Proven Flipping Techniques
Works Wonders When
Bass Are Spooked

Extreme fishing pressure, clear water, shallow water, heavy cover or cold water are key ingredients to consider when using long rods to fish short hops. All the previously mentioned situations cause fish to spook and bury in cover, and these fish usually are in a neutral or negative feeding mood. With short-range fishing tactics, like flipping and pitching, anglers can use close and repeated presentations to induce strikes. And, flipping and pitching provide thorough coverage of structure. Put bluntly, big bass seldom refuse a free meal dangled on their doorstep.
Waters receiving heavy fishing pressure can be more productive for the patient angler. Many times, a strike will come after repeated presentations. The scene becomes a test of wills: Who will be more stubborn, fish or fisherman. Ideal flipping water contains these qualities: color, shallow depth and cover.
Water color is important because it can make your approach easier. Clear water allows fish to closely scrutinize every movement and detail of the lure. In stained water, their sight is diminished and they strike from limited vision, a distinct advantage for the angler.
Shallow-water bass usually are more aggressive, and because less line is used to make the presentation the angler can work quickly and detect strikes more easily. Because bass are unfamiliar with seeing lures under heavy-cover conditions, they are more likely to strike a properly presented bait without hesitation.
Flipping and pitching are definitely pattern-fishing styles. Once an angler connects with a first fish — for example, in 5 feet of water in a brush pile — similar conditions should produce similar results.
While both techniques work in impoundments, you'll also find them to be more deadly in streams and rivers. Rivers are vastly under-fished resources, and current dictates fish movement, feeding, resting and spawning activities. Learning to read moving water is the trick to successful river flipping and pitching.
Predictable holding areas are sloughs, bends, fallen trees, rocks and any midstream obstructions. Fish use each of these to avoid the force of a strong current. They also use these breaks as prime feeding areas. The flow carries food to waiting fish. Big bass grow larger by being efficient in their feeding activities. They expend the least amount of energy in consuming the largest amounts of food. Current also produces a high-oxygen content, another element bass favor. Rivers, creeks and streams usually are great natural food chains. They are alive with many forms of forage. Readily found are baitfish, crayfish, snakes, frogs and other forms of aquatic life bass like to eat.
When choosing lures, remember each bait possesses a quality that makes it effective. Here is a list of favored flipping and pitching lures. 
Jigs — Several styles, sizes and materials should be considered when choosing these 
lures. They all produce for a couple of reasons.
1. Jigs imitate many life forms: minnows, eels, crayfish and others.
2. The movement produced by the retrieve is never the same, thereby giving little signal of it being artificial.
3. Jigs are versatile. They can be bounced, crawled or dropped through dense structure. After trimming the rubber skirt on a 5/l6-ounce jig, attach a black or brown pork rind. This is a great big-bass bait.
Spinnerbaits — Short-armed spinners are ideal for flipping or pitching. Water color will determine the type of blade. In stained water, use a No. 3 willow-leaf. In moderately colored water, use a smaller Indiana blade; in clear water, a medium-sized Colorado works well. Eel- and frog-shaped pork rinds make good trailers; they add lure attraction and allow slow descents.
Plastic Worms — Most strikes on plastic worms are felt on the drop, which makes them ideal to place in heavy cover. They are especially effective when worked through brush, weeds and other cover. If these lures don't attract strikes on the initial fall, a vertical jigging motion should be used.
Plugs — Many anglers are surprised to know these lures can be flipped or pitched, but it's true. Sinking plugs, like a Rat-L-Trap or A.C. Shiner have produced many fish with these casting styles. As water cools below 45 degrees, most baitfish die, and bass gorge themselves on the remains. So, a slowly dropped minnow or shad imitation is perceived as easy prey. Tail-spinning lures also work well.
Here are a few tips for the beginning flipper and pitcher:
Learn to recognize strikes. 
They range from a subtle change in line tension to a strong strike, which includes ripping a rod completely from a fisherman's hands. However, strikes generally are dull thumps, and fish are detected only by a moving line. The best advice is. - If anything feels fishy, set the hook.
Cover the basics. 
Use strong line; 16- to 25-pound test is highly recommended. Working in heavy cover strains line, and light line is an invitation to heartbreak. Sharpen hooks to a needle-point sharp. A fine file or hook sharpener will do the trick. Tie a good knot — the improved clinch knot and the Palomar are the easiest and strongest.
Use Stout Tackle. 
An advantage of flipping and pitching is using a short length of line, which generates a quick, solid hook-set. However, when fighting an angry bass only 8 feet away, this advantage quickly loses its meaning.
Tip the scales in your favor by using the correct tools for the job. A wide-spooled baitcasting reel and a strong 6 1/2- to 7 1/2-foot rod are great assets.
Use a long pole for a solid hook-set and control over bigger fish — two important qualities when removing fish from heavy cover. In addition, when a bass moves to open water, it can be handled quickly with a stout, long rod.
Concentrate on the surroundings. 
Many strikes are missed by anglers who aren't paying attention. If you're tired or hungry, put your rod down until you can devote full attention to fishing.
Approach the area quietly. Because an angler must move closer to a bass's hideout to pitch or flip a lure, a silent stalking approach is critical. Trolling motors should run at the slowest possible speeds; when possible, let wind or current drift the boat to position.
These styles of fishing work from the North to the South, and prove equally effective on largemouth, Kentucky and smallmouth bass.