From Caddo Lake to Lake Seminole, Toledo Bend and Lake Sam Rayburn, bass pro Randy Allen of GIlliam knows what he’ll thread on a 4/0 wide-gap hook to catch bass in June.
Allen, an FLW Pro Tour angler, said his choice is a Zoom Super Fluke, the soft plastic that has carved a well-deserved niche in the bassfishing world since its heyday in the 1990s. Allen and countless other anglers swear by it, no matter where they fish.
“Because it’s so versatile,” said Allen, who put the Fluke to work during an FLW tournament on Georgia’s Lake Seminole when he noticed an area that looked a place on Caddo Lake where he fished a Fluke regularly. He caught a 4½-pound fish on the first cast, repeated that success a few casts later and found a handful of similar places and rode the bait through the tournament.
“The same thing worked there … up north in New York. It’s amazing how that bait’s so productive. You don’t have to be in a certain place to fish it. It’s definitely one of our go-to baits year-round,” Allen said.
And, he said, the Fluke continues to entice the right bites on his favorite lakes in the region, noting, “I’ve been fishing Rayburn a lot. Rayburn’s been a bigger home lake to me than Toledo Bend.”
Extras
Allen adds three little extra touches to enhance the bait’s fishability. First, he inserts an aluminum nail into the bait’s head, adding weight. He also dips the tip of the bait’s tail in chartreuse JJ’s Magic Dippin’ Dye and lathers the Fluke in crawfish or baitfish Smelly Jelly.
His “absolute favorite” two colors are watermelon/gold and green pumpkin/candy, the latter a custom color that seems to be more effective in clearer water.
Allen said he mostly fishes the Fluke in 2- to 6-foot depths, particularly around grassy areas and structure early, then hooks one on a Carolina rig to probe deeper depths later in the day.
“I throw it out and let it sink early in the morning around creek beds with ditches off them, twitch it a couple times, and if they don’t hit, go (cast) to the next spot. I fish it pretty quick but slow during the presentation,” he said.
Carolina-rigged, Allen favors a 7-foot-5 GLoomis medium heavy or heavy baitcasting rod and a Shimano Metanium reel with a 7.5:1 ratio. Otherwise, he uses a 7-foot Power Tackle rod.
Allen fishes the Carolina-rigged Fluke on 17-pound Seagaur Tatsu fluorocarbon tied to 40-pound Power Pro braid. Otherwise, he uses 15-pound fluorocarbon.
