Any suggestions on other soft baits to try out? I’ve always used a Zoom Fluke and was curious if there’s anything else out there that compares or possibly even better.

Caffeine shad - Rigging options, weight, bubble tail, all allow for different approaches. Glides and spirals well.

Yamamoto D-shad - good choice overall with heavier weight. Great for skipping and getting senko like wiggle on the dead stick.

OSP DoLive Stick - personal favorite. Comes in multiple sizes, heavy senko like material. Great duel purpose bait. Use it like a senko and let it shimmy after the cast or as a soft jerkbait.

Deps Sakamata shad - similar to the d-shad but has wings which give it a different fall.

There are tons of soft jerkbaits on the market, and if you google each of them you’ll find all the ways you can rig them. The zoom fluke still works great, don’t feel like you need to reinvent the wheel.

Zoom flukes are just to slow of a sink for me. The caffeine shad is perfect. Sinks quicker. Heavier and has a nice wiggle wobble on the fall. Don’t get me wrong flukes caught me a ton of fish over the years. But I don’t buy them anymore.

I asked the same question of myself 10 years ago - I tried many flukes including the Zoom and eventually switched to the 5 inch Caffeine Shad. The bubble tail is a game-changer. Yes, you can twitch/retrieve it like any fluke, but also if you just cast it out on semi-slack line for 3-5 seconds, It swims and changes directions and spirals on its own if you rig it with a 4/0 Owner Twistlock LIGHT 3/32 oz hook. Twitch it again to repeat the same action as it sinks further. A regular EWG hook doesn't do it justice. Its a killer presentation along a weed line, and maybe the best skipping lure I've ever used...

Nothing is better or worse - just different - if you’re just looking for a bait that catches fish better than a fluke and is similar - that’s not likely to be a thing that we can determine for you and your body of water etc but there are lots of soft jerkbaits on the market to try if you have the itch and they all work fine.

My favorite alternative to a fluke for targeting fish higher in the column eating bait would be a weightless trick worm fished faster and higher in the column.

I have tried some , But always go back to a Zoom Fluke. Arkansas Shiner color kills it here in Missouri

I like Zoom flukes for the Donkey Rig because they stay high in the water and look like that typical fleeing baitfish surface activity you see. But I like the Yamamoto D-Shads for fishing deeper because they sink faster.

46 minutes ago, TNBankFishing said:

Deps Sakamata shad - similar to the d-shad but has wings which give it a different fall.

I love the Deps Sakamata Shad. Here are a couple bass that loved the big 7" Sakamata too:

Lunker City Slug-go…..still the best soft jerkbait. 6” in “rainbow trout” is a clear water killer.

I “may” be a little biased but a Yamamoto DShad is all that I use.

I asked this question here about 2-3 years ago and got all the same answers above. After trying them all (and a few more), I came to the conclusion that Toxic is not only biased, he also knows what the heck he's talking about with the DShad (among other things). The basic profile and initial sink rate is pretty similar for most of them. But what really gets me on the dshad is that tail shimmy on the fall. The body drops just a little lower than the tail in the water and the tail just wiggles back and forth, especially with a lightly weighted hook. You can fish it weighted and fast just under the surface, weighted a slower a little deeper, or slow down low. My only gripe? I wish there was one in the same proportions but 1" longer for just a little bigger profile. Halyway between a dshad and a superfluke size.

Zoom Superfluke for the win

7 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

Nothing is better or worse - just different - if you’re just looking for a bait that catches fish better than a fluke and is similar - that’s not likely to be a thing that we can determine for you and your body of water etc but there are lots of soft jerkbaits on the market to try if you have the itch and they all work fine.

Ditto!

Mike

The game changer for me wasn't the particular soft jerk bait, it was when I went to a screw lock hook....... hookup ratio went up.

AND a weighted screw lock hook to fish deeper.

I throw all the baits mentioned above along with Bass Assassin's.

RI Shiver Glide is a good alternative that hasn't been mentioned.