Accidentally skipping a lure perfectly.

[Darth-Baiter]

I was pitching a creature bait.  Underhanded.  That perfect, “tzz,tzz,tzz” sound of a bait skipping beautifully across the water in tight cute hops.   Blew my mind 

 

I then tried it again, on purpose and boogered my baitcast good.  Haha.  
 

the big takeaway for me is it’s not about speed   It’s the perfect approach angle I think.    think I’ll eventually get it.

[GRiver]

I spend time working on birds nest than I do fishing, if I try to skip a bait caster. I use a spinning rig, and I’m still not good at. My accuracy is for crap. 

[Bluebasser86]

I did it with one of my bladed jigs once so perfectly that I missed the fish that immediately ate the bait because I was still admiring my cast ?

 

I even got it on video.

 

[Deleted account]

11 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

I was pitching a creature bait.  Underhanded.  That perfect, “tzz,tzz,tzz” sound of a bait skipping beautifully across the water in tight cute hops.   Blew my mind 

 

I then tried it again, on purpose and boogered my baitcast good.  Haha.  
 

the big takeaway for me is it’s not about speed   It’s the perfect approach angle I think.    think I’ll eventually get it.

"Houston, we have a problem" 

[Bankc]

13 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

I was pitching a creature bait.  Underhanded.  That perfect, “tzz,tzz,tzz” sound of a bait skipping beautifully across the water in tight cute hops.   Blew my mind 

 

I then tried it again, on purpose and boogered my baitcast good.  Haha.  
 

the big takeaway for me is it’s not about speed   It’s the perfect approach angle I think.    think I’ll eventually get it.

That's how I learned to skip.  I accidentally skipped it under a tree branch, and skipped it all the way to the bank.  I was so impressed, that I tried it again and again, noticing that it's all about the angle.  I had tried before, and could occasionally skip, but not very reliably.  Something about the height or shape of that branch instinctively put me on the perfect angle.  

 

I'm still not good at it though.  Which is okay.  Most of our docks are floating docks, so there's not much use for skipping.  Still, I'll give it a try every once in a while just to make sure I don't forget how.  

[gim]

There's a lot that goes into executing this tactic.  I used to do a fair amount of it when I was younger, stopped doing it for years, and then recently got back into it the last 2 seasons with great success.  Calm, flat water is ideal.  Ripples and waves reduce skips from a physics stand point.  The right lure helps too.  Round and flat lures work better than lures with all kinds of legs or appendages.  Think of it like skipping a rock.  What kind of rock is going to skip the best?  A flat one.

 

I have found that a shorter rod as opposed to a longer one helps me.  It is based on the height of the individual as well.  Using a bass boat instead of a deep v style boat with higher sides is an advantage.

 

Lastly, as @Darth-Baiter originally indicated, the angle is key.  The motion should be fluid, like swinging a golf club or a baseball bat.  Eventually with enough practice, you will refine it and find what works best for you.

 

I caught this 20 incher skipping a weight less stick bait in August.  There was a 6 inch gap between the lift and the dock/posts.  I executed the skip perfectly and it paid off.

[BassNJake]

When practicing this I found making sure I had a consistent amount of line hanging.

I'd have six inches of line out and make the perfect skip.

Next cast I'd have a foot of line out and smash the surface blowing up the reel big time.

Maybe its common sense to do this but it took me awhile to figure it out.