Flipping/Pitching

[Fat Boy]

Who here flips and/or pitches for bass?  What flipping/pitching set up do you go to (rod, reel, line)?  And, what jig/trailer combinations do you prefer?

I'm more of a pitcher than a flipper, but will do both.  My pitching skills are OK, but I'm working on that practicing in my driveway to get better.  I kinda got away from these techniques for awhile, then I started focusing on just doing that on my last few trips, even to the point of maybe making it the only set up I'd bring so I'd have to get better.  I was worried that I wouldn't do well, but one trip I brought it to toss striper lures with but the stripers weren't hitting, and the only bass stuff that I had was jigs and some plastic worms, and the pitching came in handy.  I was on the Lower Potomac pitching the hydrilla pockets and did pretty well.  Since then, I've purposely given it more time and my skills have improved.  Now, I'm ready to move forward to the point it's my go to starting off all the time.  I've been a soft plastic junky for a long time prior to that, going to it first...now I get that dilemma, what to use first.  Lately, it's been pitching, but the last time I went I wasn't doing well and the fish seemed to prefer plastics with a slow fall presentation...next time though

I currently have:

Rod: an old Diawa flipping rod and am looking to upgrade.  After 12 years of beating it up I'm going to retire it.  It was OK.  I'm looking at the Powell flipping rods, they seem to get very good reviews and the price is about in the range that I want.  

Reel:  I teamed it with a Shimano Castaic.  I had the original version where the thumb bar had 2 bars and wore it out, then bought the newer version with the semi-thumb bar.  It's worked well for me.  But, I'm thinking of upgrading that too.  I may keep using the Castaic that I have, or perhaps upgrade to the Shimano Core 100FV (flipping version), but it's hard for me to pull the trigger with that big price tag.  I've also been waiting for more reviews on the Ardent F700 flipping reel, which in concept seemed like the real deal, but I'm not real happy with the reviews that I've seen so far.

Line:  in the past 25-30 lb. mono, but then changed to P-line Fluoroclear.  More recently, I've been using Power Pro moss green 50 lb.  I'm thinking about trying Suffix 832 braid...seen a lot of good reviews on it.

Jigs:  I've been a fan of the Strike King Denny Brauer Premier Pro jig.  I'm happy with this jig for flipping and pitching, but when the skirt wears out you need to know how to tie on your own skirt material.  Also, the rattles sometimes come off, but I just super glue 'em right back on.  I tried intentionally to pull one off and replace the skirt with a premade skirt but I broke the bracket part of the rattle and never tried again.  If they come off on their own then I might replace the skirt then.  Color combos that work for me:  green pumkin anything; black/chartreuse;  black/blue;  brown/orange.  That said, I think the past few years my go to has been green pumpkin the most simply because it works good no matter what the water conditions.

Trailers:  The trailers that I've used ranged from Kalin's grubs, Chompers spider grubs, plastic worms, and Zoom Critter Craws to name a few.  

OK, how about you?

[greensider]

ill tell you what i use exclusively a blue jig with a yum craw i take one yum over a whole box of gulp thier real craw is the best in my opinion hope this helps

[bassjunky]

I flip more then I pitch, my current set up is a shimano crucial 7ft H, with a Diawa viento with the twitching bar. This year I bought a new Dobyns flipping tick that I will be giving a try. I use 50lb braid line (power pro).

If Im throwing jigs they are usually a black angel jig, I like them on the small to medium size, with a fairly active trailer like Yum Crazy legs (i think). For slower presentations I switch to a larger jig (more skirt) and a craw style chunk, I like the look of the new KVD Strike King chunks

For texas rigs, I throw bullet tungsten weights with various kreature baits. This season my new fav bait is the PowerTeam Lures selection of craws, they are big bulky and have cool colors.

[TheDL]

ok, so here's a dumb noob question, what's the difference between flipping and pitching?  I thought both were pretty much the same thing - a short 'under-hand' cast intended to get up underneath things like overhanging trees and docks?

[bigredfishing]

I absolutely love jig fishing.

Any of the bass tournaments I've won were a result of a great jig bite.

I mostly pitch, 90% of my jig fishing is three scenarios.

Deep Millfoil Pockets
Shoreline Cover
Trees

For jigs, I am a huge fan of Lunker Lure Single (not triple) Rattleback Jigs.  Black, black/blue flash, and green are my three  colors.    I also like the All Terrain A.T  jig with the hidden eye.  Mainly use 1/2oz, sometimes 3/8ths, once in a great while I will bomb a 1.5oz jig.  

For trailers I keep it very simple.

Its either going to be a Zoom Fat Albert Twin Tail or  Zoom Super Chunk in either black or pumpkin green.   Sometimes I will throw a red craw on the back of a brown/orange jig if the water gets dirty in the late summer.

For Rods, I really like Bass Pro's Extreme and Bionic blade rods, the 7' with MH action.

for reels its a Bass Pro Extreme with a 7.1:1 retrive to get those fishes' heads turned as quick as possible.

Line is either 17lb trilene XT green or 65lb power pro green...depends on water clarity and fishing pressure.

[Fat Boy]

ok, so here's a dumb noob question, what's the difference between flipping and pitching?  I thought both were pretty much the same thing - a short 'under-hand' cast intended to get up underneath things like overhanging trees and docks?

Naw, that's a good question.

Pitching evolved from flipping as a result of fish being spooky.  Basically, the angler flips from a further distance but instead of working a short amount of line, reels these days (full free spool) can enable the underhand flip style cast to go much further.  A key piece of this technique is to lift up slightly on the rod tip as the lure makes contact with the water to minimize the splash and not spook fish.  It's much more accurate and quieter than just casting and letting the lure crash the zone, and you can generate a lot more casts per the amount of time that you fish than just casting traditionally.  With pitching, generally you have to reel in some line.

Flipping these days is done very close to the cover during murkier water or when fish aren't as spooky.  Since it's a shorter distance, you can get even more casts in.  And, since mainly your lifting the entire amount of line out of the water and putting it back in, it's also quiet, so you really don't have to reel in much line, if any, at all.

And then there's "punching" and "skipping"...all born from flipping techniques.

[Fat Boy]

I just purchased a replacement for my old Diawa flipping rod.  I got the Powell Max 766 flipping rod on sale 15% off.  My wife says it's my father's day present  .  I think that I'll match it up with my old Castaic since it's still an awesome reel for me rather than buy a new flipping/pitching reel.  Instead, I'll probably buy a general use baitcasting reel, something like the Curado perhaps...maybe that will be my birthday present.

[the jigs up]

I don't flip/pitch a ton but when I do I have a 7' MH action Bass Pro Extreme rod coupled to a 20 year old Quantum (?) with a flipping option. This reel is old but works great, like your favorite pair of old slippers, worn out but you can't part with them. I have it spooled up with 30 lb Power Pro green.

I prefer to use a jig with some weight to it (1/2 ounce or better) as I find I get a better feel for it. More practice is needed with light stuff.

[jibbs]

i use a 7foot bucco medium heavy falcon rod a quantum catalyst baitcaster...15 lb pline or 30 lb power pro.....i like a black and blue booyah jig with a green pumpkin gary yammato spider grub...i also like to flip and pitch rage craws or sweet beavers...

[BBK]

I use a 7' MH fast action for plastics and a 7' MH F action that is more like a Heavy for jigs.

For jigs I use custom made flippin jigs from various guys I know..

For plastics I mostly flip my smaller beaver imitations.

[Fat Boy]

I just purchased a replacement for my old Diawa flipping rod.  I got the Powell Max 766 flipping rod on sale 15% off.  My wife says it's my father's day present  .  I think that I'll match it up with my old Castaic since it's still an awesome reel for me rather than buy a new flipping/pitching reel.  Instead, I'll probably buy a general use baitcasting reel, something like the Curado perhaps...maybe that will be my birthday present.

My rod came in yesterday!!!!  , so my Father's Day gift made it on time.  I also found a gift card that I forgot about that had enough money for me to buy a new flipping reel, so I just ordered the Ardent F-700 flipping reel.  I'm teaming it with Sufix 832 braid 50 lb. test.  Soon, I'll be yokin' 'em in the boat!

I can't wait!

[Fat Boy]

I got my reel and spooled it up, tied on a jighead and took it out to the back yard to set it up and practice.  It's a pretty good set up.  I was able to pitch 40' with accuracy and low to the ground about 90 percent of the time.  After some initial issues (being rusty) I was able to pretty much hit my target all the time at 30' and still keep the lure low.  My accuracy and consistency dropped outside of 40', but I'm going to make some adjustments and try again this evening.

The only problem with the Ardent reel so far is that when in flipping mode, my thumb bar doesn't engage properly after the flip.  This happened after I checked the magnets, so I'm thinking if I take it apart again and check it out it will be OK.  That said, after that happened I worked in regular mode and it worked just fine.  I'm not sure I'll use the flipping switch anyway because everything else seems to work just fine.

Overall, I'm happy so far.  The reel has a 3 year warranty...just in case.

[bassandbucks2]

Flipping and pitching are my favorite ways to bass fish. I adjust depending on the day etc. which one I do. I mostly do it around milfoil beds. I'm more of a plastics guy then bass jig guy when it come flipping/pitching. I really like the good old 4" flipping tube by BPS in watermelon candy and Christmas, and if I can find them 4"Strike King flipping tubes in plain old junebug no coffee etc. Zoom super hogs, BPS beaver style baits, and a blast from the past -Gambler bacon rind, are my favorite creature baits. I use a number of rods but my current favorite is the 8' Skeete Reese flipping stick with a BPS bionic blade reel spooled with 50 pound power-pro braid. I use a pegged (rubber peg, bullet weight  t-stop) tungsten sinker from 5/16 to 3/8 oz and either a mustad 3/0 worm hook (creature baits) or an Eagle Claw Shaw Grigsby HP 3/0  or 4/0 hook with tubes. I've had some issues in the past with my knots when using braid and a sinker. I never have  problem with braid and a Palamor knot tied straight to hook/lure but with the weight i seem to have issues. I switched to a double uni-knot and even when I'm very lazy about re-tying haven't had any problems.

[Clam Sr.]

For most of my flipping/pitching situations I use a 7 ft St. Croix M Avid casting rod teamed up with a 7.1:1 Quantum Energy Baitcaster and 12-20 lb flouro. I'll usually throw a 3/8 weight and a 3/0-5/0 hook with a Sweet Beaver, Slop Craw, tube, or other creature bait depending on the day and current bite.

If the weeds are really bad I upgrade the reel to a Quantum Tour Edition PT with 50 lb sufix or power pro braid, no leader unless the water is gin clear. Tighten the drag down and rip em out of the slop.

For jigs I either throw a home made football jig in black/blue or green pumpkin, or a Strike King Pro Model in a similar color. I like the Mini Paca Chunk trailers in a matching color as well.