Of all my years of bass fishing here on Orlando’s Lake Toho and all around Florida there is one lure that has stood out as the most consistent and versatile fish catcher. While other lures fish very well at times, they all seem to have specific types of areas of vegetation or depths in order to work consistently well. While this lure seems to work in every type of area I’ve thrown it, and that lure is, a fluke…

If you don’t have some Zoom Super Flukes in your tackle box no matter where you’re fishing in Florida or the country for that matter, you’re missing out. I’ve crushed them on flukes up shallow around lily pads, reeds, hydrilla, off shell beds, and out deep in 20-25ft of water. And not only do just largemouth bass eat them, I’ve crushed smallmouth bass up north, along with loads of snook and other saltwater fish in our intercoastal waterways also. If they’re feeding on baitfish the size of a fluke, then they’re gonna eat a fluke.

Why do they work so well?

Now why do flukes and other soft plastic twitch baits work so well? Well it’s because they have the most natural presentation of any lure. One thing we do a lot of here being a fishing guide in central Florida is live shiner fish. It’s the best way for people to get the most out of their day and their best chance at catching the trophy there looking for especially if they only have one day to do it. So many customers opt for them. And there’s one thing you’ll notice with live bait, they never swim in a straight line to run from a predator. They always are shooting left, right, up, down, giving it everything they have to try to escape, and when you’re using a fluke correctly, that’s exactly what it’s doing.

How to rig them

Rigging one up is pretty simple, just a regular Texas rig will do. I find I get the best hook up ratio using just a standard 4/0 worm hook. Any brand will do but here’s a Bass Pro shops link to the main one I use. When fishing light to no wind you’re going to want to keep it weightless. But if you’ve got a decent wind or are fishing deeper water, you’re going to need to add a nail weight in the head in order to get it to sink down where you need it. Around a 3/16 ounce usually does the trick but you can use bigger or smaller depending on how fast you want it to fall. Never use a bullet weight in front of the fluke. It ruins the natural gliding fall they have and it will just sink straight down which will reduce the bites you get. Here’s a Bass Pro Shops link to the Zoom Super Fluke I use. The main colors you’ll want are watermelon, green pumpkin, and white. Those colors will work anywhere no matter where you’re at. You don’t need to go crazy with color selection. Also here’s a link to the 3/16 ounce nail weights I like to use.

How to use them

Now how do you fish a fluke? You’re going to work it similar to a jerkbait. Throw it out, let it sink first, then give 2-3 twitches with your rod and a short pause in-between to let it sink. Only move it by twitching. When you twitch it, it makes the fluke jerk left and right which is just like a natural bait fish running. When you pause it in-between twitches, it doesn’t just fall straight down like most other lures, it glides down, drifting to the left or right or back around in a circle. These movements are all extremely natural. Making it look like its darting away from the fish left and right and then diving down into the grass below. It’s hard to explain exactly how to fish a fluke in a blog so here’s a link to a YouTube video I made explaining it also. Just click here to view it.

The versatility of a fluke cannot be beat. It will catch fish out of lily pads, reed lines, trees, brush piles, rivers, shell beds, and submerged grass. If you’re fishing deeper let it sink longer or add weight and if you’re fishing shallow, use it weightless or with a light weight so it doesn’t fall too fast. 

If there was just one lure I could use it would be without a doubt a fluke. I have so much confidence on it catching fish no matter where I’m at on it and it has proven too catch time and time again for me. It’s the lure I have my clients use more than any other on our charters and I hope you get the same confidence after using one too.

Bass wishes,

Captain AJ