[fischa]

Hi all,

didn't have lots of success lately on the LMR (I don't know why??), I tried a new spot on the LMR after work.

Fished for about 2 hours and caught at least 15 dink smallies, one 13 incher and two 14 incher!

Boy, it's fun to catch a 14 incher in skinny water!!

All smallies came on tubes, but I saw a shad in the 14 incher's mouth, so maybe I'll try a fluke the next time!

Do you fish the flukes like tubes??? How do you guys do it??

And I'm wondering, are there even bigger ones in the EFLMR...........?

 

[idratherbefishin]

When we used to live down that way, I always caught em in the EFLMR on tubes. Never had much luck on flukes but never fished them too often.

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[9Left]

When I fish flukes..I rig them on a 2/0 hook...no weights..and just let them sink very slowly...giving it a few "twitches" every now and then...I'm sure others fish it differently, there's a lot of options with it

 

[bgrapala]

When I fish flukes..I rig them on a 2/0 hook...no weights..and just let them sink very slowly...giving it a few "twitches" every now and then...I'm sure others fish it differently, there's a lot of options with it

I rig it the same, but tend to give it more of an erratic action. Especially right after the cast, I give it a good couple of jerks to get the splashing on the water, then long pause while it sinks a bit, but I keep it close to the surface. Depending on how long it sinks is where I'll usually do my jerks in the water column.

I've become a big fan of Strike King's Caffine Shad because it has more movement than a Fluke, but sinks like a Senko.

 

[co-angler]

I like the action of the Caffeine Shad as well but my primary complaint is their lack if durability. They are very soft and rear easily.
Anybody else feel the same?


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[TIC]

I've fished unweighed flukes like already mentioned. However, right now I'm fishing fluke Jr. and Gulp 3" minnow on a 1/16 or 1/8 oz jig head. I fish this mostly in/around heavy current and I jerk it like crazy through the fast moving water. This keeps the bait moving downstream without snagging on the rocks and it gives it some action. When the water is more slack, or when I'm going weightless, I give it some pops on slack line to create a "walk the dog" type pattern.

You can/will catch smallies on fluke type lures, but the big benefit is that you will likely catch any white bass, hybrids, strippers in the vicinity as they seem to be irresistible to those species...

 

[SMBHooker]

I've become a big fan of Strike King's Caffine Shad because it has more movement than a Fluke, but sinks like a Senko.

Golden Nugget ALERT! Write that down!




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[SMBHooker]

I like the action of the Caffeine Shad as well but my primary complaint is their lack if durability. They are very soft and rear easily.
Anybody else feel the same?

There is certainly a give and take. The smallmouth destroy the lure no matter the brand, that's why we love hunting them so. They fight like cornered *****!

They produce though, I have a way of extending their life a bit longer. It does suck when you rig up a nice perfectly presented C-shad and in one bite a 13"er reduces it to a pile of wedged plastic. I've started to take a blade out after the nose is torn and slicing a very small segment of the lure off at the tip where it's torn. You can get a bunch more uses out of one lure with multiple fish by continuing this modification until the nose is sliced all the way to the belly.

I had half a dozen smallies in one C-shad doing this when this beast hit the lure and gave it the final blow.



Just remember they are soft plastics so you will run through a pack if fishing is good that day.






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[Matulemj]

I prefer to use weight so that when I "twitch" the bait it has more action. Without weight in the riffles, it tends to be a topwater bait. I just use 1/8oz and it tends to work fine for me.



Zulus have more action, but flukes last longer. I use both, just don't mix them together because the zulus will melt all over your flukes.


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[Crawdude]

Nice fish and thanks for posting this question fisha. This thread answers a lot of the same questions I have.

 

[HOUSE]

All smallies came on tubes, but I saw a shad in the 14 incher's mouth, so maybe I'll try a fluke the next time!
Do you fish the flukes like tubes??? How do you guys do it??
And I'm wondering, are there even bigger ones in the EFLMR...........?

Fischa, I actually had one tied on out in my suv and took a pic. This is my preferred Zulu setup:

If I have a lot of worm hooks laying around, I'll sometimes tie on a Texas rig and fish it topwater style, or use a 1/8ounce bullet sinker to fish it just under the water:

As to the size of the fish in the EFLMR, I've never caught a smallie over 15inches, but I've never fished more than 2miles up or down either end of it. I'd have to think they get bigger once they clear the dam at Batavia.

PS: Don't forget a Sharpie to color in their eyes

 

[small talk]

Having fished both the caffeine shad and the zulu, I think the caffeine shad fishes a little better than the zulu z-too's...but they don't hold up nearly as well as zulu's.

On a GMR canoe float last Saturday I caught 29 smallies on exactly 1 zulu...it's almost like the zulu's get better the more fish you catch on them (to a point). That quantity of fish would have torn up at least one and probably more like two packages of caffeine shad.

In either case, I prefer to use 2/0 worm hook as House illustrates and about a 10 inch mono leader with a heavy barrel swivel to prevent line twists and give the fluke just enough weight to get just under the surface on the retrieve. Retrieve varies between walk-the-dog and twitch-twitch-death spiral...twitch-death spiral. And sometimes in the right current situations I really don't do anything but let it float and flutter in the current. Great lure...especially in the fall.

 

[bgrapala]

Death spiral...ha! That's about the perfect description.

 

[Britam05]

A very wise Zulu legend once haunted this site. Now a mere memory. One of his tricks was to use a #12 swivel 18" in front of the Zulu,fluke...... Works with most soft plastics very well.


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[small talk]

A very wise Zulu legend once haunted this site. Now a mere memory. One of his tricks was to use a #12 swivel 18" in front of the Zulu,fluke...... Works with most soft plastics very well.

Funny you mention that. The "Zulu Legend" ha ha was in the stern last Saturday...caught his best one on a Pop'r though.

 

[Just Fishin']

I used to constantly alternate between a fluke/bass assassin and a tube when I lived up close to the Auglaize River (seems very similar to the LMR). For the fluke, I'd either use the walk the dog technique or the slow twitch/pause one, depending on how the fish were that day. Both presentations seem to have their time/place. However, I never really tried to use a weight or swivel on these. Might have to try that in the river to get the lure under the surface is swifter current.

My best day fishing the Auglaize was with a 3"-ish bass assassin. Caught a lot of smb in one deep hole on the edge under a small dam. Several times that day, I was simply holding the lure on the surface letting it move with the current, and had 2 bass attacking it at a time!