You can catch fluke on bait and a rig, but bucktailing on the drift is more fun, more active, and it catches the bigger fish. You cover ground with the drift, feel every thump on the bottom, and get to work the jig, it turns fluke fishing from a wait into a hunt.
The rig
The classic setup is a bucktail jig heavy enough to hold the bottom in the current, with a teaser (a small fly or plastic) tied a foot or so above it, so you offer two targets. Tip the bucktail and the teaser with a strip of squid, a spearing, or a Gulp bait for scent and action.
How to fish it
- Drift with the current over sand and mud near structure, channel edges and inlets, and use enough jig weight to stay in touch with the bottom.
- Work the jig with a slow lift-and-drop, keeping it near the bottom, most fish grab it on the fall.
- Give them a second. Fluke often grab and hold, so when you feel weight, drop back briefly, then come tight and reel into the fish rather than swinging hard.
Tip Match your jig weight to the drift, not the fish. Use the lightest bucktail that still holds bottom in the current, too heavy and you plow the bottom, too light and you sweep off it, and either way you miss the bite in the strike zone.