Skipping Techniques

[ROBZILLA]

Skipping Techniques

Touchdown Worm

How many times have you been bass fishing and noticed a bass up under a pier or under a low hanging tree limb and try as you might, you could not cast your lure to it. This has happened to me a lot of times EXCEPT I have a technique that is just what is needed.

Years ago, I witnessed another angler using the Skipping Technique and he flat loaded the boat with bass. I was busy using another popular technique referred to as Flipping but I could not get the lure under the pier to the fish. It didn't take me long to start observing the "How To's" of this technique.

When you were a youngster, remember when you would throw rocks and watch them skip across the surface of the water? It is the very same technique. It is not the easiest technique to master but with some dedicated practice, I will assure you, you will start catching fish you never caught before.

Many of the BIG MONEY bass tournaments are now being won by anglers employing the Skipping Technique. I remember reading the year Dion Hibdon won the Bassmaster's Classic, he caught a number of his winning fish by skipping.

As far as equipment, I highly recommend using spinning equipment because with bait casting equipment, the free spool will cause alot of backlashes. I will list what I personally prefer using and it is simply a guide line. You can try it and make modifications of your own.

I prefer to use a good quality 6 foot graphite spinning rod with a matching quality reel with a good drag system. I will normally use 8 pound Stren line.

For Skipping, alot of different lures will work. I have had great success skipping Sluggos, Yamamotos, Gitzits, all types of tube baits, Slider Worms and my all time favorite is a small worm made right here in Indiana called a "TouchDown Worm."

This TouchDown Worm is approximately 5" long and is poured with a slight bend right in the middle of the body. It had a monofilament leader and also comes with a swivel and small sinker. The hooks are very small and they have little "Fingers" that are attached to the body of the worm. The ends of the fingers can be pushed over the hook points making the TouchDown Worm very weedless.

Now for the actual Skipping Technique. I like to fish piers, boat houses and pontoons, especially on warm, sunny days. The bass will often seek the shade under the piers and pontoons and many anglers pass these fish by because they cannot get a lure back to where the fish are hiding.

The small sinker that I mentioned that comes with the Touchdown Worm, I place it right in front of the nose of the worm. This allows the worm to have the weight forward of the lure and it allows it to be skipped to unbelievable distances, depending upon your skill level.

I will approach the pier or pontoon with the rod tip held low to the water. When I reach the distance I prefer, I will open the bail on the reel and using my wrist, I will bring the rod tip back and then snap it forward keeping it low to the surface of the water and release the line. This will allow the rod to "load up" and propel the lure across the top of the water.

With the Touchdown Worm, I let it sink all the way to the bottom and when I notice the slack line, I will "slow roll" the worm back with the rod tip held low. The worm will slowly rotate and I will promise you, if there is a bass under there, IT WILL STRIKE THE LURE HARD!!!

I have literally had the rod jerked out of my hands many times as the bass strikes the lure so be cautioned and when you feel the weight of the fish pull against you, set the hook.

Another word of assurance, don't be intimidated by the small hooks. I have personally caught bass over 8 pounds using TouchDown Lures and other lures that utilize the small hooks. Just be certain that they are sharp.

The Skipping Technique has put many fish in my livewell and it will do the same for you. If you exert the time necessary to practice the procedure , you will certainly notice the difference.

My partner and I were fishing a Buddy Tournament and we were fishing the humps and breaks. We were catching smaller fish but we could not catch any of "keeper" size. The sun was out and the temperature was very warm. I suggested to my partner that we try Skipping some of the piers in search of larger bass. My partner had not done any Skipping, so he put me in the front of the boat so he could watch.

I positioned the boat and I Skipped my lure way back up and under the first pier. As I closed the bail and began the slow retrieve, WHAM...I set the hook on a 3 pound plus largemouth. I positioned the boat to Skip the pontoon right next to the pier and made another presentation ..WHAM another bass that was right close to being a twin to the other fish I had just caught.

After some quick coaching, my partner began his career as a "Skipping Fanatic." We ended up catching a Team Limit of 10 bass and we were extremely proud as we carried our fish to the weigh-in scales and then earned a nice paycheck.

The next time you are out fishing whether it be "fun fishing" or tournament fishing and maybe you are not catching bass, try moving in to the piers and try the "Skipping Technique." I promise you a great time and some fish you never knew existed because you could not get your lure back to them. Now you can.

[zooker]

skippin is best done with a spinning rod but i have learned me a few tricks when it comes to using a bait caster and doing it...

zooker

[keithdog]

How about spincasting gear? I rarely ever use spincasting gear, but it seems it would be easy to use the skipping method with it.

[lunker-lander]

Could backlash. I mean, if you think about it, they're just baitcasters upsidedown...

-Lunker-

[Lancer6]

For 4" Senkos: Falcon Lowrider 5-167 "Clark Wendlandt" Weightless Worm rod, spinning version. Quantum Catalyst 2000. #20 braid and fluorocarbon leader.
For 5" Senkos: St. Croix Avid AS69MXF spin rod. Quantum Catalyst 3000. #30 braid and fluorocarbon leader.
A sharp snap of the wrist with the rod parallel to the surface and skippity-skip she goes. One needs a couple of "warm-up" shots into open water beforehand, but it's a great tactic.
My "Personal Best" number of skips is six, with the distance from initial contact with the water to the last impact being maybe nine feet. THAT was a lucky shot.
I'm just guessing here, but perhaps using lighter soft sticks, such as YUM Dingers (less salt=lighter than the Senkos...cheaper too!) might result in longer/more skips. Then again, less sectional density might cause forward energy to bleed off quicker.
I've only skipped with the Senkos thus far, but plan to try lightly weighted tubes, some straight-tailed worms, and maybe even a small soft swimbait on a light jig head.
It's a great technique, especially when fish are holding tight in the shadows beneath docks and overhanging foliage.

[zooker]

as lancer stated you can skip nearly any lure, if you cast it correctly. i find alot of poeple tend to slow down the cast to skip resulting in a backlash. i actually cast harder -kind like a long range cast-the bait will skip better and farther with less backlash than you think.. it is a combonation of reel set up and proper angle..

lancer try it with a frog i have skipped it 15+ times in a single cast..


zooker

[chubs]

Great post Robzilla!
Heres a few thing that I do when skipping.
When using my baitcaster Ill cast it out about 40ft and tape the spool so if I do backlash it doesnt go to deep.I hate picking.
I mainly use spinning gear for skipping. I feel I have better lure control, but I did'nt like the Quatums I use they only take up 24 inches of line per handle turn so I bought Bps pro qualifier which takes up 31 inches. I feel that I can move the fish away from the junk faster and stop the fish from wrapping around the dock post.But thats just me.

[pig n jig]

If you an afford to designate a baitcaster to skipping, I only spool up half of the spool capacity on the reel. I like a magnetic braking reel. You can learn to skip lures by practicing on an iced over pond. the bait will skip just as it does on open water. Once you get the right angle and the reel dialed in on ice, just apply what you have learned when it thaws out. P N J

[keithdog]

Two very good tips chubs and P N J. I'm going to remember those.

[Mac10]

I also learned it's good to skip under most conditions.....along submerged weedbed edges, weedy pockets, approaching a change in the weeds, even open water at times over flats, near creek channels, etc. Learned it from Bassintom. It's a way of introducing your lure to the bass, making them think there is something up on top feeding, making the commotion and all that. Works well most of the time for me.

[keithdog]

Thats a good thought Mac. A skipped lure could easily look like a minnow fleeing prey at the surface. Ya just know thats gonna turn the heads of a few bucketmouths.