“ When you ’ re doing it right , the lure stays low to the water , and you use the rod tip and your left hand to ensure a quiet delivery . The bait lands with barely a ripple .”
flipping method evolve . When Dee went east in 1975 to test his skills against the big names in tournament fishing , I was rooting him on as he won a national tournament on Bull Shoals Lake . That really put flipping in the spotlight . A few years later , I came east , and flipping was my primary tool and main method . It ’ s a shallow-water , heavy-cover , longrod and fixed-line technique that completely revolutionized bass fishing .
ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL HOEWELER highlights
I hit the national tournament trail in 1979 , when I was 21 years old . That year , I finished second to Roland Martin in the B . A . S . S . Angler of the Year race . I also won my first national tournament on Lake Powell , and I did it all flipping .
Back then , I only carried seven rods with me , and they were all Fenwick Flipping Stiks . I flipped almost exclusively , but if I needed to cast a spinnerbait or topwater lure , I did it with a 7-foot-6 Flipping Stik and my flipping gear . Since then , I ’ ve won two B . A . S . S . Angler of the Year titles , more than a dozen national tournaments and about $ 3 million in tournament prize money . I didn ’ t do it all by flipping , but it ’ s also true that I couldn ’ t have done it without flipping .
when
Flipping is a viable technique every day of the year . It ’ s a technique that utilizes a long rod ( usually longer than 7 feet ) and a fixed length of line to deliver a lure to shallow water targets with precision . The fact that the length of line you have out is fixed – the spool is not turning , like with pitching or casting – is an important part of what makes Flipping different from other short-line , heavy-cover techniques that anglers may know .
where
If there are bass in shallow water – and there are always some fish in shallow water – it ’ s likely that they are active , feeding fish . The key to catching those fish is presentation , and flipping is the most precise and least intrusive way to present a lure to those fish . It ’ s as much a philosophy as it is a technique , and it all revolves around those three components : shallow water , feeding fish and a precise presentation .
tackle
Flipping gear has come a long way since the 1970s . Today , I do almost all my flipping with an 8-foot extra-heavyaction Duckett Fishing Gary Klein Pro Series casting rod and Duckett Fishing Paradigm casting reel ( 8.3:1 gear ratio ) spooled with Berkley Trilene 100 % Fluorocarbon line or Berkley x9 braid . The size of the line I use depends on things like the cover I ’ m fishing and the baits I ’ m using , but it could be as light as 10-pound-test or as heavy as 80-pound-test .
lures
A lot of anglers think of flipping and pitching as techniques for jigs and soft plastic baits – and those are certainly the most common lures used with these techniques – but there are really no limits to the baits you can fish when flipping and pitching . I ’ ve had great days flipping a squarebill crankbait or spinnerbait . It all comes down to the best lure for the situation and the best method to present that lure . By keeping an open mind and letting the fish tell you what they want and how they want it , you ’ ll be more successful .
JUNE-JULY 2022 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING . COM 55