Skipping?

[VTFan]

Just curious how many of you can skip a frog or jig? Also, how long did it take you to get good enough to where you were confident in hitting your target and not ending up in the trees? What's your setup etc...?

[Bird]

I've never tried skipping with a baitcaster, gotta good feeling at what might happen 😁.

My 2 favorite baits to skip with med spinning gear is flukes and wacky Senkos.

The only time I really skip is under docks and overhanging limbs low to the water.

Oh I'm braid to leader on spinning.

[Scott F]

I usually skip unweighted Senkos under docks and under overhanging trees using a spinning rod. It took a bit of practice to get the bait where I wanted it to go. One of the things I learned was I need to be in the right position for me to be accurate. I can’t do it backhanded very well and I need room to swing the rod low to the water. If the head of my trolling motor is in the way, it’s not going to work for me. 

[gim]

11 minutes ago, Scott F said:

I usually skip unweighted Senkos under docks and under overhanging trees using a spinning rod.

 

This is me too.

 

Gotta find the right angle and use the appropriate length rod too, based on your height.

 

I used to skip and use hardbaits around docks.  But they made way too much noise when the ball of lead or piece of hardended plastic would bump something.  I'm trying to be sneaky about it, not announce my arrival.  So now I only use weightless soft plastics like stickbaits, flukes, and tubes.

[Reel]

I can also skip senkos under docks using spinning tackle.  I use a large series reel like a series 4000 Vanford because I get better distance and can use a heavier rod and heavier line.  This year, I also started using baicasting gear with scat type lures that are the easiest to skip. I use a regular MH 7 foot rod (Zodias) with a Curado MGL.

[FryDog62]

I find slightly better accuracy with baitcasting. But unless I’m using a Daiwa SV model - it’s about 50-50 if I get an overrun. Not worth it - SV or nothing for me. Works very well… 

[Chilidog]

The last two years I  have been working with skipping with a baitcaster. This includes a lot of practice on a concrete driveway.  I use a 7' Dobyn's Champion 705c with a Tatula sc tw.  I have slowly gotten better but it has taken time and I still get backlashes.  I feel I am more acccurate with the baitcaster and I never pick up a spinning reel for skipping anymore.  It has been worth the effort but it does take time and has included respooling several reels because of backlashes.

[Hook2Jaw]

Jigs, frogs, chatterbaits, flukes, shakyheads, wacky rigs, lightly weighted and weighted Texas rigs are all in the realm of things I can and do skip.  Lake Sinclair in middle Georgia will force you to learn to do so; the predominant cover is docks.  The secondary cover is pontoons within docks.

 

I learned with a spinning rod, but my casting setups offer heavier line and allow me to get fish out of all the gnarly stuff that comes with the territory.  A 7'3" rod is what my skipping motion favors and I believe if one wishes to skip well, one should figure out what rod works for them.

[BayouSlide]

I have a Dobyns Champion XP (DC 610-4C) with a Lew's Pro SP Skipping & Pitching, 20# Sunline Sniper FC and a Mobster swim jig that is my dedicated skipping outfit. The reel made dialing in my technique simple.

[scaleface]

I've    been doing it , poorly . Not very accurate and a lot of loops. When I do get a good one its cool. Chatterbaits are pretty good for overhanging trees. 

[RRocket]

I skip poop baits, plastic swim baits and chatterbaits (though less frequently) with light action spinning rod.

 

Poop baits skip differently as I had to start the skip closer to me than other baits. I skip these every day, otherwise they're like a cannonball going into the water.

[Mike L]

I love skipping a frog.
There’s a knack to it for sure as it takes a lot of practice to get distance with accuracy if you like to spot skip. 

I started in a 30’ long pool just to get the basics down using a pool toy as a target. 
It’s different because I’m standing higher on the pool deck as I would be on shore or on a boat, but again I did it that way just to get the arm and wrist angles down.  
 

I had 1 reel with #50 braid that I kept changing on different rods to fine tune the right combo. 
 

I use the slowest action heavy rod I got because where I fish there’s not many lakes with docks. 
Almost all of my frog fishing is in pad or scatted grass area where the skipping action can be deadly with a fairly long skip
 

 

 

 

 

Mike

 

[Bankc]

I spent a good bit of time several years back teaching myself how to skip.  Then, armed with my new skill, I hit the water, only to realize that there's no place TO skip a bait around here!  We don't have many docks, and they're all floating docks.  And with our water levels having been stuck below normal for several years in a row now, there aren't even low hanging branches to skip under.  In the dozen or so lakes I fish, there is literally only one spot where I ever skip a lure. 

 

So I understand the fundamentals of skipping, but I'm not anywhere near good at it, because I never do it. 

[fishhugger]

i'm mediocre at skipping, which i do with a spinning rod. but i skip to avoid ending up in trees.  it definitely works --- i guess if the branches are super low hanging, that might be an issue. i think if you are good at getting your bait to hit the water where you want, it'd be the technique to use with low overhanging branches, tho.  

anyone else feel that skipping makes a more attractive sound to the fish, like "dinner bell!" vs just plopping your bait in the water?  which might be more like "ok, there's this fisherman trying to get us..."

[JediAmoeba]

I am fairly proficient at skipping with a baitcaster. One thing people get wrong is that they tighten up the spool tension and try to baby it in there - it's quite the opposite. Loosen that baby up and let her rip with your thumb right on the spool. It really comes down to that initial place the lure hits the water and is a similar motion and angle to skipping rock. The lure should hit the water pretty close to where you are casting from and just keep skipping until it gets to its target. I always aim for a spot 10 yards past where I want to end up and when my lure gets to the spot, I thumb the spool preventing any backlash. 

 

Problems arise when your lure comes in contact with something(dock, pontoon, etc.) or you hit a wave. 

 

Skipping jigs and chattwrbaits is great but I will also skip spinnerbaits and soft swimbaits a lot. 

[gim]

I read an article in In-Fisherman recently (I think it was the May or June edition).  They conducted a telemetric study of noises that largemouth bass seem to associate with "danger" depending on where the fish reside.

 

In this study, certain environments where largemouth tend to inhabit played a big role.  The one piece of the article that really caught my attention was that dock-dwelling bass were the least affected by noise.  In other words, living under and around docks, they generally became more tolerant and used to specific noises, whereas bass living in other environments weren't, comparably.

 

I'm not saying that you should go about your fishing around docks without paying attention to the noise you're making, but it seems to be less of an issue compared to when you're fishing in other locations.

[Zcoker]

The only thing I ever skipped is school lol But a frog will do for me, about it with that. More a underhanded cast, putting the frog in tight places, if it skips at all. Most of the time it's target practice with a regular cast using a 7.3 medium heavy extra fast rod. I fish frogs with a 7.4 heavy fast. My main play is swinging a 2oz tungsten while seated in a kayak, which I've gotten very good at. Can send it anywhere dead center. Takes practice, that's all, along with a bit of determination. Develop your own style and comfort zone and confidence will soon follow, and then all should be good. 

[fishhugger]

15 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I read an article in In-Fisherman recently (I think it was the May or June edition).  They conducted a telemetric study of noises that largemouth bass seem to associate with "danger" depending on where the fish reside.

 

In this study, certain environments where largemouth tend to inhabit played a big role.  The one piece of the article that really caught my attention was that dock-dwelling bass were the least affected by noise.  In other words, living under and around docks, they generally became more tolerant and used to specific noises, whereas bass living in other environments weren't, comparably.

 

I'm not saying that you should go about your fishing around docks without paying attention to the noise you're making, but it seems to be less of an issue compared to when you're fishing in other locations.

that makes total sense....fish around docks are used to certain LOUD noises, etc..  but when i'm on a quiet pond, my bait plopping in the water just seems so different from any other noise around.  it just seems like a 'danger' sound.  kids cannon balling into the water.... nuisance sound, maybe.  swimmers - who cares sound.  skipping a bait? few people do that, so i consider that not a danger sound. unless lots of people are skipping.  then maybe it's a danger sound. but i don't hear (no pun intended) many people voicing concern over this.

i try to just not plop my bait right where i think the fish are. maybe i'm paranoid

[ne_dan]

Skipping with a baitcaster isn’t that much more difficult than with a spinning setup.  If you have the motion down to skip a worm, skipping a jig is mostly about find the right jig that has a flat head and a trailer that also has a large flat surface area.  I like jigs like the Berkley Flipping jig but any casting style that has that flatish bottom works.  Trailer, Berkley Pit Boss pretty much any creature bait of the same profile.  Like mention above you really have to commit to the cast, if you try to finesse it you’ll get mixed results.  
 

 

[Bazoo]

I'm learning to skip with a baitcaster. I can skip a lure with spinning, but with not great accuracy. I have got a few good skips with a baitcaster though so I know the skill is in there, just got to hone it.

 

I heard several pro types say that skipping a lure under a dock they try to hit the dock, sorta like ringing the dinner bell.

[gim]

5 minutes ago, Bazoo said:

I heard several pro types say that skipping a lure under a dock they try to hit the dock

 

Depends on what your lure you're using.  While it might ring the dinner bell to a bass, its gonna let everyone else know, including any dock owners, what you're doing.

 

It varies by state, but docks are private property here.  When you clang a heavy metal jig off something, its loud.  When you bang a weightless stick bait off something, there is almost no noise at all.  I don't want to announce my presence and what I'm doing to property owners.  And for this very reason, I completely skip any docks with people present.  Its a respect thing.  The chances of getting snagged or damaging property is higher with something like a jig.  I'm trying to avoid any potential confrontation here.

[JediAmoeba]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

I read an article in In-Fisherman recently (I think it was the May or June edition).  They conducted a telemetric study of noises that largemouth bass seem to associate with "danger" depending on where the fish reside.

 

In this study, certain environments where largemouth tend to inhabit played a big role.  The one piece of the article that really caught my attention was that dock-dwelling bass were the least affected by noise.  In other words, living under and around docks, they generally became more tolerant and used to specific noises, whereas bass living in other environments weren't, comparably.

 

I'm not saying that you should go about your fishing around docks without paying attention to the noise you're making, but it seems to be less of an issue compared to when you're fishing in other locations.

There is nothing louder than smacking a 1oz jig off a pontoon at 630 in the morning.

[F14A-B]

I’d rather fire a frog with a slingshot than to try it with any rod or reel. 

[Hook2Jaw]

2 hours ago, JediAmoeba said:

Loosen that baby up and let her rip with your thumb right on the spool. 

 

Excellent point.  I don't loosen my spool up any more than it already is, but tightening it and not letting it rip already sets you up for failure if you're preparing for it.

 

Let 'er rip, tater chip.  Ain't my expensive freshly painted dock anyway.

 

I'm kidding, try not to damage people's things, folks, but you're there to catch fish.  Catch fish.

[Bluebasser86]

Skipping bladed jigs under docks and overhanging trees has been a solid pattern for me lately.