Hey guys, been awhile since I've been on here-busy fishin'.  The fluke "bite" is on for me right now and the fish are coming in droves for it.  HOWEVER!!!!!!!!!!  I'm havin' one hell of a time hooking the fish.  They smash it on the surface and ****** it below.  I've had NUMBEROUS fish hit and literally have caugh 4 of them.  ONLY 4!!!!!! Out of who know's how many!!!  I'm freakin' here gentlemen.  I noticed when they hit close to my boat, within 15 ft, as soon as they inhaled the fluke, they exhaled the fluke.  They were fooled till it got in there mouth and that leaves me with an embarassing catch ratio and I just can't figure it out.  I've put on two different kinds of spray.  I haven't use shad scent yet and I will.  I just can't figure out how to hook these things.  ANY ADVICE WILL BE USED!!!!!!  My God I LOVE this time of year.

Are you using braid or mono/fluoro? Try rubbing it up with megastrike.

Maybe you can try using a Circle hook on a fluke?  I usually have pretty good luck with those, they almost always lodge in the corner of the fish's mouth.

I'm using flouro and doggonit! The circle hook just might work!

I'm going to try the circle hook for sure...however, the main problem I'm having is the inhale and immediate exhale of the fluke.  What the heck do I do to stop that?

Would that MegaStrike be in a shad scent or just a general scent?

Try mono on a softer rod, sometime with the less stretch of flouro you might feel the bite earlier and yank it away. Also, if your using an offset wide gap hook, try a swimbait hook of similiar size with the screw lock to hold the front of the bait.

Nose hook it with a 1/0 Gam. Finesse Wide Gap hook.  Issue solved.

Alright then.  I'm on it.  Got the next three days off.  A new hook buy is in store and I will let you know how it goes in the next few days.  I took vacation for three days...just to go fishin'.  Gotta love it.

Seriously, a finesse wide gap hook? How does that help prevent the fish from exhaling the bait, I'm curious? I may have to give that a try.

I often also experience fish blowing the bait out quickly. My solution has been to use a scent (Smelly Jelly is my choice) which does seem to get the fish to hang on a little longer.

I guess I'm opposite of some others. I've tried many rod and line set ups for flukes and my best producer has been a 7' m/h spinning rod and 10 lb braid, I do sometimes use a flouro leader if the water is very clear. It seems that I can take up alot of slack and have little stretch thus getting the fish hooked when they bite. Sometimes you just have to be quick when they bite. IMHO, them blowing the fluke out is just inherent of that bait.

If all else fails, you may want to try one of these stinger hooks.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0039246319242a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=stinger+hooks&Ntk=Products&sort=all&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1

I use them for walleyes all the time.  Fairly weedless, and gives you two open hooks back near the tail!

Seriously, a finesse wide gap hook? How does that help prevent the fish from exhaling the bait, I'm curious? I may have to give that a try.

I often also experience fish blowing the bait out quickly. My solution has been to use a scent (Smelly Jelly is my choice) which does seem to get the fish to hang on a little longer.

I guess I'm opposite of some others. I've tried many rod and line set ups for flukes and my best producer has been a 7' m/h spinning rod and 10 lb braid, I do sometimes use a flouro leader if the water is very clear. It seems that I can take up alot of slack and have little stretch thus getting the fish hooked when they bite. Sometimes you just have to be quick when they bite. IMHO, them blowing the fluke out is just inherent of that bait.

99% of the time a bass takes its prey head first. If you nose hook the bait with an open hook you will stick these fish. The finesse widegap hook is the perfect size so that it will not take away from the fluke glide but still offers plenty of exposed gap. You can skin hook it or use a hitching post.

I also use braid with my fluke, and it really helps turn those long range strikes into hooked fish.

Seriously, a finesse wide gap hook? How does that help prevent the fish from exhaling the bait, I'm curious? I may have to give that a try.

I often also experience fish blowing the bait out quickly. My solution has been to use a scent (Smelly Jelly is my choice) which does seem to get the fish to hang on a little longer.

I guess I'm opposite of some others. I've tried many rod and line set ups for flukes and my best producer has been a 7' m/h spinning rod and 10 lb braid, I do sometimes use a flouro leader if the water is very clear. It seems that I can take up alot of slack and have little stretch thus getting the fish hooked when they bite. Sometimes you just have to be quick when they bite. IMHO, them blowing the fluke out is just inherent of that bait.

99% of the time a bass takes its prey head first. If you nose hook the bait with an open hook you will stick these fish. The finesse widegap hook is the perfect size so that it will not take away from the fluke glide but still offers plenty of exposed gap. You can skin hook it or use a hitching post.

I also use braid with my fluke, and it really helps turn those long range strikes into hooked fish.

In the clear river water here you can literally see the fish eating the fluke. It seems to me that the ones that don't totally commit to eating the bait are eating the back half of the bait. Those seem to be the ones that blow it back out quickly. I think in that situation the finesse hook will have the same results as an ewg.  None the less, I'm still gonna try it!

I agree that smallies usually eat the head of the bait. Those fish are usually hooked.

If that's the case (eating back 1/2) you may want to try a 3/0 EWG with the hook point exposed as opposed to texposed. However, my hands down most effective way is nose hooked with a finesse circle hook.

It seems to me that the ones that don't totally commit to eating the bait are eating the back half of the bait.

I'd change color, or bait, not the hooking arrangement.

Used the finesse hook this past weekend.

IMHO, I'd say "mixed" results at best. Now, keep in mind the river smallies here are a little off. I did hook and land 4 or 5 but also had several that didn't hook up when they bit. I did experiment with different colors and retrieves.

May have to keep at it until they start to bite better then I'll be able to better guage the hooks success or failures.

Are you using the super fluke?  I am in SC and we fish flukes almost year-round here.  If you are using the super fluke, I think I can help.

Are you using the super fluke? I am in SC and we fish flukes almost year-round here. If you are using the super fluke, I think I can help.

Yes, I'm using the super flukes.

I'm all ears.......

BTW, they're eating it again, and good . Gotta love the fall bite.