This morning I was throwing a buzz bait around sea walls and all of a sudden fish started busting shad. I had a fluke tied on the way you said and I had a ball. No big ones but just fun. Always enjoy spending time watching your videos. I'm 57 yrs old and still learning.

I used this method Saturday for a tournament and caught the majority of my fish with it. Came in 5th place, thanks for the info.

I’ve had no issues losing fish on a EWG fluke set up. Most of my bites came from the bait sinking after it the water. Use fluorocarbon for a better sink.

Sounds good I'll give it a try.

This is a great secret you shared, never thought to flip the hook around. Thanks Randy for sharing this hot tip with us!

I found you can do the same thing with an EWG hook by angling the the point of the hook from the underside towards the top of the lure in the first quarter inch of the nose. On the other end, rather than rig the lure straight, I make sure there is a nice bend in the plastic before the hook comes out thru the top. If accomplished correctly, the whole lure takes on the shape of a slight curve from nose to tail. Like you, I have used the barrel swivel to much success too, but mostly to add a little additional weight.

Thank you for your time&ask the great tips&tricks u give away!

Another bodacious tip. Never would have thought of this. With the swivel, I can make up a few rigs and tie on in seconds. Thank you Randy. Have a Happy and Blessed Easter 🐣.

Hey Randy just like to thank you for your secret and helpful hints on rigging different baits. I am 62 years young I fish a lot of open tournaments on weekends . I love your youtube channel it’s never to late to learn new tricks you have helped me put more and bigger fish in my boat . Thanks keep up teaching!!!!!

Man Randy you have taught me so much in the last year I'm a much better bass angler now then I was before I watch everyday on my work brakes thanks brother 🙏

I love the way you explain everything! Hell of a teacher!

You can also just nose hook it like you would a drop shot bait. The hook adds weight to the nose allowing it to fall on a dead stick after twitching it. The bass tend to take the fluke head first when it falls and with the exposed hook you get a great hook set. Harder to fish through weeds but worth the trouble in weed beds with open pockets.

Thanks for these tips Randy. I just started fishing flukes this year in fast current for big smallmouth, and I noticed what you are talking about. It likes to jump out of the top of the water instead of staying down. I already added the trailer treble hook to increase my hookup rate because I lost so many strikes. But I will start rigging it on the type of hook you mentioned to get better action and better hookups. You are a real pro...and a real friend for sharing all these great tips. Thank you!!!

Great tip. I love fishing fluke donkey rigs and will have to try this hook setup.

I have always put a swivel on. It helps casting on light line as well. Going to try this out this weekend.

Thanks for different ways of rigging that really make a big difference, on all these baits.

I guess if you are losing lots of fish, give this a shot. I prefer the weedless setup with an ewg hook so the bait doesn’t slide down the hook. I catch 100-200 bass every summer on my lake with the weedless setup. If I need the bait to swim deeper I’ll use a weighted ewg hook.

Great rigging idea. I will try it.

Randy, I been a big fluke fishermen for time. Sense, the slug-go came out in the late 80's when I 1st saw, and fished them. Never seen this trick with the hook , I like it.

First time I saw this tip! Awesome! Thanks.

Wow. Thinking outside the box on this one. Thanks

The fluke popping out of the water is the "juice" post spawn.

Good information thanks

Nice video. I love it when the bait breaches the surface. That’s when most of my strikes happen.

Great stuff mate 👍 thanks for the tip 👍

Awesome .thank you

Hey Randy, just wanted to say thank you! I rigged a fluke for the first time today the way u explained in thjs video and caught one! I used a white fluke and it was the only bait that caught me one today.

Awesome tip, I will definitely try this!

Awesome fluke info , I live how you do your show ! Amazing,ing man @

Thanks for another great video

Flukes are awesome baits, they are easy to skip under docks and overhanging brush. I'm gonna try and fish it this way now!! Thank You so much for the tips!!!

Will try this thanks for sharing my man

Oh yeah I love throwing the flute at work like everybody else weakness but now I’m gonna try it this way thanks for the tip

Always great info , love it , keeps us fishing great is what you do. Thank you 🙏

This genius Sir. Thank you.

Thanks for sharing

Randy, as always thank you for sharing your tips. Stay strong and safe on the water. Too many boating accidents.

Nice right on when I was young we use these and called them a weightless Jig. I remember them being a hot lure to use. I will try them again thanks for the inspiration.

very interesting way to rig a fluke will try this modification, something the bass and action they have not seen before , its all about catching more bass thank you

Great content !

Good rig setup... the bass I catch love the fluke jumping out of the water. I rig several different ways all work just as good as the other. I do use a bigger hook on my set up. I hardly ever miss fish.

Brilliant.

Waters are so pressured these days. These slight altercations to my presentations definitely make a noticeable difference. Thanks Randy

Straight Juice. My second day co angler at the Smith Lake Open last year - who won the co angler division- showed me a very similar setup. When a guy is catching fish behind you- you pay attention.

Good tip! I like that color too

Thank you Randy

Wow, this changes everything. I love fishing flukes, super fun. You're right though, line twists, missed hits, the thing flips out of the water all the time. I always have it rigged how I thought was perfect. #3 ewg offset hook, nice and straight on the hook like everyone says to do with texas rigged plastics. I cant wait to get out and try it this way. Couple more weeks and I'll be out trying this around Lake St. Clair, Michigan marina boat docks and banks!

OUTSTANDING!!😁

Good tips for sure.

Randy is the man!!!

Thank you!

I took this rig with me to Canada. It caught Pike, Smallmouth Bass and even Walleye. Northern Pike hit it hard.

Ok, I gave this a try this morning and was delightfully surprised at how well this works. Only caught 3 fish this morning but all would have been keepers in a tournament situation.

I've never seen this rigging before - I'm gonna try this tomorrow morning.

Interesting, I do it the way you first showed was wrong lol. Will definitely try this technique.

I'm trying it. Thanks

Thank you for the tip. I will try it. The most aggressive bite I have had is with the fluke. Thank You

Great info... I use an ewg...but I rig their the top of the nose about 1/4-1/2 inch back (line tie is sorta like where a rattle trap is..maybe not as far back) and thread thru the open belly weedless...but I do use a swivel and leader. I do t get roll over and I have luckily not had issues with hook sets...as of yet. But this is interesting. Worth a throw

Good idea

I like it !!! That hump also gives a fatter body profile that looks more natural also.. 👍👍💪🎣 Thank you for the tip

When you hook it through the belly usually it's with a jig head for saltwater, but anyone in Florida knows you use an offset 3/0 through the back for weedless fishing I tie a rapala circle knot around my hook for more free action with the bait and when you jerk the rod tip down like zura puppy your bait will dip and dive when the rod tip is up and you pop it yes it will come out of the water !!

Just use a weighted 1/16 or 1/8 EWG hook. That keel weight keeps it from spinning and allows you to fish a variety of water depths. I have landed the last 20+ speckled trout/redfish that hit my lure (3 of those were trophy size), and trout have notoriously paperlike mouths.

Well, I tried it. With better hook ups, no doubt. Here’s something I also tried the same trip, using an offset worm hook upside down, with the point hidden between the flaps. WOW!!!! The action was incredible, the hook up ratio was almost 100 percent! I lost one fish because it hit when I was looking away, and I didn’t tighten up enough before I set the hook. It came towards the boat (of course). I caught eight using your method (I do like your action a little better for keeping the bait in the zone longer), and caught six rigging upside down. I also run a toothpick through the head and hook eye, trimming off excess. It really doesn’t matter how the body moves up or down the gap a little bit, as long as you don’t oversize the hook. 3/0 regular worm hook works great. I only use wide gaps when Carolina rigging. Your style also skips more straight, not bouncing sideways some like a TX rig. Great rig, Randy. A day on the boat with you would DEF be a crash course in expert level fishing. Keep these great vids on “secrets” coming! It keeps me up in the points!! Lol

Rigging so important it’s crazy. But, what a go-to bait

I use the Eagle Claw smelled , sz- 1 or 2, straight shank hook that way. I'm thinking of trying a lite slip sinker above the swivel soon to get it deeper when needed. Good stuff Randy !

Thank you

Cool tip

Thanks for the helpful video, but what about weight ? Where do you add a sinker & does it affect the action ? Thanks

Randy, I can't thank you enough. This tip payed off for me this past weekend. I scored the best 5 fish total of my short kayak tournament career. After I lost what was a close to double digit bass, probably 23-24 inch bass on a fluke, then missed another 20 inch fish, I remembered your video. I did not miss another fish on the fluke with the exposed hook. I have another tournament in 2 weeks. If they are on flukes, I will definitely have confidence that I will bring most if not all of them in the kayak! And I remember your kayak commentary, I fish with guys that have insanely tricked out kayaks, and I out fish them in my paddle only kayak!

Brilliant! Can't wait to mod my rigs. Gotta try on my donkey rigs, too. Ty, sir!

I've used this method with smelled Hook setups. Need to add the barrel to my line though cause it does twist.

What size swivel? I really like this I have all the problems that you are talking about...

I just recently got out for my first fish of 2022 because our fishing season just started and I was quite successful! Love your vids man! I always learn a little from every video you post! Also I would like your opinion on my newest video because I tested my new GoPro hero 10 for the first time!

I always use a barrel swivel with about 2ft. of leader for stripers . I fish below weirs and headgates where the water stabilizes. Yo Yo retrieve. When the swivel pops out of the water I stop the lift and let it sink. Works pretty good when the fish are stacked up.

Flukes are my favorite bait have never had hookup issues with ewg style hook I tried this way but it kept getting caught in grass so I went back to the other way

I have a rig where I put an Owner center lock screw ring into the nose of the fluke and then nose hook it with a 1/0 mosquito hook...I put that on my light spinner setup that I use for drop shots and the action is incredible.

Something I need to try this fall in the north country.

Something I will be trying tomorrow when I go fishing. Have you ever done a video on fishing a lake without any electronics at all? I started fishing from a kayak a couple of years ago on a lake I own a home on and have yet to add any electronics. The lake has a lot of docks so most time is spent fishing around those, right now focus is getting better at skipping lures under them from a kayak. THANKS for sharing all your knowledge.

I fished in a harbor today that was sand bottom coming into rocks and kelp. I I could cast about 15 yards past the rocky bottom but after that it was hangup central. I like this hooking method but for my spot today I hung up twice before going back to the weedless. Halibut fishing on the bottom. Never know what's on the bottom to hangup on in our harbor.

Hi that works great in open water sparce cover however here on FL. It's almost impossible to get a clean cast unless working the edges any advise using 10lb PP in slop I do run my fingers down the line to get line twist out

Been trying to find how to do stuff like this for like 2 years now. It always starts the same on the river. I'm looking to start on the river? I need to know have a good and there is nothing out there except for this one video so far. And you even explain what a fluke is thank you I hope you have a lot more cuz I'm homeless and trying to become a self-sufficient and I want to fish but I'm in Florida and the environment here is not very forgiving

Can't wait to try this. I use flukes almost exclusively and have the exact problems that you described by rigging it Texas style. Especially hopping up out of the water and losing fish. Lost a good sized one yesterday.

I have to agree, hookup ratio on flukes is terrible 😢 you can always get them to bite but the landing part is a problem, thanks, I’ll be giving this a try!

I've lost Monsters on the Magnum fluke. I'll try a 7 straight shank hook like this and try this method. Thanks, Great videos and insight.

The only real luck I've had with flukes on a consistent basis has been using one as a topwater on heavy vegetation when I can't get a frog bite. I'll have to give this a try. Thanks as always!

I've never had a problem with a fluke "darting out of the water" or twisting up my line when Texas rigged on an EWG hook and when I Texas rig it I rig it weedless so I can skim it through all the hydrilla and grass where the fish are hiding and actually get bites. My hook up ratio is pretty damn good with it rigged that way too.

Nice thks 4 insite

Just curious if you would use the hook the way you say not to use it and use a toothpick to run toward the back of the tail to keep the tail pointed down and I'm just asking would that work or have you ever tried that cuz you're using the toothpick to hold that tail down the directed down thanks enjoyed the video

The Fluke has never been my thang. I’ll have to give this method a try and see if it changes my luck.

Randy, can this set up also work on a Donkey rig? I would assume so, but I would like to get your thoughts on it.

With a barrel swivel and a leader, are you throwing the fluke on spinning gear?

Good Video. Michigan Old Fisherman🤠

Hey, can I add something to the fluke presentation? One thing that I love doing with the fluke is putting a second fluke on there which getting a second barrel swivel and putting it above obviously the other one with about a 10 to 12“ liter on it and I do a 24 inch liter on the bottom one so there’s some separation, and then put the second fluke on that tag. You would not believe the action that gives the dart back-and-forth as you jerk it. You twitch it the zigzag towards each other and away from each other in a beautiful pattern. Please try it I promise you you won’t regret I call it, the donkey back I don’t know why

I started watching thinking you weren't gonna show me stuff. I'm humbled and can't wait to try. My hooking percentage was maybe 40 percent. Real bad

Mr Randy but the way the hook is facing that bait is going to swim upside down cause the hook is going to swim with the hook up ? To me the bait looks upside down ? I’m going to try it still though

I texas rig my fluke’s and haven’t had an issue missing the fish in years.

Best tip ever

Good stuff today I still don't know the difference of the fluke is that because it has that open belly other than the worm is that what makes it a the fluke?

I too have never had problems loosing fish on the Zoom or any other soft jersey bait. I use a minimum of 17lb. Line but mostly 20lb. with the Zoom when I set the hook I cross their eyes and if the line is smaller I break it because most of the time they are heading back down. In working the bait I don't snap it or jerk it, it's more of a pull and it glides from side to side and up and down but regulating the timing of the pulls regulates the depth. Also the whole point of the hook is setting on top of the fluke. As for it jumping out of the water you have to insert it low in the nose. If you stick it high it's going to jump and that's not good. If you got lots of lookers and no takers change colors emmediatly. They will let you know when you have the right color because they will murder it often.

Interesting. I use the same swivel rig with a 5/0 regular round bend…..works well. Rig it straight , and as always, keep the hook sharpened.