# Questions about Flukes?



## bobby (Aug 1, 2005)

I figure someone here has some success with Zoom Super Flukes. never really spent much time committed to them but have decided to give them a try more consistently this year. 

What kind of hooks does anyone use? What bend, what size? Any tips? 

Figuring to keep colors simple, maybe two or three colors. Pearl white, Watermelon red, and ???

thanks in advance


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## angler69 (Sep 26, 2005)

I use a 3/0 or 4/0 EWG (extra wide gap) hook. Pick which ever brand you like (Gama.,VMC,Owner). Add one of the shad colors to your list.

Weightless is a great way to fish it, but don't be afraid to Texas rig it. 

I fish it on both mono and floro either 12-14-17 lbs. Mono when I want to fish it up high, as mono floats. Floro when I want to fish it a little deeper,as it sinks. 

If your around a lot of fish try riggin the double rig a.k.a. Donkey rig, just google it. It can be a lot of fun!

Generally speaking I like at least 1.5' of visibility in the water, but the clearer can be better.


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


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## buckzye11 (Jul 16, 2009)

If you want to add some weight to it the EWG hook with the weight on the shank(belly weight) works great... It lets the fluke fall horizontaly down... With a 1/16th oz belly weight on a fluke you get a nice slow fall.
They don't make a perch pattern for the fluke, but it's very easy with a black marker and orange spike-it used on a watermelon base... Besides pearl, it's my second favorite pattern.


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## bobby (Aug 1, 2005)

Thanks all for the responses.

buckzye11 - can you post or text me a pic of what that perch pattern looks like? 216-551-1366



buckzye11 said:


> for the fluke, but it's very easy with a black marker and orange spike-it used on a watermelon base... Besides pearl, it's my second favorite pattern.


Also, is there a particular time of year you guys use it more than others?


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## Cull'in (Nov 21, 2005)

Any shad color fluke with a 4/0 EWG Gammy hook. I like to use Storm Suspenstrips on the hook shank for a little weight.

Flukes are good almost anytime, my favorite way is the deadstick them on inactive fish.


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## jake222 (Dec 26, 2014)

I use a 3/0 or 4/0 Wide gap or extra wide gap hook. I use 12lb line on a med/heavy rod. The colors I like are baby bass, white,green pumpkin. My jerk cadences I are a 2.3 (two jerks pause three jerks pause) a 3.2 and a 2.2. Sometimes I'll jerk it fast and keep it on top. Good luck!


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## bman (Apr 20, 2009)

One of my fav baits and I pretty much only use Shad colors. I always use a weight with it so I can work it quickly like a hard jerk bait. I insert a nail in the front of the fluke or recently just shrink tubed some small pellet weights to the bottom portion of a 3/0 or 4/0 hook (basically the same hooks others have already recommended.) I also prefer the fluke jr size but the both work just fine. On KY Lake one time, the only way we could catch fish that were busting Shad was with a fluke. Trouble is, the fish would break around us but not always within a normal casting distance with an unweighted fluke. So thats when I started weighting flukes. On that trip, I actually rigged it with a Carolina rig but used a 1/8 oz bullet weight vs. a heavy egg Carolina weight. Boom-got the casting distance I needed and was able to work it down in the water column a bit from a far distance. Worked well.

I hate braid with flukes. Prefer flouro since it sinks a bit and helps it stay in the water while working it back.

FWIW, I actually haven't had consistent luck with flukes on central Ohio bass. I think this is mostly due to the fact the water is often so stained. Need decent water clarity for it to work well IMO. But I've had a few days where it worked well, and it always kills pond bass, LOL! Good luck. I'm case you can't tell, I love flukes!


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## pppatrick (Apr 21, 2012)

last spring i started using a vmc drop dead hook on flukes and fluke-esc type baits to help increase casting distance and to increase the fall rate. 

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/VMC_Drop_Dead_Weighted_Hook_4pk/descpage-VDDWH.html

the 1/16 oz still allows the bait to fall at a slow enough rate that it doesn't have to be fished to much faster than unweighted. 

the placement of the weight alows it to fall at an even keel, where most weighted swimbait hooks have the weight oriented further forward causing it to drop nose down and look far less like a dying baitfish.


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## ccc (Mar 14, 2005)

bubblegum works everywhere.


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## bman (Apr 20, 2009)

ccc said:


> bubblegum works everywhere.


Makes sense. I think the biggest thing is to use a color that gets their attention and bubblegum would certainly fit the bill. I've got some black ones too for stained water but Ive never had the confidence to use them as of yet.


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## NCbassattack (May 5, 2014)

Flukes are great shad imitators, and catch lots of fish. I recall one day a few Octobers ago when my cousin and I were fishing an overcast day at Badin Lake here. We caught 52 fish, mainly largemouth, but with several white bass and two stripers on flukes. They were busting shad everywhere, and flukes were all they would hit.
That being said, about three years ago in September, my friend and I were at High Point Lake on a misty, overcast day, and found bass schooling shad in the mouth of a small creek that fed the lake. They were really slamming the shad, just ripping through them, coming clean out of the water.
Guffy pulled out his fluke and started casting to them. I picked up a Texas rigged Zoom Magnum Finesse worm in green pumpkin, and tossed it to the schooling bass. The water was between two to four feet deep, with some brush near the bank. I immediately hooked up with a nice five pound fish, and for the next hour I caught 13 bass on that bait, while Guffy didn't get a sniff on the flukes! Go figure! Logic indicated Guffy was doing the correct thing, but those finicky bass wanted nothing but the mag finesse. Guffy got with the program at last and boated three fish before the bite stopped on the worms.
One of the weirdest things I have ever seen. Guffy is a master of catching schooling bass on flukes, but he got not a single strike on them.
Just goes to show how confounding bass fishing can be!

Link to that story.
http://www.ncangler.com/forums/threads/43720-Whoopin-Bass-at-HPCL-with-Jerry-Condrey


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

I use a regular Gama.....worm hook in 2/0 or 3/0 size. If you use the offset work hook, make sure you use the round bend type. Your hook up percentage will be much higher. I also rig them upside down so the hook is not exposed in the groove. The hook comes out of the head on the groove side and sits in the back weedless just like you would rig a weedless worm. 
In my opinion, this way is much better and more weedless when fishing heavy grass than rigging in the traditional way.

if you do a search, someone posted a pic on how they rig with a treble hook. It was a few years back.


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## The Ghost (Jul 3, 2013)

I throw them on 3/0 or (usually) 4/0 Gama EWGs. I've experimented a bit with superline hooks in pads too. I've had no issues rigging them traditionally.


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