What The Fluke? 2025

pjmags reply :

I always hear about how easy it is to use a fluke to catch bass and also how successful people are when using them. I have been trying and trying to gain confidence in this lure but I still have not caught a single bass on a fluke. It is very frustrating to fish something that you know can potentially produce many fish but I just can not find any rhythm with it. I have watched several videos but still no luck. Has anyone else had this same problem? Any quick tips to fishing a fluke? And also, would you reccomend to fish a fluke on a spinning or baitcasting rod? Thanks everyone!

Raul reply :

I fish flukes with both kinds of gear and find no difference.

Go as light as you can with your line, lighter line gives the bait a much better action.

Unweighted weedless rigged:

Cast, allow to sink to a desired depth, lower your rod tip as you aim your rod towards the bait, when the bait reaches the depth you want give it a strong pull with a wrist snap sideways.

Reel in the slack.

But there are other ways to rig and present a fluke.

stk reply :

I fish a weightless fluke with a 4/0 offset round bend worm hook and a mh 6'6 graphite spinning rod and 20lb power pro super slick braid. There are typically two ways I fish them. I'll cast them out and as it hits the water, give it a couple of jerks/reels to get the bait to cause a commotion on the surface, then let it sink. After sitting a while I'll twitch it back to the boat. The other way I'll fish them is to slowly swim them back to the boat. If you rigged it correctly the slow swim back to the boat/shore should dart from side to side. If the fluke is spiraling you don't have the hook directly in the center of the nose and center of the bottom where the hook exits the nose.

Keep at it, eventually you'll find out what works on your waters. Good luck.

WdyCrankbait reply :

Try them on a C-rig as well.

Kevin22 reply :

Downsize to the fluke jr. Put it on a 2/0 offset worm hook (not ewg). Use a spinning rod and throw it to a laydown, grass line, pads, or anything that you think a fish will be holding on. You'll get some 10-12" fish which will boost your confidence. After you figure them out, go back to the super fluke and upsize to a baitcaster to target some bigger fish.

Delaware Valley Tackle reply :

I fish flukes a lot like a senko, thrown to targets and let sink horizontally on semi slack line. Fish them all the way back with a jerk bait cadence twitch twitch pause. They are also good over slightly submerged grass beds. If cover allows nose hook them with a circle hook for a little different action and solid hook ups.

Bassun reply :

I am no pro fisher, but the fluke is one of my go to's on the lake, especially on sunny days. I prefer a short 6 to 6'6" medium light rod with a fast tip loaded with no more than 10lb Ande spooled on a medium sized spinning reel. If you are going to be in deep cover, shift to light braid like STK mentioned. I rig it with EWG 3/0 to 5/0 (usually unweighted) hooks "texposed" on the 4" or 5" super flukes. I LOVE black over silver (Smokey Shad I think) and Pearl. But I keep a variety of other colors to match up with the fish want. If you can use a white of any type and get bites, that is my first suggestion. It makes things SO much easier when you can see the lure IMO (especially if you are just learning how to make them dance). Note that different colors DO have different body stiffnesses sometimes. There is a white with a chartruese tail that looks great, but is stiff as a board.

I really look for a few places to fish the fluke (we have little grass, no lilly pads, etc on my home lake). I love the fluke during the summer right up on the bank, UNDER overhanging brush with laydowns in the water. Ideally, I want to put the fluke where you would never even try to put a crank or most other lures in general. 99% of the time I am using an underhand whip cast, skipping the lure back into the bank / into a log / into a rock - whatever happens to be there I want to hit it or stop just next to it. I try to always target structure in the shade this time of year with the fluke.

Once in the water I like to give a few seconds of dead sticking then give a small twitch just as soon as i have regained all the slack. Often this is when you will get hit. Note - I mean a small twitch. Not a drag like you are working a carolina rig worm, or a hop like a jig. Just a tiny twitch. Think all wrist, no elbow movement - I usually end up just rotating my wrist snapping the tip from strait ahead of me towards 7/8 oclock. This is part of the reason why i like a fast tip. If you do the twitch right, the fluke should give a quick dart looking just like a dazed baitfish. Practice getting this perfect in open clear water, as to me this IS the key to working a fluke with success.

If this first twitch has no luck, give it a few seconds to sit and then twitch a couple more times. Generally if I haven't been hit by now, I start looking to slowly work the lure back off the bank. I like to keep the fluke high in the column, and moving slowly with stop an go twitches and I add in a dart. By dart think more like an extended twitch where you make the fluke swim forward a foot or two by giving a smooth but rapid pull on the rod from center to 7/8 oclock again (or 3/4 depending on which direction you are moving obviously). Remember you are trying to make the fluke look like an injured baitfish, watch how it looks and work on your technique until you can literally feel how the lure is reacting under the surface. That becomes key with dark colors or fishing deep. If you are in shallow water and can see structure, obviously target it during your retrieve. Coming over a horizontal log with a dart then a twitch can be deadly!

This is why I like fishing with whites when I can. It is much easier to see what the lure is doing, where its at, and when its been inhailed by a bass in the shadows if you have white on. Be careful, you can easily set the hook too quick if you see a fish hit; do your normal topwater wait to increase your number of hook ups.

I also use these guys under docs or any solid structure. Again I get as far back as I can and apply all the basic strategies to fishing in terms of positions. Docks, boats, log jams, anything that looks "bassy" and has shade - I'm skipping a fluke into and waiting for action. Having the tip of the hook buried or flat on the surface gives you so much more access to nasty little spots where you would never think of putting something with a tacklebox full of exposed hooks hanging out. You just about can't hang these guys up, unless you wrap around a limb or get caught in a V etc.

Having said all the above, if things are not getting hit - start exploring deeper in the water column by using a mix of A: slower action / longer dead sticking B: weighted hooks. My old fishing partner and I both caught tons of fish off flukes; he fished them deep and slow (and now loves senko's and honestly fished the flukes the same way he does senko's now) while I liked to keep it shallow and more active. Interestingly I was usually fishing the front of the boat and he the rear, and it worked well as I was getting the active feeders and he was often getting more tentative bass. Flukes are like that --- depending on what you need they can do it all. *Sometimes he would use the paddle tail version where as I almost always used the split tail. However, if I am fishing deep and slow, I do find better luck with the paddle tail.

I could go on and on about these guys - but I think if you can take something from the above post you may find better success! Good luck and tight lines!

MacP reply :

I've almost started to flsh flukes exclusively with underspins. I catch big fish routinely with them.

papajoe222 reply :

Only one piece of advice here; slow down. You can easily overwork this lure under many conditions. Try short jerks with longer pauses, letting the bait settle down a couple of feet before the next twitch. Also try switching from a twitch to the side to one straight upward.

everythingthatswims reply :

Twitch/jerk it so that it darts back and forth. The only time I pause is when the bait is staying on top and I need to let it sink (hitting the top every now and then is the right depth). Great bait to fish around hydrilla in reasonably clear water, just make sure you have tackle that can bring a big fish out of the stuff if it runs in there, I fish them on a medium action baitcaster with 12lb mono or fluoro. Natural baitfish colors are the best, I use 3/0 EWG hooks for the superflukes (I only fish superflukes) make sure you set the hook hard, flukes collapse on the hook set can be weird.

SirSnookalot reply :

Spinning or b/c doesn't make difference. I use flukes quite a bit but only when I have to fish weedless. I like to fish them sub or on the surface, excellent bait used working just off the shore of canals. If I have more latitude in the water column I prefer swimming a bucktail or marabou jig, I can work it more ways.

bankguy315 reply :

Try nose hooking one with a small drop shot hook (no weight) and fish it on the surface/subsurface using a twitch and pause retrieve. crazy action

Crestliner2008 reply :

Remember, you are trying to imitate a dying baitfish. Envision the fish struggling to stay up in the water column and fish it that way. And btw, I do even better with the old 5" Sluggo, than with the fluke tails.

smalljaw67 reply :

There are times a fluke won't work, but in most cases they do great. If you are fishing really dirty water, less than 1' visibility then the fluke isn't the way to go but in normally stained water with 1' to1.5' of visibility you can do well with pearl with chartreuse tail, or crazy chrome. I think the best way to gain confidence in the bait is to use the super fluke jr., the 4" version is awesome on a spinning rod with a light wire hook and it will generate a lot more strikes on average. Remember, work it slow and to work the water column, if the fish are willing to take a fluke it doesn't take long to find out as they will usually move a good way to hit it.

Kevin22 reply :

That is a very good point. If you are fishing muddy water, forget it. Go to a swimming fluke or something like that, with some vibration and sound. Flukes are visual baits, best for clear to stained water.

ChrisD46 reply :

All good advice ... My current fluke set up is : 7' med action spinning rod / 3000 size spinning reel , 15lb braid to small Spro swivel (key !) then 2.5' length of 8lb flouro leader to a Gama 5/0 offset worm hook - lastly a Zoom Super Fluke (Pearl or Baby Bass) then I tip the tail 1/16th to 1/8 inch into a bottle of chartreause JJ's Magic just to add a touch of color ... As the G-Man would say : "It's like the ORDER UP alarm sounded at the Waffle House for bass " !

dam0007 reply :

Gamakatsu weighted hooks! Once I switched to em it made all the difference.

FrogTosser88 reply :

The fluke is very versatile... As you can see by reading all the replies... rigged weightless it has an awesome wiggle on the fall.. slow retrieve , and when you see that dark shadow approaching your bait, let it fall... sometimes this will trigger the strike.. Other times the retrieve alone will cause an agressive fish to come and get it....

If fish are chasing, but not hitting it. I like to switch to a small paddletail swimbait like the sassy sally's... maybe a smaller fluke like some have said....

Oh and I also have tried rigging them upside down.. it gives a different action that can work..

Funny story.. I say to my friend, " Im going to rig this backwards and see how it swims".. as soon as those words left my mouth I was reeling in a fish that came out from under a weedmat to get it.....

Good luck man...

Also maybe try a hook with a belly weight for deeper presentation

Hogsticker reply :

Good thread!

Bassun reply :

On 6/22/2014 at 6:09 PM, FrogTosser88 said:

Funny story.. I say to my friend, " Im going to rig this backwards and see how it swims".. as soon as those words left my mouth I was reeling in a fish that came out from under a weedmat to get it.....

This actually just made me think of an idea where this could be a really slick idea. Superfluke, rigged backwards with a 3-5/0 unweighted - with a nail weight in the nose. Pitched towards brush or some nasty thick cover. I haven't tried this, but it could make the fluke dive away from you and deeper into the brush or pockets on a fall with a slack line. Especially if you use a paddle tail version and bring the hooks tie off on top of the paddle. This could work around all kinds of cover, and it may look like a baitfish trying to get into cover on the fall. We all know most of the time the fall is at best vertical and usually swings away from the target at least some --- this should give a really unique look and work similar to the ole' flying lures... only with a fluke!

Frogtosser --- Thanks for the idea, I will have to try that this summer! Has anyone else tried that? (sorry for thread creep)

JayKumar reply :

One note is that fish can and do come up behind a Fluke and suck it in quickly. If you don't see them do this or see your line move, you may miss the bite or be late. Try to be in contact with something visually.

WdyCrankbait reply :

Enjoy it, you're in high school and have the rest of your life to work for a living. Be responsible, most different varieties of lures are not need, but general types are. Meaning, find one or two different types of cranks and stick with them, or same with flipping plastic craws.

Save up for a nice car though! A nice car equals a better looking girlfriend and in high school, that is a win!!!

hookset on 3 reply :

On 6/22/2014 at 8:43 PM, Hogsticker said:
Good thread!

I concur!

This thread needs to be Pinned.

pjmags reply :

Thanks everyone for all the advice! I really appreciate it.

pjmags reply :

On 6/26/2014 at 4:26 AM, WdyCrankbait said:

Enjoy it, you're in high school and have the rest of your life to work for a living. Be responsible, most different varieties of lures are not need, but general types are. Meaning, find one or two different types of cranks and stick with them, or same with flipping plastic craws.

Save up for a nice car though! A nice car equals a better looking girlfriend and in high school, that is a win!!!

I'm actually almost graduated from college! haha

Kevin22 reply :

On 6/23/2014 at 12:43 AM, Bassun said:

This actually just made me think of an idea where this could be a really slick idea. Superfluke, rigged backwards with a 3-5/0 unweighted - with a nail weight in the nose. Pitched towards brush or some nasty thick cover. I haven't tried this, but it could make the fluke dive away from you and deeper into the brush or pockets on a fall with a slack line. Especially if you use a paddle tail version and bring the hooks tie off on top of the paddle. This could work around all kinds of cover, and it may look like a baitfish trying to get into cover on the fall. We all know most of the time the fall is at best vertical and usually swings away from the target at least some --- this should give a really unique look and work similar to the ole' flying lures... only with a fluke!

Frogtosser --- Thanks for the idea, I will have to try that this summer! Has anyone else tried that? (sorry for thread creep)

Yes sir, it will work. Guys have been doing it for a long time here to get baits inside laydowns without making a splash. Most guys I see dong it use a 5" senko with a light wire hook and tail weighted so it glides backwards. Give it a good pop on the surface and then slack line and it will glide backwards.

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What The Fluke? 2025

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