help me flip/pitch

[brian_82]

Heres the story. I just started fishing a new pond and it has the small 3 inch pads which are a dense mat in some areas. I am having trouble trying to flip a 3/8 oz worm or jig on my BC. I am pressing the thumb lever down and flipping it out.... Now my problem is if I leave the real set for casting I dont get much distance OR it nests, If i loosen the real up I almost always get a nest...

Can anyone give me some pointers?

[Trevor in Burke]

first of all they are two different methods but they both are used for short range/stealth/limited casting option scenarios, some people switch the names for both methods but to me pitchin' IMO is holding the lure in your free hand and slingin' out of your hand with the rod using mostly your wrist from the rod hand

pitching: practice practice practice man, that's all I can say as long as you have the method down and the right mechanics and understanding of what you're doing then it wil come with practice practice practice, you really have to learn your reel and to fish with your thumb on a loose spool for distance, i recommend setting your weights in the reel to two up (two the are across from each other) and setting the backlash knob by holding the rod/reel out at a 45 degree angle and depressing the release button so the lure falls with ease to the ground without your thumb on the spool but when it hits the ground it just barely kicks out extra line, that's a good place to start, then go from there, eventually you'll get used to it and want to loosen the knob more which is fine but you'll just have to finese your thumb on the spool even more

once you try pitchin'/Flipin' with a 7'9" flipin stick with a reel with a flipin' switch and a heavy braid, you won't stop, just practice, it's very frustrating at first but we've all been there, you'll get it i promise!

Flipin': IMO is when you let out a rod lengths worth of line and take line (not lure) between the reel and the first rod guide in your index finger (some people use whole hand i just use my finger) and pull it to the side raising and lowering the lure at the end of the rod, get the lure a comfortable distance from the rod tip i usually start with 2-3 and then basically swing the lure in a pendalem type motion and pinpoint where you want to land the lure and ease it in by finesing the landing with the line in hand.  For more distance, you need to pull line from reel before you flip it as it is difficult to get line to free spool with this method, good luck!

[brian_82]

OK looks like i just need to spend a few hours in the back yard practicing.

[Trevor in Burke]

OK looks like i just need to spend a few hours in the back yard practicing.

once you get it down work on your precision with a bucket or coffee can, than work on finese to where you don't even splash or make any noise entering the water, heck try at the water in the thickest crap you can find, there's a big one in there i guarantee it... as soon as you see your line tick just once set the hook, always keep a tight line and watch for the tick!

[nycgrip]

i had trouble at first then switched to a heavier lure and now starting to get the hang of it,when i can hit my targets with that ill lighten up, but more weight helps emensely

[CyBasser]

It's just a matter of practice, practice, and more practice!

As Trev LakeBraddock said, it really requires you to train your thumb (to avoid the nests) and your release time.

Pitching is the easier of the two, but flipping is (for me at least) far more accurate and noiseless way to throw a lure (even heavy ones like 3/4oz jigs) into tiny openings with hardly a splash.

I did my practice on dry land. I stood on an elevated platform (about 3ft high) and used first a rectangular box 1x1ft as a target 12ft away. As my success rate increased (it did take a lot of practice) I increased the distance of the target and at the same time I reduced the area of the target. Now I am pretty succesful with a 4" diameter area from even 20ft away. Ten days ago, in a particular outing which turned out to be far harder than I expected, I pulled out 4 bass in 15 minutes from a little hole among the branches of a sunken tree. Without flipping I would have failed miserably! So, yes, it is fully worth the effort!

[Trevor in Burke]

here is a more detailed description of both techniques from BassResource.com http://www.bassresource.com/fish/flip&pitch.html

[CyBasser]

here is a more detailed description of both techniques from BassResource.com http://www.bassresource.com/fish/flip&pitch.html

Indeed, an excellent description of all the mechanics in words. If you manage to find some pictures showing the movements as well then you should be on track in no time.

And, importantly, pay SERIOUS ATTENTION to the second hint at the end of the article. Concentrate on what you want to hit, not on what you want to avoid. It is sort of like skiing bumps: you concentrate on the line you want to follow, not on the multitude of bumps you will not go through.

I did not realize it at the time, but as soon as I read the article and this hint it came through to me. After I learned well the mechanics of flipping on my roof, the first few times I tried the technique on water my success ratio was pretty low. It did improve suddenly though. Looking back, I remember seeing huge tangled masses of brush into which I wanted to flip and during the pendulum I remember worrying a lot that my lure would end up in the branches and not in the openings. Guess what: most of the time I hit the branches. Suddenly this worry was gone. Now I realize that in the beginning I was concentrating to much on the obstacles, but as soon as I started concentrating on the targets my success rate improved. Again, I guess it's really a practice thing....

[rdneckhntr]

Ok this is pretty stupid of me but what exactly is a flippin switch used for/when is it used?

[mattm]

I got a lot better at it when I read an article suggesting to never take line out past your reel.  3-4 short of the reel works best for me.  Hope this helps.