I am new to the donkey rig, and was wondering if anyone has any tips for setting it up using Fluke JRs

I have a donkey rig that I bought that is made by Logic Lures and it is fun to fish, but I think I can do better!

I want to set one up using size 1/0 owner screwlocks, and two fluke jr baits with their tales dipped in spike it...

if anyone has any advice on how they have done this or something similar, I would love to hear it! otherwise, I will just attempt to set one up so that it kinda looks similar to the store-bought version.

Either way, I will post about my success/failure

A lot of guys just use a 3 way swivel With different lengths leaders

Or tie to swivel and let another swivel free float and then use different length leaders

Tie a swivel to about 20" of line and then your hook. Run your main line through the swivel you just rigged with the hook. Next tie a swivel to the main line. Off the main line swivel tie a shorter piece of line and then the second hook. The main thing is to have the free swivel and line longer than the main line. It will not knot up like that.

Make a 10" leader and slide the swivel onto the main line. Then make another leader 20" and tie that to the main, make sure you use small swivels.

This is how I rig it...

First I make a leader of about 24"... This gives you extra for the knots. Tie a small barrel swivel on one end. Then tie a 4/0 EWG Gammy or hook of your choice on the other end for a regular Super Fluke. I like to end up with the baits no more than a foot apart when I'm done.

Now run your main line from your reel through the swivel and tie on another hook. Try a 2/0 EWG here for your Fluke Jr...

Now the smaller Fluke Jr is in front of the larger Super Fluke and it looks like a larger fishy chasing the smaller fishy. The leader with the swivel free floats up and down the line and rarely tangles up.

I have used the Donkey rig for years with good success, many times catching two at a time on it.

You already got some great answers but I thought you'd still like to see this Donkey Rig video. He uses the free floating swivel method.

The guy has a lot of interesting YouTube videos - just search for "flukemstr".

I've run a donkey rig before and it's a blast to fish.

I run braid mainline with FC leaders on the floating swivel method.

Longer leader is generally 14-16" while the shorter is 8-10".

You can run just about anything on the rig from flukes to senkos etc.

I prefer to run flukes with a weighted screw lock so you can fish them deeper and faster between twitches without waiting for it to sink. FC helps this problem some too.

No cheap terminal tackle either, get decent swivels or you will pay on the occasional doubles.

For fun you can mix up the sizing so it looks like a larger baitfish is chasing something.

Cadence for me was best when I mixed in twitches with pauses occasionally. Practice in a lap pool to see how the rig presents itself on different actions/movements.

Only complaint with the rig is containing it all when you aren't fishing it (sometimes I found myself making the leaders the right length to hook into guides).

Good luck

P.S. Try throwing a super fluke in watermelon green chasing a smaller smokin shad fluke if you want that BG chasing shad look. Whack!

I've often thought of doing this, but I've never tried it. Does this method work well in the winter season?

Great Tip! Gotta try this!

Hey fellas, thanks for all the great responses I was tinkering with my gear earlier this morning, and the rig in the pictures below is what I came up with.

Before I go out there tomorrow, does this look alright? If so, I wanna set up another one with a standard fluke behind a fluke jr as several of you have suggested

Fisherman1, I imagine it will work anywhere that you would be throwing a single fluke... The reason I am choosing to use it is based on the fact that last time I went to a particular lake, I was doing good with flukes rigged weightless being twitched along the surface, and I could see fish fighting for my bait, so I imagine I could get a two fer... I am not sure that it is necessarily a "winter technique" but rather a technique that will work in places where fish are schooled up or feeding aggressively

want some real fun? replace that red bead with a 1/4-3/8 bullit sinker and use 2 worms, short leader gets a 4-7" and long leader gets a 10-12". use same or different colors till you find what they are biting. dbl the motion usually means dbl the bite.

This guy has his set up differently, anyone know if it is better to have your baits parallel like he does, instead of one longer than the other

Ok one video has the rig with the floating swivel shorter than the main line leader, in the other video he says to have the slider leader longer but it appears that his baits are side by side and others have said to have the slider leader longer than the main line leader. Does it make a difference? Which way is correct? I have heard more people say to have the floating leader the longer one but it seems that not all do it that way.

Which way works best?

ezbassin, worst case scenario, I am gonna try that one in the photos above that I made, and adjust fire if the leaders aren't right...

I will try to get video of how it looks each way, and post it