The heavy, sulfurous smell of the estuary hung in the air while the warmth made the morning fluke trip feel more like mid-July than early May. My clients worked small jigs with trailing teasers carrying free-swimming minnows above the eel-grass meadows. We also fished patches of sand and mud adjacent to the grass where the summer flounder picked up the “teased” minnows, though most of our jigs had been fouled by algal slime that bloomed following heavy April rains. Using teasers for fluke saved the trip for us, providing yet another example over my 14 years of professional guiding that the simple teaser is worth its weight in fluke-fishing gold.
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There are many variations of a fluke teaser rig, but the best place to begin is with the simplest—the tap-dancer rig. This setup presents two baits or hooks about 16 to 24 inches apart and can be quickly adjusted to show the fish a variety of teaser sizes and configurations.
Adding a teaser above a fluke jig begins with a dropper loop tied 18 to 30 inches above the jig. The dropper loop forms the attachment point for any type of teaser, from a fly, a jig, a bare hook, or even an additional length of leader material.
For leader strength, 15- to 20-pound-test fluorocarbon works well in ay areas while 20- to 30-pound test works better for the ocean.
While the ability to show a fluke two different types of offerings is a clear benefit of using a teaser, it also helps when fishing weedy backwaters since the higher teaser can remain clean for longer, even after the jig has fouled. When the water is clean, it is not uncommon to catch two fluke at a time. Double headers are often undersized fish, but I’ve had the rare occasion when a pair of 18-inchers appeared boatside, making the netting process exciting. The only drawback in employing a teaser is that while it definitely catches more fish, it seems to catch fewer large fish.
Fluke stage in locations where they can see prey being swept in their direction by the ebbing or flooding currents. They will even feed a few feet off the bottom. With a teaser setup, the teaser is sometimes seen more easily than the main lure since it drifts along higher in the water column. In some scenarios, the fluke may miss or follow the main lure and then attack the teaser as it trails behind.
The main jig may entice fluke as it hops along the bottom, leaving a puff of sand, mud, or flashing. Thanks to the underwater camerawork of angling YouTubers like jigging guru John Skinner, we know that fluke will swim or chase lures considerable distances. Despite that initial attraction to the main lure, a fluke is often engaged by the teaser above, perhaps because it has a better view as it’s silhouetted against the surface.
Bare hooks are the simplest and most straightforward teaser to use. Bare hooks need to be threaded onto the dropper loop so they lie flat in a horizontal position, not cockeyed or vertically; otherwise, the baits will not swim enticingly. Try live minnows, dead spearing, strip baits, or scented artificials. Some anglers thread a sliding skirt of feathers, a bucktail, soft plastic, or vinyl in front of the hook, but be sure to make the dropper loop long enough to accommodate these adornments. Ocean fluke anglers do well with large 5/0 to 6/0 Gamakatsu baitholders tipped with 6- to 8-inch Gulp baits or large 8-inch strips of trolling squid.
Custom-tied flies resembling local forage species can be phenomenal teasers when fluking. Surf Candies, grass-shrimp imitations, or crab flies are excellent representations, and can even out-perform Gulp and natural baits. Some anglers add scent to teaser flies to further increase their attractiveness.
The best way to figure out what the fluke are ingesting is to pay attention to what baits they spit up and to check the stomach contents of your keepers. Until you know for certain what they are eating, a reliable fly to start with is a sparsely tied Lefty’s Deceiver with a white underside and a colorful topside (pink, yellow, chartreuse) with silver flash in the middle.
Small jigs of 1/16 to ¼ ounce also work as teasers. These can be naked jigheads or jigs dressed with bucktail or silicone skirts. One of my favorites is a 1/8-ounce white or chartreuse shad dart tipped with fresh-cut bait. The added weight of the jig provides additional “dancing” characteristics to the teaser, which can make a dramatic difference when fluke are gorging on grass or sand shrimp.
A fluke teaser attached directly to the dropper loop can often be highly effective at hooking hungry flatties; however, in some situations, using a trailing teaser can be better at triggering bites while providing the fluke with a second opportunity to feed after it has missed or passed on the main lure.
There are two ways to add a trailing setup to your fluking arsenal. The first method uses the existing dropper loop of the tapdancer setup to add a length of leader via a loop-to-loop connection. Your teaser, whether it’s a plain hook or floating jighead, is attached directly to the extra leader. The second method disregards the dropper loop for a 3-way swivel. The length of leader followed by teaser is attached to one of the swivels of the three-way. I prefer the dropper loop connection because I can easily go from trailing to non-trailing teasers without re-tying. As a charter captain, that reduces my time out of the water.
The effective length of the trailing teaser leader varies due to a variety of factors including drift speed, feeding behavior, and bottom characteristics. Generally, the faster the drift, a shorter leader will give the lure and teaser a good presentation. As the drift slows down, the leader can be lengthened to accompany the slower speed (up to 40 inches), allowing for a better presentation. When fishing sticky structure, it’s best to go to a more vertical setup rather than the trailing one because the trailing leader will increase your odds of hanging up. The best way to determine an appropriate leader length is to have a few rods with different leader lengths rigged and then continually adjust to the bite.
One issue with the trailing setup comes when you need to net a fish, especially if it’s a larger specimen. The teaser or main line tends to get hung up in the net, which can put anglers out of commission for a drift or two. Another issue can occur if the teaser or main lure becomes caught in the mesh during the netting attempt, giving the fish an opportunity to escape. I have found it’s better to use a larger net and scoop up the whole rig and fish rather than focusing solely on the fish.
Anglers concentrating on fish in the ocean can also use the trailing setup if the current or drift is moving at a good clip over sandy or open bottom. Big fluke love whole squid rigged onto a trailer or a large strip bait. I prefer two-hook setups for these, but make sure the hooks are set so that spin is not created. The bait should flow naturally to entice fluke.
Whether you fish for summer flounder along deep back-bay channels, skinny water flats, or deep reefs miles from shore, employing a teaser above your jig doubles the opportunities for catching.
Jigging for Fluke on the Flats
