Flippin' from a canoe?

[LunkerLust]

I have tried flippin' in the pads lately, from my canoe, and I've had some success but still have some questions.

1. How close to the boat can you flip without the boat itself spooking the fish? Should I be throwing the bait 20 feet or more?

2. If you flip longer distances does a noisey splash entry spook the fish? How important is a quiet entry?

3. Is flippin' only meant to be done in a stand up position?

I have been catching some bigger bass this way, but I still miss more than I bring aboard.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

Wow,LL,..you crazy man!!

When I read the title I said to myself "yup,..that's exactly what you'll probably do,..be flippin' from that canoe,lol"  but I was picturing you flipping overboard.  Standing in a canoe is nuts IMO.  Maybe not nuts like "looney" nuts but certainly asking to get yourself and your gear wet I would imagine.

Do you stand with success?  Am I over reacting?

[dodgeguy]

i agree with lbh about standing in a canoe.but if you do it's up to you.nobody can flip 20 feet.that is a pitch and not a flip.a flip goes maybe 10 feet in front of you.as far as pitching goes you can feather the spool so it lands soft.but sometimes a big splash works better and gets a reaction strike.try both ways.

[Guest ouachitabassangler]

I flipped mostly from a pirough. Maximum distance is rod tip distance from boat plus however much line you can dangle from it above water. I could only manage suspending about 4 feet using a 7' rod, for up to 11'. If you are quiet and don't cast shadows on the bass that distance ought to be plenty good enough. Standing on the bow of a bass boat I can let out at most about 10' of line without the bait dragging water, so can flip up to 15-16', but those longer flips are a lot noisier than short ones. From a bass boat I've flipped as close as the side of the boat and caught bass.

Jim

[RochesterBasser]

If you're talking about sitting in your canoe and not standing, I think pitching is the way to go.  I fish in one of these and I can pitch up to 20-25 feet no problem.

I know that this is a bit different than a canoe, but I'm pretty bad at pitching, and if you're decent at it, you could definetely do it from a canoe.  I see a lot of guys who fish from canoes pitching into pads and such better than I can.  Just takes practice.

As far as splash noise goes, if the fish are more aggressive, a little splash doesn't matter too much.  A couple days ago, I was pitchin a senko type worm into pads with a little splash because the wind was hard to work with.  This didn't bother them at all, I had 3 good bites right when it entered the water.  Only got a good hookset on one though...  If the bass are really finicky, lure splash is quite important.

Hopefully this helps a bit.  Good luck!

Colin

[Brian_Reeves]

Hey RochesterBasser, do you have a trolling motor mounted to that thing?  If you do, where did you mount your transducer?

[RochesterBasser]

Hey RochesterBasser, do you have a trolling motor mounted to that thing?  If you do, where did you mount your transducer?

Yep, we have a 30lb minn kota transom mount.  Only 30 lb, but it's gets us where we need to be nonetheless.  We also use paddles quite a bit to get around in really weedy or shallow areas.

As far as transducers go, I'm assuming that you mean a transducer for a fish finder, we don't have a mounted fish finder.  We have one of those Humminbird Smartcast things with the watch.  Not too sure how reliable it is when finding fish, but is shows depth.

Colin

[Guest avid]

Flipping from a canoe is hard.  Not so much because you cant get close to the cover, or stand up, because you certainly can do both.  My canoe is rigged with stabilizers, and let me tell I can practically stand on the gunwall without tipping it.  No, the problem is the lack of a casting deck.  When you stand in a canoe you are standing virtually right at the water line,  for serious flipping you need height.  

I will pitch from the canoe and do so alot.  A fun way to fish, but flipping ain't gonna work without serious modifictions.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

LL- Avid is surely the resident canoe go-to guy.  I would personaly recommend his advice. He has the hours of experience with canoe experimentation.

[Brian_Reeves]

[LunkerLust]

I cannot stand up in my canoe. It is almost 12' long and very narrow, more like a kayak. I use a paddle and it moves pretty fast when I get it going, and it holds more gear than a kayak.

My concerns about noise come from paddleing into and through lilly pads. I can hear the vegetation scraping against the bottom of the boat, even when I go very slowly. So I thought that I would have to flip, seated, 10 or more feet away in case fish that were close by are already alerted. I can often see smaller fish scattering when they see me moving along, so I try to be quiet and move slowly. Also, some of the time, I'm only in 3-4 feet of water so I'm assuming that the boat, shadow and paddle would spook fish that are right underneath.

I have been swinging about 5' of line like a pendulum, by raising and lowering the 7' rod tip and flipping it between 10 and 20 feet. Even though there is some splash, I usually get more strikes than when I lower it quietly closer to the boat. Which is why I'm thinking that fish that are closer are aware of the boats presence. Is this less of a problem in deeper water?

[Alpster]

... for serious flipping you need height.  

I will pitch from the canoe and do so alot.  A fun way to fish, but flipping ain't gonna work without serious modifictions.

Like Avid said, you gotta have height. I love flippin so much I rebuilt the deck on my aluminum boat so it's almost to the top of the gunnells. Pitching is also very effective and with a little practice you can do it without much of a splash. You are on the right track in the lilly pads. JMHO

Ronnie