Posted by snookmasterj on 08-17-2003 09:24 PM:

zoom fluke baits

I was down at my cottage in chautauqua this weekend, and earlier this week i was talking to a guy in galyans about fishing and he insisted i buy a bag or two of zoom fluke baits. They were fairly cheap so i decided why not try them, i picked up a bag of white. I only had a general idea of how to fish them, t-rig, like a senko, then keep it only 1' or less from the surface and twitch the rod tip.

My buddy kept on saying there was no way that this thing would work and that it looked impossible for any fish to hit it hard enough so that i could set the hook. I gave it a try anyways, and on my 3rd cast, a bass came up and hit it, I was so suprised by this I didnt even set the hook until about 3 seconds after the bass hit. I then reeled in, repositioned the bait on the hook, and casted to about the same spot as before. This time i was sure to set the hook, and when i got the fish in it was a 14" smallmouth, about an average size where i was fishing.

I caught about 2 more smallmouth about the same size within the next 1/2 hour. Then I made a short cast to a submerged boulder and worked the bait around it, nothing. Then as soon as the bait hit the water on my second cast to it a bass englufed the whole thing. I could tell right away it was another smallmouth because it fought so hard, I was almost definate that it would break my 10lb line, especially after it wrapped around the boat motor. After about a 2 & 1/2 minute fight, i finally brought in this 19" monster, Im not sure exactly how much it weighed but i would have to guess atleast 4 & 1/2 - 5 lbs (i luckily got a picture of it, but its not on a digital camera and i havent got it developed yet). After that i caught 2 more decent ones and had one small one jump off at the boat.

Maybe these fish were just dumb luck, but i found the fluke to be an extremly easy bait to fish, plus they will hold together for atleast 4-6 fish, unlike a senko. It takes only basic skills to fish, and from my minimal use, seems to be very productive. I would recomend these to anyone who hasn't tried them yet.

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Posted by JOHN G on 08-18-2003 06:08 AM:

Snook: what you have happened upon is a whole new class of baits: SOFT PLASTIC JERKBAITS.....

the Fluke, by Zoom is but one of several varieties of these type of lures.....the originator and original of them all, was the SLUGGO, which you might have heard of....

Soft Jerks are excellent choices in certain situations and times of the season, and it is great to add them to your arsenal.....in spite of their relative durability, they do NOT replace Senkos, as Senko is really a different technique altogether, being mainly what we call a DROP BAIT or DEADSTICKING.....

I have capitalized certain words as I know a lot of this is new to you, search those words on the net and you will find Tons of articles explaining more about them.....

rigging soft jerks, you use a style of rig called TEXPSOSING, where the hook goes all the way through the plastic and then usually just sits flush on top of the lure,,,,,there are many hooks intended for this and angled with a wide gap to clear the plastic but a hook that holds snug on top of the plastic usually rendering it pretty much weedless.......Wide Gap Gamakatsus, for instance, or even their G-Lock hook.......

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Posted by Donv on 08-18-2003 04:11 PM:

If you can deal with the possibility of someone seeing you throw pink baits, try the bubblegum colored flukes sometime. I've had some awesome SMB days at Rouse's with these. LMB's at Saratoga, too sometimes. Now, did I mention that they hapopen to be pink........? Rig them texposed, as John G has suggested, or even leave the hookpoint exposed, if you are fishing an open area, w/o massive weeds.

Posted by JOHN G on 08-18-2003 06:26 PM:

Don: isn't it always amazing how bass will often go for that outrageous bubble gum pink color? Yet , we have seen it so many times!

what is nice about those type of loud colors is that it is easier to see you bait in the water.....As Don and the other experienced guys know, many soft jerk strikes can be visually picked up before you even feel any tension on the line....

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Posted by snookmasterj on 08-18-2003 08:36 PM:

does the bubble gum fluke really work, or are you just joking so that i look like Erik Estrada if he fished

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Posted by Pitman on 08-18-2003 09:29 PM:

While I have never used the bubble-gum color for
freshwater it is a very popular color for salt water
fishing. Last summer I had some great surf action
on bubble-gum color Fin-S-Fish, and that was on the
recommendation of the location bait shop (the store
at Barnegat Light).

Posted by Paul_M on 08-18-2003 09:52 PM:

Bubblegum works, but in clear water the only point to using bg, white, chartreuse, etc is so the angler can keep track of the bait. This is sight fishing so the idea is to know exactly where your bait is so you can see the fish approach and take the bait. Polarized glasses are a must. There are certain days where you'll have to use more natural colors and it's slightly more difficult to keep track of your bait. There is no need to restrict yourself to the top foot of water. Of course stained water would be another reason to use the hi vis colors.

This type of fishing is right up there and maybe ahead of topwater in the amount of time you get to see the fish and see her react to your bait. It's really fun to see a bass come out of its hiding spot move 6-8-10' to grab a soft jerk.

Posted by JOHN G on 08-19-2003 06:47 AM:

Paul is right: you can put a lead insert weight into the soft jerks ( I always do ) and then that gives you the option of working them deeper, a technique that can be dynamite sometimes, they might take them just out of the visible range in the water column ( visible to us I am referring to)

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Posted by Donv on 08-19-2003 08:41 AM:

snookmasterj, I can assure you that bubblegum really does have its uses, and the other posts here are on the money. Same concept of using a highly visible tube to catch bedding bass. I've also seen two different anglers catch SMB at Rouse's and at Sacandaga using bubblegum-colored skirts on their spinnerbaits. I've got literally dozens of spinnerbaits, absolutely none of which have pink skirts. Perhaps its the idea of "pink skirts" that just doesn't fit into fishing for me, you know? Now, about this Eric Estrada stuff that is going about......... what, you guys got a CHiP on your shoulder?

Posted by carpecarpium on 08-19-2003 09:46 AM:

I used the Zoom Super Fluke Jr in watermelonseed pattern for the first time this weekend. Terrific bait. Caught about 25 largemouths on it, including five in the three pound range. Also tried it in junebug and the fish seemed to like that pattern just as much. I agree with Snook. Really easy to fish. Just twitch, pause, twitch pause at various cadences and if there are active bass in the area, hold on.

Definetely a "must carry" in my tackle bag, along with senkos, worms, slug-go's, crankaits, spinnerbaits, topwater, jigs, lipless cranks.....etc,etc, etc. One of these baits I try will be the straw that broke the camel's back and I'll collapse and die from carrying around all this stuff.

Posted by earthworm77 on 08-19-2003 10:02 AM:

I've been pouring a bait like this for the past season or so. It has been quite effective. My R&D tests show that three colors really stand out Pearl, Pearl with red and purple. Now, the purple thing may only be an aberation in my tests that were done on waters where purple has histoically been a successful color but the pearl works anywhere. Interesting to add in the early season, Pearl with a red tail just ate them up. This was a color I started pouring on requewst for salt water anglers targetting Stripers and Weakfish. They preferred a 5.5 to 6.5 inch bait. The stores I sell these baits to also requested a 4.5 inch model for fluke. I didn't beleive it that fluke would hit this thing but sure enough, a friend got me out there and I took a 4.5lber on a SS Minnow dragged along the bottom with some squid scent

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Posted by joe p on 08-19-2003 02:21 PM:

the Super Fluke is a killer in post spawn....Forge bass likes'em...

Joe

Posted by Paul_M on 08-19-2003 05:07 PM:

I have also pitched and flipped the 5 3/4" fin-s-fish on heavy tackle and done well.

Posted by JOHN G on 08-19-2003 08:35 PM:

I have seen Paul firsthand fish that big Fin-s-fish, trust me, he can catch fish with it!!

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Posted by snookmasterj on 08-19-2003 09:06 PM:

john g

what weight would you use for these lead inserts, and where would you place this insert? Do you mean one of those screw on weights?

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Posted by Gregg on 08-19-2003 09:47 PM:

A nail weight

Think Lunker City makes them, must good tackle store or catologs have them. Easy to cut to make them lighter! I usually push it in the nose it it's all in but you can play with placement and change the fall of the bait.

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Posted by Paul_M on 08-20-2003 08:17 AM:

I don't use weights instead I change the hook size and even move up to a superline hook for more added weight, if necessary. Nail weights, hook size and type, line diameter, and rod length and action will all combine to determine how your fin-s will appear to the fish. You can overwork this bait very easily so just pretend you are fishing a senko and you'll kill them.

Posted by joe p on 08-20-2003 08:57 AM:

I use an insert weight by Lunker City , I cut half of the lead and insert it into the nose. I find the nose down fall gets me more bites.

I like to move the fluke a lot. Jerk, jerk, and then a long pause. When I stop the bait, most of my bites come on the fall. Its more of a rxn strike.

Another alternative are those sticky weights or the Storm Suspendots. Wrap a piece on the hook shank and youre good to go.

I agree with Paul, that a little tweak in line size, hook size etc, makes a difference in its action....

Paul...interesting you flip a Fin-s...Do you use a sinker to get the bait down....do you work it like a jig?....When would you use this technique?....thanks...

Joe

Posted by Paul_M on 08-20-2003 09:13 AM:

Joe,

I use this in front or behind your partner while flipping/pitching jigs. I use no weight so it would be water mostly less than 5' deep. The weight of that big fin-s is enough to pitch with and that slow, natural fall on slack line is what gets them. It's a feeding response mostly though the occasional bass will slam it as soon as it hits the water.

Paul

Posted by joe p on 08-20-2003 09:18 AM:

excellent, Paul....I gotta try that.....and one more thing....the big Fin-s..is that the 5 inch version...is it heavy enough to throw on a MH pitching stick?....what size line do you use....

thanks again.....

Joe

Posted by HookUp on 08-20-2003 10:37 AM:

Try this

Instead of t-rigging get some circle hooks (#2 works for the 'smaller' ones) and hook through the nose like a grub. A drop of the newer super-fish-glue to hold in place and your off.

Add's a bit more action to the fluke.

Posted by Paul_M on 08-20-2003 11:44 AM:

Joe,

5 3/4", 20lb silver thread....works great on med-hvy.

Paul