Skipping Baits

[Ghostshad]

What kind of rod do you use for skipping baits. THANKS

[flippin and pitchin]

Dobyns Champion 703 spinning

[The American]

7' MH spinning rod

[out_doors_guy]

6' medium and medium heavy fast action rods.

[BrianinMD]

6ft 9in Med/x-fast spinning

[00 mod]

Spinning rods........with a casting rod I backlash every time!

Jeff

[guest]

I use a 6'7" heavy, extra fast powell endurance casting rod. The extra fast tip allows me to slingshot the lure on a sidearm cast.

The real deal with skipping baits with a baitcaster is thumb control. The reel must make a difference as well, because I have much better luck with my okuma alumina than I do with my higher end baitcasters. I might get a minor backlash every 20 or so casts. I use braid which I'm sure helps fight backlashing.

[Scorcher214]

It's not skipping specific but I can get some good distance with a 7'mh baitcaster.

[Gangley]

I have used just about every rod I own from Light to Heavy. The rod really doesnt matter for me, I simply adjust my pitching motion accordingly. The most important component in skipping is a quality reel that can free spool but still be controlled easily with the thumb Granted heavy lures require stiffer rods to pitch/skip accordingly, but the fundamentals of skipping are the same regardless of your setup.

There are three keys to skipping:

Lure Speed

Lure Approach Angle

Lure Type (design)

Lure speed can be increased or decreased based on wrist movement and reel setup.

Approach angle is based on lure speed and pitching/casting technique.

Lure type is what will affect skipability when lure speed and lure angle are constant. For instance, with all things being equal a flat bodied lure like a beaver will skip much better than bulbous bodied bait with a bill like a crankbait.

Rod selection is really based on the weight of the lure you are planning to skip. When skipping heavier lures like 1/2 ounce jigs, you want to use a rod that is stiff enough to keep the rod from over flexing. If the rod is flexing too much, your rod will loose its balance and create a situation where lure trajectory becomes inconsistant during the unloading of the rod. With lighter lures like 3/16 or 1/8 oz jigs, a rod thats too stiff will give you the same end result as a rod thats too soft; the accuracy diminishes, mainly because its like trying to pitch/cast with a broom and the lure speed drops.

In my opinion, the trick to learning how to skip a bait is to get a quality reel, a medium heavy rod of any length, and a heavier flat bodied bait (1/2 oz beaver) that you can pitch/cast with good speed. The heavier weight will give the lure increased momentum compared to a lighter bait, and the flatter body will aid in deflecting off of the waters surface. A good word of advice when trying to skip a lure while pitching is to slightly load the rod by pulling lightly on the lure before you pitch it to increase the speed of the lure without having to increase your wrist speed. Pitching in this manner will give you good lure speed and a low trajectory angle inherent with the pitching motion increasing the likelihood of a good skip.