Fluke Fishing with Jerkbaits in the Back Bays

Social media is sweet for some issues, nevertheless it does have its downfalls—like scrolling aimlessly till I wind up in such a deep rabbit gap of movies that I overlook why I even opened the app. Nonetheless, a kind of rabbit holes led me to Roger Aye’s Instagram profile, @cookingandfishing, the place put up after put up demonstrated his prowess with a method of fluke fishing I had by no means seen earlier than. As an alternative of the usual bucktails and Gulp, or squid and spearing, Roger does a majority of his shore-based fluke fishing with jerkbaits designed for freshwater bass fishing.

Fluke had been the primary fish Aye remembers catching in his house waters of northern New Jersey. Throughout the Nineteen Eighties, his father would take him to a pier in Brooklyn with nothing greater than a bamboo rod combo, sinkers, and hooks. They tipped the hooks with useless spearing and caught tons of fluke. By 8 years previous, Aye went out by himself to pull stay killies from a canoe with a hand-powered motor in Jersey’s again bays and rivers, which all the time earned him sideways glances from involved boaters and fogeys. Utilizing a Quantum micro fishing rod, measurement 6 hooks, and a sliding egg sinker, he recurrently caught his limits; nevertheless, he might by no means get to the keepers with out working via a bunch of shorts.  

Method didn’t turn into a serious focus of Aye’s fluke fishing till he started freshwater bass fishing years in the past. He was shocked (and barely overwhelmed) with the big selection of lures used to catch smallmouth and largemouth bass, however he grew to like bass fishing with onerous baits like jerkbaits and lipless crankbaits. Whereas utilizing freshwater bass lures, Aye realized he might take a completely new strategy to discovering keeper fluke in back-bay spots he as soon as deemed troublesome or unproductive to fish from shore. 

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“For a very long time, individuals have been catching fluke one or two methods: with Gulp and jigs, or with bait,” mentioned Aye. “However due to bass fishing, which may be very tournament-driven, the entire evolution of methods and baits is far broader than the spectrum of inshore saltwater lures, which helped result in my growth of this jerkbait method for fluke.”

Why Jerkbaits?

It’s commonplace for striped bass fishermen to accidentally catch fluke in bays or the surf with swimming plugs like Daiwa SP Minnows, and the fluke that eat them are usually over keeper measurement. For most individuals, a 5-pound fluke from shore is a giant deal, and together with his freshwater jerkbait and crankbait arsenal from years of bass fishing, Aye has landed a number of fluke over 8 kilos. His reply to “Why jerkbaits?” is easy. They’re an appetizing measurement, keep within the strike zone, and have a pure swimming motion. 

Aye finds that jerkbaits and crankbaits within the 4- to 5-inch vary successfully weed out quick fluke, like these pesky 15-inchers that nip on the tails of your Gulp all day. Plus, they don’t foul up as simply as a jig gliding over the underside.

When choosing jerkbaits to make use of for fluke, Aye prefers these with a side-to-side “slashing” movement—just like the motion of a topwater spook—as a result of that lateral movement is essentially the most real looking imitation of a panicked baitfish. Jerkbaits that generate a wobbling or rolling motion are much less more likely to entice curiosity from huge fluke as a result of they don’t dart facet to facet violently sufficient to set off a response strike. Moreover, the lure should be capable of dive at the very least 5 ft and rise slowly on the pause. 

“From shore, your jerkbait or crankbait is being labored in opposition to the slope versus away from it, so a floating lure means that you can work it up and over a channel edge or sandbar, that are two areas the place fluke lie in wait to ambush prey,” Aye advises. A floating jerkbait additionally ensures that he can get his lure deep sufficient within the water column to entice a fish, and the refined slow-rising motion, which mimics that of a mortally wounded baitfish, helps set off a strike if the frantic and darting swim sample fails to do the job. 

Lipless Crankbaits for Fluke

Whereas Aye prefers jerkbaits more often than not as a result of they intently resemble the profile and motion of small baitfish like spearing, he opts for lipless crankbaits when peanut bunker are current. 

“The lipless crank, for me, is sort of 100% a peanut bunker bait. Whenever you see clouds of them, that’s the one to make use of.” The lipless crankbait profile is an in depth match to a peanut bunker, and the vibration and fall of a lift-and-drop retrieve triggers response strikes from the fluke. Aye makes use of a heavier lipless crank than a jerkbait and lets it fall on managed slack as a result of fluke will eat it on the drop. 

It’s price noting that Aye’s touchdown fee is decrease with a lipless crankbait as a result of further water resistance it generates mixed with the top shakes of a giant fluke.

Discovering Fluke 

When trying to find a brand new backwater fluke spot, Aye says heat, clear, transferring water and baitfish presence are of utmost significance; nevertheless, discovering accessible back-bay fluke-fishing spots with good construction has confirmed difficult in northern New Jersey, whereas the seashores in South Jersey are slightly flat, which tends to make fluke fishing within the surf unproductive. For these causes, he focuses most of his fluke fishing within the again bays of western Lengthy Island and particular areas of central and northern New Jersey.

Some widespread areas to plug for giant fluke within the backwaters are boating channels close to ocean inlets, sandy flats adjoining to a channel or drop-off, and deep holes that type alongside the sides of winding salt marshes.

Roger Aye’s Fluke-Permitted Jerkbaits

Fortunate Craft Pointer 78 DD

The smaller profile and talent to dive to eight ft makes this jerkbait the go-to for anglers searching for numerous bites with out sacrificing their shot at a keeper.  

Jackall Rerange 110 SP

When fluke are particularly aggressive, the slashing motion of this jerkbait triggers violent strikes.  

Duo Realis Jerkbait 120SP

In shallow water, this long-casting jerkbait stays above the weeds. Aye replaces the three treble hooks with three inline single hooks.

Zipbaits ZBL Shad Kaira 80SP

The deepest-diving jerkbait in Aye’s fluke arsenal casts nicely and works nicely when refined, finesse displays are wanted to get bites.

Jackall 110 MR

This medium-diving jerkbait shines with a super-aggressive retrieve meant to set off response strikes from fluke.

The Strike Zone

One of many major parts of fluke fishing that Aye mentioned was the truth that fluke transfer inshore solely to feed and aren’t very discerning. They eat recklessly and aggressively however, as he famous, it’s unlikely that an 8- to 10-pound fluke is feeding on each tide. Like huge largemouth bass, doormat fluke are way more conservative than their placemat-sized family members. Even so, fluke are all the time trying up, so once you place a bait inside an affordable placing distance, they have a tendency to go after it, even when they’re stuffed to the gills. 

A lot of Aye’s backwater spots are as deep as 12 ft, however he doesn’t view the underside because the strike zone the way in which a jig fisherman would. As an alternative, the strike zone is from 5 to 7 ft down, simply above the fish, as a result of alongside channel edges and submerged sandy factors, a 5- or 6-pound fluke is way extra more likely to come off the underside for a giant, slow-moving meal than a small fish. “The hotter the water,” says Aye, “the upper these keeper fluke will come as much as strike your lure.”

Rod angle additionally performs an necessary function in retaining the lure within the strike zone and producing the specified motion. Holding the rod tip at a low angle permits a jerkbait to dive as deep as doable whereas minimizing scope. Nonetheless, in conditions when the lure is swimming up and over a channel edge, elevating the rod tip barely will alter the diving depth to maintain the lure off backside, swimming correctly, and freed from any potential snags in the course of the retrieve. It is a essential second, as massive fluke typically observe a lure till it swims up and over an edge, utilizing the shallow depth as a bonus to lure and ambush its perceived prey. Within the backwaters, these strikes continuously come because the lure is floating towards the floor a number of ft from shore, as evidenced by the movies on Aye’s YouTube channel.

For those who can management the lure’s working depth, swimming motion, and float fee, you’ll be nicely in your approach to discovering keeper fluke within the backwaters. 

Methods & Retrieves

With jerkbaits, Aye insists on retaining his presentation tantalizingly gradual. He strikes the bait solely 6 to eight inches at a time, utilizing lengthy pauses between delicate faucets of the rod tip that make the jerkbait “stroll” or “slash” facet to facet. 

“Consider it like working a spook,” he mentioned. “You need a little bit little bit of slack line between twitches to let the bait dart laterally slightly than have it dart ahead.” The thought is to maintain minimal line stress, hit the bait shortly for contact by twitching the rod tip, decide up a little bit of line, and preserve slack once more. By beginning and ending every twitch of the rod with slack line, you might be retaining the bait in a single place longer whereas giving it motion and a pure presentation. 

Retrieving a jerkbait forces anglers to be hyper-focused on the sensitivity and motion of their line to realize and preserve the specified motion from the lure. “If a fluke sees your bait gliding after which slowly floating on the pause throughout a protracted, well-patterned retrieve, it’s extra probably to take a look at it as an attainable meal,” mentioned Aye. “It’s a response strike. Typically, I twitch right into a chunk however fluke normally hit it on the pause.”

“I wish to mess around with the retrieve, too,” Aye continued. “Fluke present plenty of suggestions, which is able to make it easier to dial in your best cadences and retrieves.” Aye’s course of begins with a solid, then he reels down eight to 10 deal with turns to achieve the lure’s desired working depth. As soon as it’s down, he begins the retrieve: twitch, twitch, pause, twitch, variable pause, twitch, twitch. The size of the second pause, he says, varies relying on the float fee of the lure. If it floats shortly, the pause is shorter; the slower it floats, the longer the pause. 

“All this time, I’m indexing the bait’s depth and visualizing the place it’s within the water column relative to the strike zone,” Aye mentioned. “However, extra importantly, bear in mind what you’re doing once you do get a chunk,” he mentioned. “Keep on high of how lengthy your pauses are, what kind of cadences are getting a response, and use the quickest cadence that also will get a chunk to cowl water shortly and successfully.” 

Constructing a Fluking Combo

“An 8- to 10-pound fluke falls completely inside the parameters of bass-fishing sort out,” says Aye.

When selecting a fluke fishing rod, remember the fact that rod motion is essential. You’re searching for a agency rod with a fast-action tip so you may drive the hook house, however the clean ought to nonetheless be gentle sufficient to soak up these infamous fluke head shakes. Whereas Aye personally prefers baitcasting sort out for this software, he notes that baitcasting reels usually tend to get broken by sand intrusion when fishing on the seashore. Freshwater spinning gear will just do high quality.

Roger Aye’s Baitcasting Combo

Roger Aye’s Spinning Setup

Sort out Tweaks

Not all freshwater jerkbaits (or lipless crankbaits) are saltwater-ready recent out of the field. Aye finds that almost all freshwater jerkbaits float a little bit bit too shortly in heat salt water, so to realize the optimum float fee, they need to be modified with heavier, saltwater-grade hooks. Nonetheless, greater, thicker-wire hooks aren’t essentially higher and will throw off the lure’s steadiness, so he typically makes use of stick-on lead strips to hinder buoyancy. 

On jerkbaits with three treble hooks, he replaces them with measurement 1 Proprietor inline single hooks. “To attain optionally available hook penetration, use the thinnest hook gauge that can maintain as much as the most important fish you may probably catch,” mentioned Aye. He additionally makes use of Proprietor measurement 1 or 2 Decoy cut up rings for sturdiness and reassurance that his hooks will discover buy and keep there with out the cut up ring bending open. Aye even takes all of the cut up rings off the nostril of his jerkbaits and as an alternative makes use of a measurement 1 BKK Quick Snap for elevated sturdiness and handy lure swapping.

Hook measurement and split-ring weight are all relative to the forms of jerkbaits he makes use of. What works for Aye in his spots together with his favourite lures may not give you the results you want, so there’s room for experimentation and customization of your jerkbaits so long as you obtain the specified motion and presentation whereas successfully reaching the strike zone. 

One portion of Aye’s sort out that doesn’t waver is his alternative of braided line and chief, which additionally helps him attain the specified motion and swimming depth from his lures. Aye prefers throwing jerkbaits for fluke with 25- or 30-pound-test YGK Improve x8 braided line with an 8- to 10-foot size of 12-pound-test Sunline Tremendous FC Sniper fluorocarbon for chief, which he’ll bump as much as 14-pound-test when he’s fishing round rocks. By meticulously tweaking his jerkbaits with extra resilient {hardware} and boosting the breaking energy of his mainline and chief, Aye can confidently throw his jerkbaits with out worrying about shedding them to the toothy maw of a full-grown summer time flounder. 

Jerkbait fishing could also be an unorthodox technique for devoted bucktail jig-and-Gulp fishermen, and it could require a little bit extra effort to search out spots conducive to the method, however that’s a small ask when there’s potential for a brand new shore-caught personal-best on the road. 

Because it seems, I realized one thing once I fell down a social-media rabbit gap in any case: Roger Aye’s uber-technical, unconventional strategy to backwater fluke fishing. The proof is within the pudding, or, on this case, it’s on YouTube. 

Discover Roger Aye on Instagram and YouTube @cookingandfishing, or go to his web site, cookingandfishing.com, for digital fishing classes and extra. 

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