Next to a topwater bite there is nothing more exciting to me than a Fluke bite. Not just a Fluke bite but a Super Fluke bite. Zoom makes the Super Fluke and thank God they do. This bait rates very high on my list of must have lures when I am wading a creek for Smallmouth bass. The bait casts a mile which is very important in clear water, has great action, and is very simple to fish.

I like to rig my Super Flukes on a 5/0 wide gap hook. The size helps the bait sink slightly in the water and the wide gap acts like sort of a rudder or keel. The wide gap hook also allows for better hook sets by giving plenty of space between the bait and the hook. This space allows the bait to collapse and expose the hook during the hook set.

The bait should be Texas-Rigged with the hook point Tex-posed, just barely embedded into the top of the bait. Although there are many different rigging options for the Fluke, deadsticking, drop-shotting, wacky rigging, and weighting down with nails, I always fish my Super Flukes weightless. I want the bait about 3 to 6 inches under the water surface, darting naturally, not on the bottom like a tube. The bait should look like a lost and injured minnow looking for a place to hide, darting this way and that.

I think the trick to fishing the Super Fluke well is the twitching action that must be imparted on the bait as it is in the water. I like to keep my rod tip high, at a 10:00 or 11:00 o'clock angle, and slightly twitch the rod. After I twitch the rod I reel in the slack and twitch again. I continue this until the bait is out of the strike zone. One thing I really like about this bait is that in clear water you can actually see the bait. When you can see it, make sure it is darting slowly back and forth as you twitch the rod. You want the bait to just kind of hang out, lazily moving about. This is not a bait you want to fish fast. Just work it slowly through the strike zone and take your time pausing a few seconds between twitching.

I should mention, when casting across current, keep the rod tip high. This will allow the line to stay in the slower current and keep the bait in the strike zone longer. I like to keep the line just at the edge of the seam where it doesn't want to pull the bait into the current.

When a fish does hit the Super Fluke, it can be savage! Because the bait is in the top 3 to 6 inches of the water column, a fish hitting the bait will almost always take the bait down. This takes up any slack in the line rather quickly. When you feel the fish on the line, set the hook. Sometimes, you will see the fish hit the bait...now this is hard...wait until you feel the fish on the line! This is hard to get your head around but a couple of missed fish because of an early hook set will help you with this lesson. I have to re-learn it every time I'm out!

Colors? I prefer pearl white or at least a bait with some white on it. In clear water you can see a white bait very well, so can the fish. The bait is easier to work when you can see it in the water. You can guide it into likely spots as well.

Ok, that's it. Grab a bag of Super Flukes on your next wade and see what happens. You too will fall in love with this bait and I'll bet it will rate high on your list of must have baits on the creek as well.

See ya IN the water!

Rusty "Russellfish" Clawson
Indiana Smallmouth Alliance