sb04

I have two lews Pro TI's rigged with flukes this time of year so it's definitely a quality reel. I could certainly be guilty of getting a little carried away with a hookset. In my mind, I set the hook pretty similar for all single hook, plastics techniques and only ever have trouble with a fluke. So my mind immediately goes to line twist being the issue. I suppose I do tend to cast more aggressively with a weightless fluke vs. other weighted soft plastic applications so that could be a piece of the puzzle contributing to knot weakness. I hadn't thought of this so I appreciate your perspective. Maybe I'll be more conscious of my casting practices and retie more frequently. Maybe it's not a setup, gear issue at all. From my experience, suffix advance seems like a decent fluro option, although I'm certain sniper is a superior option.

Hey all, Been on a late summer and fall transition fluke bite for the last several years - typically just throwing a super fluke, D shad, or whiplash shad on a 4/0 or 5/0 offset worm hook (don't love EWGs secondary to the lack of hook gap). Frustrated with the amount of line breaks on hookset. Just fished a derby this weekend that we woulda ran away with if not for lost opportunities. I feel like I've tried everything. Our current set ups are as follows: 14# suffix advanced fluro, 7'MH, mod fast, high speed casting reel. Use a 5/0 gamakatsu hydroll hook (built in swivel to line tie). We have high end lews casting gear with drag set fairly light. Trouble is that it's too light for getting bit on the end of a long cast, but inevitable that you're gonna get chewed at the boat at some point. Have also tried a similar setup with a barrel swivel about 18" up the line. Have even rigged my own VMC redline 4/0 worm hook with a ball bearing swivel and still had some issues. Have also tried 30# braid to a 3 or 4' fluro leader with similar issues (even retying about 4x in an 8 hour derby). Donkey rig: 30# suffix braid to 14# suffix advance. Had two breaks on this rig past weekend. 4/0 offset worm to super fluke and 2/0 offset worm to super fluke JR on shorter leader. I also throw a nose hook on spinning tackle without issues. I use a 18" leader to barrel swivel with 10# braid to 10# leader to 18" 10# swivel leader. Just can't get away with that around grass flats. I've watched every fluke video I can find and no one seems to have the same struggles with breaking fish off - and many of them don't even recommend a swivel. I'm pretty close to going straight 30# braid to a heavier gauge hook and sending it. Also worth noting that out waters have about 5-6' of visibility this time of year. Everyone has a different opinion on line shyness - maybe I need to bump to 17 or 20# fluro??! Thanks for any input! Sack em up!