With the bass spawning season about to begin, a fluke style soft plastic bait is a great way to trigger a strike of the bedding bass. Whether you’re lucky enough to see a female on the bed or the male guarding the nest, a fluke style bait will trigger a reactionary strike as the bass tries to protect the eggs from predators.
Flukes are usually fished Texas rigged, Carolina rigged, with a weighted swim bait hook or weightless. Your selection of weight should be dependent on the thickness of the vegetation cover. The key is to make the fluke’s decent as slow as possible so try to minimize the amount of weight in the presentation. The longer the bait can stay on or near the bed the better your strike ratio will be.
Flukes come in a variety of sizes and colors. This time of year, you’ll probably better off with a medium to large size bait. As for colors, choose a color close to the markings of the local predator such as Bluegill colors for Okeechobee bass, white-pearl, white-ice or albino for early mornings.
They key to fishing with a fluke is in the hookup of the bait. Make sure your hook is perfectly situated along the center line of the bait. By adjusting the location of the weight or the addition of lead nail weights or light metal rods like pieces of metal clothes hangers, you can modify the fluke presentation to perform in any matter that you like. The trick is to experiment with the different positions of the weight so you know how the bait will perform.
Flukes are a very versatile soft plastic bait and the more you use them the more confident you’ll become and the more bedding bass you will land.
