I think the 3" zoom baby bass fluke, baby bass colour, has accounted for more bass in the last 3 years since I've been fishing it than all other lures in 20 years of trying to catch them! Occasionally I fish a popper when I want some surface action and am bored with pulling fish after fish on the fluke.
Funny enough I have never caught a fish on a spinnerbait, I need a small chartreuse one as that's that the seems to get klapped and klapped in videos I see from the states.
I fish 20lb braid on my bass rig and a 20 or 30lb flouro leader, depending on what is behind my carseat when I arrive. A bit on the heavy side but I normally bank fish for the bass in areas with very heavy structure and submerged trees and often have to yank out trees that I'm stuck to or pull hooks straight and get lures out as I really don't want to leave plastics or jigheads in nature to be later eaten by wildlife and cause ***. I think the braid is imperative as you need to feel the taps of a bass, they will not leave the baby bass color fluke alone and it often happens that I will feel a tap or hit and not hook up and the fish will come for seconds or thirds or even get hooked, come off and get caught again 5 minutes later in the same spot. I've caught the same bass a few times on the same lure in different sessions too at the same spot, they cannot resist the thing. I just tie a uni to swivel to flouro or modified albright to flouro or if pre-prepped at home an fg knot to flouro direct and less than a rods length of flouro.
Back to the fluke, Small split shot size jigheads work well as well as long shots that you clamp on your hook to ballast the fluke and make it cast further and sink with better action (to a point). That said, most of the time I don't fish with any weight as such, just leader to hook tied with palomar or uni-knot, and catch most of the fish not more than 2m from the bank in big waters..Sometimes the fish follow the fluke and grab it as I'm removing it from the water, under my dogs nose, so work the fluke till right up to the edge of the water and don't be scared to stand low and jig the fluke right next to the bank where there is a steep side or drop-off (like 6 inches from the side to right against the side). Use a wide gape bass hook that is not too big for the fluke, otherwise it will impede on the action, and has a gape that will give you good solid hook up. Most of the time the fluke will hook in the top of the jaw or corner of the mouth. The fluke can be fished pretty snagless right into branches and structure but will occasionally snag, use a guage wire hook that can be pulled straight but won't straighten on a lunker bass.
I don't have too much luck with plastic worms but since I have gotten flukes down I am much luckier with them, creature baits and hogs and such also produce. Big hogs produce big bass. What is very important is how you hook your fluke or creaturebait. Watch some vids on how to hook the thing properly, it must lie straight and comfortable on the hook with the belly of the hook below and the point above nicely exposed. This will ensure the correct action, an incorrectly hooked fluke will be dead in the water and you will struggle to get a hit.
With regards to how to fish them, cast out, gently so that it plops where the bass are or passed them. You don't need to cast far with a fluke and most fish you will get almost at your feet. Cast right at the structure, if it can bounce off the structure and plop even better. As it hits the water give it a little jig incase something was right there and often you get slammed right there. No hit, immediately take up your slack so you can feel what going on, then allow to sink. Count a second or two and flick again gently, taking up the slack and keeping contact. Let the fluke sink down and work all the productive looking areas back to you, flick up and sink, flick flick and sink, flick and sink, flick flick and so on. Don't be in a rush, the lure must get worked slowly and have faith that a bass won't leave the thing alone. If you feel the tap or hit and then nothing, cast to the same spot and the flick the fluke, the fish will be on second time. They often grab the tail and you think that you are hooked, if in doubt strike and when you feel 'fish on' for sure set the hook again. If not just work the fluke slowly and work it by close structure, next to the side where baby fish will normally be getting eaten. I average about 6-10 bass every 2 hour fishing session on my fluke and haven't had a blank session in maybe 2 years, touch wood. There is as ayoba says a finesse to them but its not hard and once you get it you never look back.
Colours that work for me are baby bass and baby bass
Also yumyum yellow and also dark blue in a larger size and with glitter inside. Big green creature baits and hogs produce big bass. The 3" fluke has caught me bass from 2" seriously to maybe 3kg.
If your fluke has been damaged badly, take it off and replace it. A soft plastic bait left in nature (if it came off) will most likely get eaten by a bass and sit in its stomach with other baits for years taking up space and leaching out toxic stuff as it breaks down. Big old bass can die of starvation like this. Take home damaged baits and you can often repair them with a heat gun or lighter etc or dispose of them in a recycling bin or firepit. Also splitshot and jigheads are disastrous for waterfowl who eat them like pebbles to aid in digestion and end up with lead poisoning and in turn gets eaten by something else that gets poisoned. Be responsible with soft plastics please.
:sval: