Anyone spin flip or spin pitch?

joedog · 01-17-12, 02:55 AM

Spinning Gear? It is far easier to flip and pitch with spinning gear for all but the baddest bass in the heaviest cover. Of course, you need a highly specialized spinning rod and reel for this. I use saltwater gear that I have landed numerous 40 pound striped bass, and countless 20-30 pounders from treacherous ocean rock jetties in raging Atlantic surf tidal rips. Not bragging, I only mention this to discourage any doubt that the spinning gear I mention here is not strong enough for pulling 5-10 pound largemouths out of shallow, placid lake cover only 2-4 feet deep. The rod is a seven foot one piece Lamiglas model XS71MS graphite with a medium fast action. The reel is a Fin-Nor Captain Ahab model 12 that just melts 20 to 25 pound Berkley Big Game like butter. You can flip and pitch most cover more easily and far more effectively with this specialized spinning gear
Lines. Getting down to business, have you tried Berkley Big Game fishing line? It's a great line with excellent knot strength, castability and abrasion resisitance, plus easy to find at a reasonable price to boot! For pitching and flipping, 20 lb. test is about average. In lighter cover, you may be able to squeak by with 15, and you may need 25 lb. test for the biggest bass in the baddest cover.

Pitching. Now that you know exactly where you stand with your rod, reel and line, let's look at where and when to pitch to cover. Either standing or sitting, I just open the bail on the spinning reel, let enough line dangle down to clear the gunwales, which is about 6 feet of line for me standing, less sitting. Then, I hold the rod in front of me and slightly to my rod hand (right) side. The tip is pointed up at about 11 o'clock. I gently roll my wrist and forearm under and back to rock the lure back at me a few feet in a pendulum arc, dropping the rod tip to about 10 o'clock during this brief backward roll. Then I reverse the motion by forcefully extending my wrist and forearm far out in front of me. I roll my wrist/forearm far forward in an underhanded manner to reverse the pendulum arc and accelerate the lure forward so it travels not far above the water's surface in a trajectory towards the target cover. Ideally, I hold the boat about 25-30 feet away from cover and start pitching. I rarely have a problem hitting a one foot target space.

Flipping. Flipping is a technique that I generally reserve for extremely heavy cover. You use the same rod and reel for flipping as for pitching...just at closer quarters. Flipping basically means to get right on top of the fish and drop the bait on their head. Some people have rules for when to flip versus pitch, such as the rule that you should flip rather than pitch in dark-colored water. Well, I do not pay attention to anything like that. My only rule is to prefer pitching and avoid flipping regardless of water color or anything else. However, there is some heavy cover that is so difficult to reach that you just cannot pitch to it. In these cases, I will work the boat so far up into the cover that I just have no idea how I will ever back out of it. Sometimes, I am poking the rod through a quagmire of reeds or tree limbs so thick that all I can do is open the bail and drop the lure straight down. Again, specialized spinning gear makes this easier. There are some unreal critters lurking in this stuff. Just one word of caution I want to give you. Do not try to thin out some of this cover to make it easier for you to fish. Remember, the bass are back in that nasty stuff for a reason. Do not break off any branches or uproot any reeds. Most times, you will only ruin the fish-holding properties of the spot if you do that. Besides, you will clue other anglers like me into your honey holes when I see broken tree limbs and reeds there!

If you do or have, please explain why and when.
If you don't, why not?
I can see wanting a certain type of rod but a specialized spinning reel?
Before reading this article (there's alot more to it), I never heard of a specialized spinning reel for pitching and flipping. And I don't plan on ocean fishing anytime soon so I'm doubting I will be shopping for a Fin-Nor.
So what do you folks think?

01-17-12, 02:55 AM	#1
joedog BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: JANESVILLE,WI. 53545 Posts: 3,415	Anyone spin flip or spin pitch? Spinning Gear? It is far easier to flip and pitch with spinning gear for all but the baddest bass in the heaviest cover. Of course, you need a highly specialized spinning rod and reel for this. I use saltwater gear that I have landed numerous 40 pound striped bass, and countless 20-30 pounders from treacherous ocean rock jetties in raging Atlantic surf tidal rips. Not bragging, I only mention this to discourage any doubt that the spinning gear I mention here is not strong enough for pulling 5-10 pound largemouths out of shallow, placid lake cover only 2-4 feet deep. The rod is a seven foot one piece Lamiglas model XS71MS graphite with a medium fast action. The reel is a Fin-Nor Captain Ahab model 12 that just melts 20 to 25 pound Berkley Big Game like butter. You can flip and pitch most cover more easily and far more effectively with this specialized spinning gear Lines. Getting down to business, have you tried Berkley Big Game fishing line? It's a great line with excellent knot strength, castability and abrasion resisitance, plus easy to find at a reasonable price to boot! For pitching and flipping, 20 lb. test is about average. In lighter cover, you may be able to squeak by with 15, and you may need 25 lb. test for the biggest bass in the baddest cover. Pitching. Now that you know exactly where you stand with your rod, reel and line, let's look at where and when to pitch to cover. Either standing or sitting, I just open the bail on the spinning reel, let enough line dangle down to clear the gunwales, which is about 6 feet of line for me standing, less sitting. Then, I hold the rod in front of me and slightly to my rod hand (right) side. The tip is pointed up at about 11 o'clock. I gently roll my wrist and forearm under and back to rock the lure back at me a few feet in a pendulum arc, dropping the rod tip to about 10 o'clock during this brief backward roll. Then I reverse the motion by forcefully extending my wrist and forearm far out in front of me. I roll my wrist/forearm far forward in an underhanded manner to reverse the pendulum arc and accelerate the lure forward so it travels not far above the water's surface in a trajectory towards the target cover. Ideally, I hold the boat about 25-30 feet away from cover and start pitching. I rarely have a problem hitting a one foot target space. Flipping. Flipping is a technique that I generally reserve for extremely heavy cover. You use the same rod and reel for flipping as for pitching...just at closer quarters. Flipping basically means to get right on top of the fish and drop the bait on their head. Some people have rules for when to flip versus pitch, such as the rule that you should flip rather than pitch in dark-colored water. Well, I do not pay attention to anything like that. My only rule is to prefer pitching and avoid flipping regardless of water color or anything else. However, there is some heavy cover that is so difficult to reach that you just cannot pitch to it. In these cases, I will work the boat so far up into the cover that I just have no idea how I will ever back out of it. Sometimes, I am poking the rod through a quagmire of reeds or tree limbs so thick that all I can do is open the bail and drop the lure straight down. Again, specialized spinning gear makes this easier. There are some unreal critters lurking in this stuff. Just one word of caution I want to give you. Do not try to thin out some of this cover to make it easier for you to fish. Remember, the bass are back in that nasty stuff for a reason. Do not break off any branches or uproot any reeds. Most times, you will only ruin the fish-holding properties of the spot if you do that. Besides, you will clue other anglers like me into your honey holes when I see broken tree limbs and reeds there! If you do or have, please explain why and when. If you don't, why not? I can see wanting a certain type of rod but a specialized spinning reel? Before reading this article (there's alot more to it), I never heard of a specialized spinning reel for pitching and flipping. And I don't plan on ocean fishing anytime soon so I'm doubting I will be shopping for a Fin-Nor. So what do you folks think? __________________ "Fishing isn't life or death... it's more important than that." Last edited by joedog; 01-17-12 at 03:07 AM.

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