Soft jerkbaits

[Dan:]

I want to start fishing some more soft jerkbaits like flukes and what not. I'm looking for suggestions on brands, colors, sizes and rigging techniques, and fishing techniques and especially some good jigheads to use. I'll probably be fishing mainly for smallies by the way, but they'll probably see some of those "green trout" as well...

[LakeAnnaBasser]

If their is no brush or weeds around i usually throw a berkley realistix power jerkshad. And i rig it just by nose hooking it and no weight. But if im throwing it in grass ill texas rig it with no weight.

[senko_77]

Whenever I fish a soft plastic jerkbait its always a model of the zoom fluke series.  First you want to try and match the size of the baitfish.  Usually I will throw the super fluke to mimick a slightly larger baitfish, but sometimes the baitfish are so tiny that the bass are feeding on that the super fluke jr. or the tiny fluke will work better.  For colors I usually just stick with anything "baitfishish"  like albino, green shad, or arkansas shiner.  I toss them most of the time on a 2/0 or 3/0 owner rig n' hook depending on the size of the fluke I'm using.  Sometimes I will tie on a swivel about 8 inches above my fluke if I'm having alot of line twist, but I'm not crazy about it because it gives you 3 knots instead of 1 and that triples your chance of knot failure.

The best time to throw soft jerkbaits is pre-spawn, post spawn and fall.  This is when the bass are keying in most on shad.  Throw them on flats, points, humps, bluffs, or anywhere else the fish would be feeding actively or suspending higher in the water column.  

The cadence of your retrieve is something you will have to figure out on the day your out on the water.  Sometimes they need it to move quick to trigger a reaction strike, and other times they need a slow, lethargic retrieve.

[cart7t]

I've still got plenty of Sluggo style baits back when those were all the rage around 10 years ago.  Mostly in baitfish colors.

[Dan:]

thanks for the info senko77, that was a much more detailed response than I expected  ;D I'll probably go with the flukes because I like Zoom products and they look pretty good. Thanks for the suggestion on the tiny fluke, I had never seen them before but I might have to give em a try too...

Any jighead suggestions though if i wanna get a little deeper?

[hitormiss]

Take a dremel and cut 1/4 - 1/2" of the pointy end off an 8 penny nail and shove it in the meaty part of the fluke just past where you inserted the hook in the nose. I haven't tried it with a fluke yet but I did this with a sluggo and it did not interfere with the action and made the drop quicker. When you are a rookie like me you try anything!

[roadwarrior]

Welcome aboard!

[hitormiss]

Thank you!

[Nick B]

I like Strike King Z too, I usually fish it with at 3/0 or 4/0 EWG hook

[ww2farmer]

I like all the Zoom Fluke offerings........the super fluke, super fluke jr., the original fluke, and the tiny fluke.

I like to rig the super fluke on a 3/0 EWG, the superfluke jr. on a 2/0 EWG, and the orginal fluke also on a 2/0 EWG, the tiny fluke is mostly a drop shot bait for me.

The fluke can't be fished wrong........I use it weightless, on a c-rig, as a jig trailer, I even tried and liked the results I got on it using it on a shakey head rig.

[senko_77]

Take a dremel and cut 1/4 - 1/2" of the pointy end off an 8 penny nail and shove it in the meaty part of the fluke just past where you inserted the hook in the nose. I haven't tried it with a fluke yet but I did this with a sluggo and it did not interfere with the action and made the drop quicker. When you are a rookie like me you try anything!

This is an awesome thing to do. The problem with the jighead is when you let it fall on slack, it nose dives. This only seems to work when your hopping it on the bottom so it looks like a shad is bottom feeding. If you place weight in the center of the bait, it will glide down evenly. Its the same thing you do with a senko. To keep the senkos action, but to get a quicker fall you place weight in the middle of the bait, not all in the front. Another thing I will do is wrap the bend in the hook with 1 or 2 storm suspend strips. This adds a little to my casting distance, centers the weight, and doesnt tear up your fluke like an inserted weight can.

[SENKOSAM]

Two very effective methods not mentioned for Fluke style jerkbaits are split shot and drop shot.

Use a EWG hook and a split shot (size depending on depth) 1-2' up the line. This excels in shallow water and rocky bottoms and allows you to work water as fast or as slow as the fish want.

Drop shotting can also be effective in the shallows and hopping the sinker on bottom makes the fluke dance and dart around. It can be nose hooked or T-rigged, depending on cover.

As in split shot presentations, either a EWG hook or circle hook will work. I've caught crappie and perch on a dropshot fluke in 3' near a school.

I also like Lunker City's Fin S Fin, soft minnow jerks. You never know what will clobber them.

[hitormiss]

Senko77, I'm not sure what the suspend strips are but if they are lead with a sticky surface I may have a better, cheaper idea. I went to a Pro Golf store and bought lead tape, 45" for $2.18. Wrap the bend in a EWG hook, front, middle or back to make the bait fall any way you want it to.

[Other.]

I like Zooms version of the fluke, Any shad color will work good. I fish it weightless and just let it brush the weeds early in the morning in shallow water.