How do you guys fish it? I’ve committed to fish soft plastics weightless this year. I went today. I use 15# braid straight to 10# mono on a med hvy lightning rod. Abu-Garcia pro max baitcaster.I was swimming it and even at super slow retrieve it wanted to spin? Do I need a swivel?

I use the Jr. and have found that it needs a jig /swimbait head of some kind to run right and activate the paddle tail.

Try a very lightly weighted swimbait hook, like 1/16oz. The weight is basically just a keel to keep the bait from spinning. I like the VMC Drop Dead hook because the weight is molded near the bend of the hook which allows the bait to stay level when it’s sinking. It’s perfect for flukes. 

I like to fish them as a Texas rig. I usually use an 1/8 ounce sinker. I have used swim bait heads with them but spent too much time getting hung up. Just my experience but they may work better for you.

for that application i would use a swimming worm instead of a super fluke. They will swim truer in my experience.  I'd also ditch the mono leader unless you feel the need to for some reason, especially with that much of a disparity in line sizes but that is a preference deal.  If you go straight braid line twist won't matter really like it does with mono.

 

Thanks. I was curious about a weighted hook. Then you swim it? Do you ever fish it weightless with the standard twitch twitch soak retrieve?

I fish a 40 acre lake. It’s pretty pressured. I generally catch them on smaller finesse worms and techniques.  I tried straight braid but stopped getting bites. During fall. This is my first winter bass fishing and at this lake.

I haven’t had even a bite on any worms with any kind of swimming tail or countless plastic craws

@187yak:  For what it’s worth, I have had much more success with flukes (Zoom, Keitech, Reaction Innovations, Biospawn) by casting, allowing them to sink, resting a few seconds, then lifting my rod tip; I repeat the process back to my kayak.  Works better for me than any speed straight retrieve.  Lots of variables to play with here; depth of initial fall, length of time to wait before lifting the rod tip, amount to lift the rod tip and speed of the lift, time to wait before repeating the process.  Sometimes takes awhile to figure out what combination works. My guess is that I’m imitating the struggles of a sick or injured baitfish.  You might want to try this if the straight speed retrieval isn’t working.

 

Sounds like good good advice on weighted hooks above.  Can’t add much to that; I use both weighted and unweighted flukes.

 

Hope this helps.

Just my opinion but I like the Yamamoto DShad because it generally is heavier than other fluke style baits in it's size.  I never weight mine.  4.0 EWG hook Texas rigged is the only way I fish it.  Because of it's weight, I can fish it at just about any depth I want.  Rigging is paramount if you want it to run straight on a steady retrieve.  Personally, I twitch the bait on the retrieve and that keeps it from spinning.  I have dragged a DShad in 9 feet of water on St Clair like a tube and I bounce it across the tops of weedbeds on the Potomac and every depth in between.  One of my favorite baits.  

I only use Jr. swimming version, mostly for chatterbait trailer. I also use them weightless in shallow around weedy area, just reel in slowly with twist twist pause motion.