Andy Montgomery blew my mind!

[12poundbass]

Last night I was watching the MLF episode that was on Saturday that had the winners from Grand Rapids Minnesota and what they did and used to win their event they were in. Andy Montgomery was on and he was explaining where and what he was pitching. What he did next blew my mind! He came up to a pontoon he said he was about 30-40 feet away he skipped his jig between the outboard and one of the toons! I'd guess maybe an 18" gap if that. On top of that the jig skipped to the front of the pontoon! You figure in the fact that he's 30-40 feet away and he margin for error is extremely small! 

 

Some maybe a lot of you can do this and aren't impressed, and I imagine most of the pros can do this. I'd call myself a novice angler and I'm fairly accurate with my caster, and I can skip with spinning gear but nothing like that. I've never tried to skip with a caster and if I tried something like that I'd probably hit the plastic motor cover, crack it, and walk with my tail between my legs up to the owners house in shame. These guys and those of you that can do this blow my mind. Just figured I'd share that!

[j bab]

That must have taken a lot of practice... Not many people can skip that well

[RichF]

Andy is the best period.  Most other pros can do it but not as well.  I'm getting pretty good at it but still got a long way till I'm that caliber.

[J Francho]

Any time I've attempted something like this, it ends in a big CLANG!  I generally stick to senkos.

[Choporoz]

 

I wasn't familiar with him or his skipping, but this is an interesting video.  Watching his forearm and wrist is very instructive.  I like the 'rock skipping' analogy, also.  I always understood the flight similarity, but never thought about the hand/arm motion similarity

[38 Super Fan]

The Pros are really something to watch when it comes to skipping, and working around docks.

[12poundbass]

20 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

 

I wasn't familiar with him or his skipping, but this is an interesting video.  Watching his forearm and wrist is very instructive.  I like the 'rock skipping' analogy, also.  I always understood the flight similarity, but never thought about the hand/arm motion similarity

Thanks for posting that. He is a machine when it comes to skipping. I didn't know too much about him either until the MLF and now I'm a fan.

[MTBassin]

I just happened to watch this video earlier in the week. I, like everyone was really impressed when he skipped between that motor and pontoon. But the first thought that went through my mind was, how ticked I'd be if some wannabe came through bouncing a big ole 1/2oz+ chunk of lead off my boat. This video helped me learn a lot though. I had never skipped a bait before Tuesday. I played with a weightless wacky rigged senko and could skip it pretty good just standing on the bank out into open water. I sure as heck picked a lot of bird nests out of my reel though. It sure is a good feeling when you see that bait skip long enough to gently sink down in the water. 

[12poundbass]

5 minutes ago, MTBassin said:

I just happened to watch this video earlier in the week. I, like everyone was really impressed when he skipped between that motor and pontoon. But the first thought that went through my mind was, how ticked I'd be if some wannabe came through bouncing a big ole 1/2oz+ chunk of lead off my boat. This video helped me learn a lot though. I had never skipped a bait before Tuesday. I played with a weightless wacky rigged senko and could skip it pretty good just standing on the bank out into open water. I sure as heck picked a lot of bird nests out of my reel though. It sure is a good feeling when you see that bait skip long enough to gently sink down in the water. 

What you said is exactly why I'd never try skipping a jig towards a boat without a ton of pratice!

[Senko lover]

There are some pros on the elite series that have made a living doing a lot of different things. And then, you have some guys who have made a living doing one or two things very well. You can see that with Hank Cherry and a jerkbait, Dean Rojas with a frog and flipping stick, Todd Faircloth finding submerged vegetation and grass lines, and Greg Hackney flipping a jig, among others. Andy Montgomery is among those people - if he can catch fishing with a swim jig or skipping a jig under a dock, he'll be doing it. That's just who he is.

[Choporoz]

Mastering docks, to me is huge.  I'm lousy at finding fish a lot of times.  Lots to learn about reading structure, breaks, where bass relate to weed lines, tidal effects, etc.  But docks.... Easy to locate and almost always hold fish.  When I can present to dock bass that most anglers are missing, I have great days.

[N Florida Mike]

I love skipping.Its a strength for me with spinning. But I really am impressed with anyone who does it well with casting.

He was exactly right about pontoons being the best.I have a couple in my lake.One of them always holds fish.It used to be so easy to skip under.But the owner turned it around and the only way to skip under it now is at the motor end and I have to do it backhanded. 

I love skipping up into brushpiles too . Its a subtle presentation that doesnt spook the fish either.

[lonnie g]

not me either. I would have been going over and getting unhung as well . something I am working on tho. seen a lot of biguns come from there in mid summer.

[jimf]

@N Florida Mike:  I'm the exact opposite.  I can skip a little with casting, but can't do it with spinning gear.  In fact I can't think of anything I can do better with spinning gear than casting gear.

[kschultz76]

Saw this on MLF and was amazed as well. Andy seems like just the nicest guy in the world, very modest, and clearly very good at what he does. 

[Skeeter Dan]

I could see it now!!!! Backlash Backlash, Backlash, Backlash. Splash . The sound of rod and reel going into water.

 

[nocluefisher]

Very informative video, I will be working on that, once the ice is off of our water.

[CTBassin860]

Good video.Thanks for that post.I wish i could do that.Id be cutting out the massive birds nest i made.

[XpressJeff]

I'm glad I just ordered a Tatula so I can birds nest my first 6 hours away!

 

I will figure it out!

[Choporoz]

Spent much of yesterday on the water working on skipping docks, applying what Andy said/demonstrated in the video above.  Two things stand out as having been particularly helpful. 

 

First was turning the mag brakes way up.....maybe it was overconfidence, maybe it was just machismo...I'm not sure...but I would never turn my brakes on very high...and seem to admit that my thumb wasn't good enough.  But, turning the brakes up to about 3/4 of full made a big difference in my confidence to really toss it under there.

 

Second was the flick of the wrist that looks like skipping a rock.  By rolling my wrist 90 degrees (maybe a bit more), I was able to launch the jig close to the water, but with a pretty flat trajectory.  I only got in trouble a few times, but nothing too bad....nobody came out with a weapon drawn, or anything 

[Bassun]

I've always skipped docks, brush, under overhangs, basically anywhere I could really put the bait way back out of the way.  But not with jigs, or baitcasters, lol.  Flukes and spinning gear, lol.  Ok, maybe it's easier --- but it works!  I always had trouble with casting gear, but, after watching his video it dawned on me --- I may just be using too long of a rod.  All of my casting rods are longer, and I'm short.  My favorite rod for skipping with the spinning real is just under 6 1/2.  Why I never thought about it before baffles me... time to pick up a shorter stick and get to practicing!