Burning Flukes

[KickNBass]

I just watched the Bassmaster Elite Series on Lake Murray that I had DVR'ed. On it they were burning flukes in between twitches and pauses. Has anybody here had success with that methos? I could see it being a decent method on the river and maybe some clear lakes...

[CAMAN]

I've had success doing that with flukes and t-rigged senkos over schooling bass that were chasing bait on the surface in open water. Never really tried it in shallow.

[RK]

Hiya -

Didn't see the show (watching tournament coverage bores me to tears for some reason...) but I've done ok at times skipping a fluke or similar bait over the surface real fast, then killing it and letting it sink for a few seconds before cranking it some more. Can be killer on smallies sometimes - they'll run it down from 25 feet away in clear water. The Strike King Caffeine Shad was apparently designed for this, which is why it has a kind of fat tail rather than a forked fluke tail. Great way to cover shallow flats.

Also do kind of the same thing with a fluke on a jighead - work it very aggressively in short snaps as I reel, almost like a hard jerkbait, then let it sink. Jigheads like the Northland Mimic Minnow head, with kind of a scooped out bottom, are great for this - the thing really jukes and jives, then glides on the fall. Good search bait for smallies.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Cecil]

I have done the jighead deal a lot for smallies as well. The clearer the water the better. And you will be amazed how far you can cast a fluke on a 1/8 or 3/16oz jig-head with a 7-6 med/light rod.

[RK]

Yep. This is one technique though where I actually prefer braid. I fish it on a 7' ML/X-fast rod with 10# Sufix Fuse and a fluoro leader. When they hit it on the drop it's just barely a 'tic' and the braid helps me feel it - plus it casts well.

When they hit it in mid-retrieve, it jolts you all the way up to your shoulders

[KickNBass]

Fluke on a jig head...I only have tried that for lakers...jigworm type jig?

[TonkaBass]

Kicknbass, how were they rigging that fluke?

[KickNBass]

Looked just like standard rigging to me, 5/0 EWG...I don't think I saw any treble hooks or anything.

One guy had a really neat way to rig the Berkely swim bait, he put a WD-40 red spray attachment through the head and out the belly so you could thread your line through it, embedded a tungsten weight in the head and tied a treble at the end of his line, tucked the hook in really nice...

[RK]

Fluke on a jig head...I only have tried that for lakers...jigworm type jig?

Yeah, a mushroom head works. I do like the Northland Mimic Minnow heads though. The have a little more kick/glide to them than a rounded head jig. Nasty sharp little light wire hooks on them too.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm