy sinking braided line.

[livemusic]

22 hours ago, padon said:

buy the yamamoto d shads. they are full of salt and fall faster than a fluke but dont lose action like the fluke does when you weight it. same darting dodging action but a better sink rate.

 

I happened upon a video and the presenter was talking about this very subject. He did not mention the Yamamoto D Shad but he did mention Bass Assassin and Reaction Innovation fluke-like baits. He mentioned heavier salt made them sink faster, which is this thread subject!

[padon]

1 minute ago, livemusic said:

 

I happened upon a video and the presenter was talking about this very subject. He did not mention the Yamamoto D Shad but he did mention Bass Assassin and Reaction Innovation fluke-like baits. He mentioned heavier salt made them sink faster, which is this thread subject!

yes strike king baits sink a little faster too.d shad sinks the fastest of any i have used though. sink rate is similar to a 5 inch senko.

[Catt]

7" M-Pack Shad ?

[MGF]

Most of my fluke fishing is in my river where the current is moderate and the water usually less than 4 ft deep. 2-3 ft is probably the norm. I fish them on braid to flouro. The leader is long enough that all the braid is going is providing a good casting long lasting base.

 

Given the conditions I sometimes want the fluke to sink a bit faster so I put a little piece of a nail weight into the bait. The caffeine shad sinks faster but I tend to reach for the zoom first anyway.

[TOXIC]

I was a little hesitant to reply since I seem like a Yamamoto broken record but I was pleasantly surprised to see the responses for the Yamamoto DShad.  It has a very fast sink rate.  I have told this story before but it saved a trip to Lake St Clair.  The smallmouth didn’t want any of our usual offerings like tubes or hard baits and we were struggling for bites.  I decided to drag a DShad like a tube drift fishing.  Keep in mind I rig my DShads weightless on 6lb mono with no braid or leader on a 7ft spinning rod.  I was dragging the DShad in 5 to 13 feet of water and it was no problem getting it that deep and keeping it that deep.  I was in constant bottom contact.  My fishing partner and I absolutely crushed them and we went through at least 7 bags of DShads.  It wasn’t a 1 time deal either, I have replicated it on subsequent trips.  

[JustJames]

1 hour ago, TOXIC said:

I was a little hesitant to reply since I seem like a Yamamoto broken record but I was pleasantly surprised to see the responses for the Yamamoto DShad.

Count me on D-Shad, my favorite even over Zoom. In fact I fish all brand of fluke even the floating one from Zman and all kind of size from Magnum to tiny fluke.

I caught this one a few days back, thanks to OP mentioned the Fluke and I haven’t fish one for awhile. The fish crushed it while it falling after the first jerk.