Fluke

[Nowater2shallow]

is there a simple way to get them to sink faster tried the weighted hook thing and did not like that, would finish nails work when put in the head section and not hurt hook set

[Real L]

The best I found is a tungsten nail weight (two if you want) put from one side of the fluke to the other, but expensive. Now I use lead wire (fly shop) wrapped around the whole hook shank. I don't use EGW hooks.

[capt odie]

Try different hooks like the extra strength type

[CV_X21]

I’ve been fishing with Lunker City Fin-S Fish and Zoom Fluke soft jerkbaits for over 20 years. Early on, I found that I got more strikes if I fished them deeper. To get them deeper, I settled on lead match stick weights. I use Twistons line sinkers available from Bass Pro: https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/twistons-line-sinkers. Eagle Claw also makes them (but I haven’t tried them): https://www.eagleclaw.com/wtwst-twist-on-line-sinker.

I rig the Fluke Texas style, with an EWG hook. (I’ve had too many swallow the bait with J-bend hooks.) After inserting the hook in the head of the bait, I wrap one lead weight stick around the shank of the hook, as tightly as I can. (The weight stays in place surprisingly well.) Next, I insert the hook in the belly of the bait, and up through the back, then I “Tex-Pose” the hook point to make it weedless. It is important that the bait hangs straight on the hook. Make a cast and watch the bait as you jerk it; the bait should glide, but not roll on its side after a twitch.

I generally keep the weight closer to the eye of the hook. This allows the bait to dive, nose slightly down, after a jerk. If I see the fish are following, but not committing, I will move the weight to the center of the hook. This makes the bait fall horizontally. The Super Fluke, that has the hook pocket in the belly, will shimmy as it falls. If you feel that you need to fish a little deeper, wrap a second stick, over the first, not behind it. If the weight slides back to the bend of the hook, move it back to the front and twist it tight again.

One other tip… use a red hook and ALWAYS paint red gills on the bait with a red Spike-It Dye Marker, just behind the point where the hook comes out of the head of the bait. It may be a confidence thing, but I’ve seen it make a difference way too many times to think it doesn’t help.
Good Luck

[bassboat1]

I use the Lunker City insert weights. I put them through sideways and clip them off flush - so about 3/8" long. One or two pieces placed midway between the hook eye and point (vary for more tail-down or horizontal). Weighting allows me to use lighter wire EWG hooks when conditions call for light line.

[BoatBuggy]

is there a simple way to get them to sink faster tried the weighted hook thing and did not like that, would finish nails work when put in the head section and not hurt hook set

What weighted hooks have you tried? Not all are created equal.

[Nickk]

I like to run a swivel and about an 18" leader, that keeps the twist out and helps it down a little quicker(but not super fast).

[Alumicraft145]

I go with the swivel also. I don't weight the flukes but sluggo have been weighted in the past. Using the lunker city insert weights

[mrdeath]

I use these, but can’t find them anymore. Bought these 20 years ago, and have a few left. Don’t even know what brand they are, but I think Eagle Claw.
786C3618-3137-44FA-A2EE-594359865ECC.jpeg

[Jfish]

I’ve been fishing with Lunker City Fin-S Fish and Zoom Fluke soft jerkbaits for over 20 years. Early on, I found that I got more strikes if I fished them deeper. To get them deeper, I settled on lead match stick weights. I use Twistons line sinkers available from Bass Pro: https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/twistons-line-sinkers. Eagle Claw also makes them (but I haven’t tried them): https://www.eagleclaw.com/wtwst-twist-on-line-sinker.

I rig the Fluke Texas style, with an EWG hook. (I’ve had too many swallow the bait with J-bend hooks.) After inserting the hook in the head of the bait, I wrap one lead weight stick around the shank of the hook, as tightly as I can. (The weight stays in place surprisingly well.) Next, I insert the hook in the belly of the bait, and up through the back, then I “Tex-Pose” the hook point to make it weedless. It is important that the bait hangs straight on the hook. Make a cast and watch the bait as you jerk it; the bait should glide, but not roll on its side after a twitch.

I generally keep the weight closer to the eye of the hook. This allows the bait to dive, nose slightly down, after a jerk. If I see the fish are following, but not committing, I will move the weight to the center of the hook. This makes the bait fall horizontally. The Super Fluke, that has the hook pocket in the belly, will shimmy as it falls. If you feel that you need to fish a little deeper, wrap a second stick, over the first, not behind it. If the weight slides back to the bend of the hook, move it back to the front and twist it tight again.

One other tip… use a red hook and ALWAYS paint red gills on the bait with a red Spike-It Dye Marker, just behind the point where the hook comes out of the head of the bait. It may be a confidence thing, but I’ve seen it make a difference way too many times to think it doesn’t help.
Good Luck

Thanks for sharing, good info.

[krindgen]

Lighter line, teeny tiny splitshot in front of the knot, weighted hook. The Lunker City Fin-S is pretty dense and sinks about as good or better than most. The Lunker City nail weights have been around forever and work well.

[willwork4fish]

I use these, but can’t find them anymore. Bought these 20 years ago, and have a few left. Don’t even know what brand they are, but I think Eagle Claw.
786C3618-3137-44FA-A2EE-594359865ECC.jpeg

The Owner Phantom weighted tube hooks are a little like that. You can also take a nail weight and any screwlock hook that doesn't have a centering pin, put the nail weight inside the pin, shove it in the nose of the fluke and then screw the screw lock in. Little more work but ends up the same as the ones you can't find.

[ScottOz]

Piece of thick solder

[gatrboy52]

10' and less, I use a 5/0 hd ewg. Over 10' I fish it like a c- rig with a 2' leader on a reg. 5/0 ewg

[Flatcreek]

Gamagatsu 5/0 Super line Wide Gap hook, 30# Power Pro, texposing a super fluke gives me 1' a second fall rate that works pretty good for me. If I need to slow it down, I go to a light wire 5/0. Those 2 usually gets the job done.

[ChuckTR21]

you can use lead tape or the lead stick on suspend dots. use on the hook.

[DrewFlu33]

I used to mess around with trying to weight them, the best luck I had was using rubber core sinkers with the rubber removed on the hook shank. Nail weights always seemed to be tough to get lined up right, or otherwise got slung out when I would skip one under a tree or dock. Another thing that works if you're fishing them in open water is rigging them "through line" using a long, aluminum pop rivet with the shank removed. Shove it through the nose and into the hook slot, ream it out if needed, then run the line through the center of the rivet and tie a treble hook to it. Bury one point of the treble in the bait, and go to town. Rivet adds weight, and the baits last forever as they slide up the line when you hook a fish.

I eventually figured out that using the Big Bite Baits version was all I needed. They're super dense, and even being the Zoom fan I am, they're the best flukes on the market in my opinion. Much less finicky when rigging them to get them to dart and glide vs. spiraling, and they sink a lot quicker. They call it a Jerk Minnow.

The rest of the story behind how I landed on the BBB Jerk Minnow is that I was trying to buy a bag of flukes at Gander Mountain, but they were out of Zoom and all they had was their store brand. I was desperate so I bought them, and couldn't believe how awesome they were. Of course then they went out of business/were bought out and that was the end of that. It wasn't until I was out fishing with a buddy one day and started whining about not being able to get the Gander store brand flukes anymore that he informed me that Big Bite was making them for Gander. Back in business!

[Jfish]

I used to mess around with trying to weight them, the best luck I had was using rubber core sinkers with the rubber removed on the hook shank. Nail weights always seemed to be tough to get lined up right, or otherwise got slung out when I would skip one under a tree or dock. Another thing that works if you're fishing them in open water is rigging them "through line" using a long, aluminum pop rivet with the shank removed. Shove it through the nose and into the hook slot, ream it out if needed, then run the line through the center of the rivet and tie a treble hook to it. Bury one point of the treble in the bait, and go to town. Rivet adds weight, and the baits last forever as they slide up the line when you hook a fish.

I eventually figured out that using the Big Bite Baits version was all I needed. They're super dense, and even being the Zoom fan I am, they're the best flukes on the market in my opinion. Much less finicky when rigging them to get them to dart and glide vs. spiraling, and they sink a lot quicker. They call it a Jerk Minnow.

The rest of the story behind how I landed on the BBB Jerk Minnow is that I was trying to buy a bag of flukes at Gander Mountain, but they were out of Zoom and all they had was their store brand. I was desperate so I bought them, and couldn't believe how awesome they were. Of course then they went out of business/were bought out and that was the end of that. It wasn't until I was out fishing with a buddy one day and started whining about not being able to get the Gander store brand flukes anymore that he informed me that Big Bite was making them for Gander. Back in business!

Thanks for sharing Drew, I might give those a shot.

[JK9027]

Great thread. I mostly throw flukes and jerk minnows nose hooked. If I want to go deeper I use hard jerkbaits. Duel hardcore makes good ones for $10. I'm usually throwing the hard ones in open water 20, 30 feet deep. Spots don't seem adverse to coming up for it. They are a pain as they stick to everything. You'll be dragging in fish hooked all over the place for sure.

[Fishfinger]

Agreed, great thread. 3-4 years ago I found a deal on Zoom Flukes and bought more than I will probably ever use, but I want to use them. C-rigging them, some success. I've used the double rig, little success, and also watched the video from tactical bassin "Fluke Fishing Tricks", basically nose hooking, little success. Anyway, good read and thanks for sharing info.