Rigging for Fluke (With Graphs)

[RussH]

So I said a couple weeks ago I was going to write a tips guide for people who were interested in how to get started buck tailing or at least catching more fluke using more… modern methods. When I was a kid we used a plain 5/0 English hook connected to the same pole we used all year round and tied a surgeons loop “somewhere” for the sinker. That was it, and we caught, and went home with plenty of fish.

Rules have changed, and the size limits have increased to the point where it seems to be necessary to use fancier methods to catch the more elusive and bigger fish. Now, I by no means am a sharpie. Nor am I an expert. In fact, none of what I am about to show did I invent. It was all shown to me by, and fished better by more experienced fishermen over the past few years.

However, unlike some people who seem to run amuck in this world, one thing I pride myself on is my ability to listen, and more importantly learn. So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to show the three rigs I use most commonly. I took the time to draw them on paper and scan them in.

I will also describe the situation where I feel it is appropriate to use each rig. And I will attempt to describe the pieces that are optional and changeable. Hopefully others will share their methods and we can all learn together.

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I’m going to call this first rig, “Monger Style”. It was shown to me by Captain Wayne of the fish monger, acting as mate, a couple seasons ago on one of their Bring Your Own Bucktail trips to the sticky stuff. It seems to work very well in rocky terrain where not a lot of mud gets kicked up. Captain George of the Angler told me that this rig is completely wrong for the Bay’s that are fished earlier in the season and I learned that personally the hard way.




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So what I do is using my smaller fluke rod, attach my 20# Hi-Vis yellow power pro to a 4’ piece of Flouro somewhere in the 25+ pound range. I personally like the Albright knot, but since the line diameters are so close you can probably use a Uni-Uni knot instead and have it work just fine.

About halfway down tie in a dropper loop. This loop takes practice and there are some other ways to do it, but I spent the time learning this knot so it’s what I use. The dropper should be around 6” long. I like to just slip on a 3/0 or 4/0 bare hook and tip it with a piece of gulp. At the very end of the flouro I tie in a double surgeons loop. With this loop you can quickly change your spro lure as conditions change. Start the day off at 1.5z and end at 6z without ever retying anything. Just keep slipping it on and off.
It’s optional but when I get to bigger bucktail sizes I add a stinger hook and start using bigger baits.

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This next rig, I’m going to name after Captain George. I’ve used similar, but not with the 3-way swivel. He taught me this a couple weeks ago and it worked very well. It seems like it’s meant for the bays. With this rig you fish it more like you would with what I’m going to call the KISS later on. Basically just keep bouncing your spro as if it was a weight. If you feel a little tug, the fish is probably (I’d say 90% of the time) on your teaser. Take a couple seconds, a deep breath, and lift firmly to set your hook. Fish on, start reeling. If it’s a hammering bite, hook in sharp and hang on because you probably have a fatty on your spro.



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So this is actually pretty simple. You tie your power pro to a 3-way. If you are on a busy party boat I’d recommend first attaching a LONG piece of flouro to the power pro so if you get tangled you are tangling flouro and not power pro. That’s just a courtesy to the mates.
So line to the top of the 3-way. Now, you want to take a piece of flouro. Put both ends through an eye of the 3-way and tie a double clinch knot. It’s tied the same way as a regular clinch knot but with two lines instead of one. Took me a minute to figure it out, but in practice you could probably tie any knot doubled and be good to go.

To the final eye you are going to use another piece of flouro about 18-24” long. Attach that using any knot you are comfortable with. I like a uni knot in most cases. At the end of this line, snell a plain octopus or baitholder hook in the 3/0 range. Tip with gulp or boat bait, or chicken, or whatever the heck is working that day. (okay not chicken)

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This final rig I’m going to call the KISS. (Keep it simple stupid) This is the rig you tie for your friends who don’t fish much. Or for when conditions are rough and you just want to make switching sinkers and retying easy.



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Again, if you are on a crowded party boat, use a top shot of Flouro or even mono as a courtesy to the mates. Then, slide on a sinker slide. I love the slides. I think a static sinker on these kind of rigs cuts down the action of your bait. If you want to you can use a 3-way and put on a swivel, but that’s just your basic B&T Rig at that point. From there I tie on a 2-way and attach my line. The 2-way stops the swivel from sliding all the way down and eliminates line twist.

At the end of your 24-36” piece of Flouro attach a 3/0 or 4/0 octo or baitholder hook. I like Octopus from Gamikatsu, but they are expensive and prone to breaking if they catch onto the bottom. Still they cut hard and fast. You can add a teaser if you want to so I drew one in. I personally usually don’t. If you want to add some flash or maybe a feather you can also. But this rig is pure simplicity. Tie it quickly and go about your day. It’s probably the easiest thing to teach to new fishermen besides having them buy 3 dollar a pop pre-tied rigs. (which I still do buy the way, I especially love the ones with green squids and silver flash).

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So, I hope this now, 1200 word article was helpful to some people, and please feel free to add your own input. I’ve seen a LOT of oddball stuff out there, these are just the 3 I use most.

For a complete list of great fishing knots check out www.animatedknots.com. I studied that website for probably an hour to figure out the damn dropper loop. That one was tough to learn and can still be a bitch on a windy wet day.

Good luck guys, and FISH ON!!!

[hartattack]

Great post Russ & nice attachments !!

For the KISS rig I like to attach sinker to slider using a 3" piece of 8 pound mono. This has 2 advantages over clipping sinker directly to slider - - it elevates the bait presentation, and if the sinker gets hung up you usually do not lose the entire rig, just the sinker.

Hope to fluke with you again this summer (still not too late to join the RFA/SSFFF gathering on Fishermen on 6/26 - wink, wink) . . . .

[bigfishtale]

No disrespect intended but disagree with alot of your explanations of the rigs you posted. Everyone has an opinion and different things work for different people, but my experiences contradict alot of what you posted. Sometimes you have to disagree and questions things as that's the way one learns.

The first one with the dropper loop for a teaser over a bucktail has been used from the get-go and thought up of probably before any of us were born. I and many others have slayed fluke with that rig in Raritan Bay from the start of the season(when it actually used to open early) right through the end. Actually that's the way I hang a teaser above a bucktail all the time, in the bay or out in the ocean. I would adjust the dropper loop from bucktail distance so that the teaser when hung on the dropper is 12" above the bucktail. With a 6" long dropper, that teaser will just be 6" above the jig. Sometimes higher is better. No disrespect intended to anyone that thinks it's the wrong rig for the bay, but I have and have seen it outfish many people quite often. Will say that the first few trips of the season I made, the action on a bucktail was slower overall than dragging bait. Using one as a sinker on a bait rig ain't bucktailing, it's still dragging bait IMHO.

Last few seasons I've gone away from using a teaser in the bay and just go with the straight bucktail 99% of the time. I can work that single jig alot more effectively and go lighter as there is less drag without a teaser. Light tackle to me is using 3/4oz - 1.5 oz bucktails and 10# braid. Though my gear for that can also cast ultralight 3/8oz jig heads quite well.

I've triped clips, snaps and other loops to make changing bucktails easier but rather just start off with a longer mono leader attached to my braid and use the no-slip-loop knot on the bucktail as it gives the jig much more action. Clips I've had small blues wreck them way too easily or fluke open them up. Dropper loop is probably one of the easiest knots to tie, really don't understand why many seem to have problems tying it.

Second rig to me seems like a standard 3way fluke rig with just a bucktail used as the sinker. Could also just sub a fluke mine/chrome ball jig as well. The flash of the chrome fluke balls really seem to work when sandeels are around.


The last rig you show, the KISS. Well I think many know Kilsong that fishes far and wide and that's pretty similar to his rig, the Kil-r-rig which I adopted and use quite often. I do tie my rig with much heavier mono, thick stick stuff if I have it or atleast 60# leader material. Seems the action is much better with the heavier leader material for the rig and in Raritan Bay, they ain't all that line shy. Generally a dressed hook/fly goes on the dropper loop tipped with spearing or other bait fish. The snelled hook at the end gets a strip bait or large Gulp product that will flutter. A chrome ball sans hook for the sinker for some added flash helps in my mind atleast.

Last time I was out fluking, another angler that is quite good and been doing this fishing thing for awhile was struggling. Asked me for one of my rigs, tied him up one from scratch in 2 minutes. Take leader, 24-36" tie clinch knot to swivel, quick snell at other end to hook, dropper in the middle, add fish-finder sinker sleeve to main line and the attach to other free end of swivel. Slide on second hook or fly or whatever to dropper, bait up and done. Guy drops down and starts bailing fish and finally puts 3 keepers over the rail. Was it the rig? who knows but gave him some confidence and he started catching. Me? I continued to work a solo bucktail and just catch my one keeper. LMAO. Probably was a much better time to drag bait but I rather fish the way I like to, even if it isn't the most productive due to conditions.

You have lots of good points and tips, just saying some things might not be so cut and dry. Maybe one day we'll be out and we can work on your dropper loop problem.

[RussH]

Glad for your post. I agree it isn't cut and dry. My 3 ways I posted are 3 posibilities out of what, a zillion? I just thought to myself I've never seen anyone draw it up and show piece by piece. Better to be shown on a boat, but personally, I like a nice schematic sometimes because many people like to tie things at home. It's just things to try.

And I love that KISS rig, it's a great end of the day faster current setup and it lets you be a little bit more lazy and still have a chance at the fish. Call it whatever you want, it's still REALLY simple.

[SNAPS]

See that capt george rig- in the bay try this-
aa) use a sinker on the 3 way instead of a buck tail.
bb) make the leader a little longer say 24 inches
cc) tag end slip on a bucktail skirt and tie on a 3/0 to 5/0 oct hook
dd) 12 inches up dropper loop, slip on bucktail skirt and another hook.
ee) small gulp , small piece squid what ever make sure it's small.
I just started experimenting w/ this, caught my 1st keeper on the season mick can attest to it. I am curious to see how it works out front in the sticky, prbly have to go to 36" on the leader.
I wanted to try this in the sticky as a less $$ alternative to loosing bucktails.


Everything works just not at the same time, therefore IMHO to be successfull ,you have to be willing and able to change or as the conditions change, therefore understanding the species and knowing how to "tie" different rigs will give you and edge.

Experiment ? absolutely, especially when it's slooo bite.

good thread

thanks guys.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Excellent post. Thanks Russ!!

[howardrf]

Great report. Thanks for taking the time.
Question.. On the Monger Style you show a stinger hook. What bait do you use to need a stinger.
thanks.

[SaltyAngler]

My first post.

Thank you! Just what this 'fluke guppy' was looking for. After a multitude of tries with random rigs, I look forward to try any method I have yet to utilize.

Awesome. Can't wait to get out on the water with my buddies this Sunday.

[howardrf]

I went out yesterday(sandy hook). 2 guys caught about 60 fluke(1 keeper). Used a rig from a company called Aqua-Clear. Cheap and great rigs with "T" standoff. Sen me a Priv. Mess. with your address(I'm in Mahwah) and I'll send you one. See photo, but mine don't have bucktail and have kahle hooks. I use squid on top and spearing(or gulp mullet) on bottom. Thanks again...
Howard

[RussH]

I haven't been out yet this season. Work and a bad back are combining on me. When we use a stinger it's usually on LONG baits. for example it would work sell if you had a big strip of belly from a sea robin. Or I sometimes use the long artificial belly strips form Gulp. You can even use a stinger if you are using one of those big grubs, though it's a lot harder to rig without twisting it all up. the cool part about a stinger is it's a fresh hook straight out of a bag. It's super sharp and you can change it. so if your jig is a litle dull or used that second hook is going to guarenteed be sharp and catch it.

Good luck!!!