Flippin/Pitchin/Froggin

[Juan Grande]

They had a deal at Cabelas where you buy a Shimano Curado or Caenan and you get one of their Tourney Edition rods for $5. Would have liked to spend the $300 on a Curado, but I went the cheaper route and paired the Caenan with a 7' heavy action rod that I hope to use for flipping/pitching/froggin this summer. I plan to spool it with 50lb braid.

I think I have the froggin part down, but am new to the other two. Anyone have any beginner's tips for me?

[Larson15]

Always keep you tip high and dont set hook right away.

[06reata]

I purchased a new curado and a citica yesterday. I just called cabela's and they can't find that promotion. Do you have any other info I can use?

[Juan Grande]

I'll have to check my receipt and see if there's a promo code or something. The Citica wasn't included, it was just the Curado and the Caenan. Not sure if it was a weekly deal, I was in there the weekend of March 12-13 (Rogers store). They had a note about the $5 rod right on the reel's description/price tag in the display case.

Two or three people got the same deal while I was there so I'm sure the guys in the fishing dept know about it.

[Cecil]

It was just for their Great Outdoor Days event. But I bet they will run it again sometime..

[Deitz Dittrich]

Cec is correct.. it was just for their GOD days..

[slopmaster]

When you flip/pitch learn to become a line watcher. Alot of your strikes will occur on the inital fall and a lot of times you wont feel it but you can see your line sort of jump. Or if your fishing 3 feet of water for example pay attention to how long it takes your lure to contact the bottom, if it takes less time than usual set the hook cause odds are one hit it on the fall. If you youtube or google flipping and pitching there are a lot of good articles to learn from. Personally i've read a lot of Denny Brauers articles and i feel that it has helped me learn the details.

[Gardiner14]

When you flip/pitch learn to become a line watcher.

+1.

[thatoneguy]

When you flip/pitch learn to become a line watcher. Alot of your strikes will occur on the inital fall and a lot of times you wont feel it but you can see your line sort of jump. Or if your fishing 3 feet of water for example pay attention to how long it takes your lure to contact the bottom, if it takes less time than usual set the hook cause odds are one hit it on the fall. If you youtube or google flipping and pitching there are a lot of good articles to learn from. Personally i've read a lot of Denny Brauers articles and i feel that it has helped me learn the details.

I started learning that last year. Question about the line watching: i have black power pro on most of my reels, and it gets a little tough to see under some conditions. the bright yellow or green stuff would be wayyyyy easier to see, but would it affect the fishies willingness to hit? I ask because I've saved up some pennies for an actual pitching/flipping rod and i'm thinking about spooling it with some heavy duty yellow PP line.

[slopmaster]

I started learning that last year. Question about the line watching: i have black power pro on most of my reels, and it gets a little tough to see under some conditions. the bright yellow or green stuff would be wayyyyy easier to see, but would it affect the fishies willingness to hit? I ask because I've saved up some pennies for an actual pitching/flipping rod and i'm thinking about spooling it with some heavy duty yellow PP line.

[Gardiner14]

or tie a mono or fluoro leader on.

[thatoneguy]

makes sense...thanks for the ideas!

[Juan Grande]

Do you guys ever use swivels on your set ups or do you tie directly to the jig or whatever you're using? I switch lures quite a bit, probably too much, but it's a pain in the a** cutting that braid off and tying on a new bait multiple times. I guess that's where having 20+ rods comes in handy

[slopmaster]

Tie directly onto your jig. With a swivel on you'll get hung up in the weeds all day and it will become very annoying taking them off every other pitch. more annoying than tieing on a new lure every so often. I only use two rods for pitching/flipping and once you find a few confidence baits you'll find yourself switching lures less fequently.

[RK]

Hiya -

Lots of good advice here already.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned is practicing the mechanics. Fishing's the only sport I know where if you say you're practicing, people look at you like you've lost your marbles...but there are mechanical skills involved just like golf or tennis or whatever, and it it pays to practice them. With a technique like pitching that's pretty technical, practicing before the season begins will go a long way towards your being successful when it's for real.

Even having done it for a while, I still practice every spring. I stand on a deck box in the back yard and pitch a jig with the hook cut off at various targets around the yard. The first few days are usually an embarrassment - it's amazing how much skills atrophy over the off season. I'm going to be doing it more than usual this spring since I'm switching hands for pitching this season - holding the rod in my left hand so I don't have to switch hands once the lure lands. Will probably bean the dog a time or two while I get that figured out...

Anyhow - practice, practice, practice. Start now - just short, soft pitches down a long hallway to get the feel of it. Concentrate on a low trajectory and soft landing. Distance and accuracy will come in time.

Seriously - practice!

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Cecil]

I have done the same with switching rod to left hand when pitching. Started doing it a year and a half ago and it has made a huge difference. WAY more efficient but still not as accurate. Takes some time to get there....

[bemidjibasser]

Same here. I practice with the rod in both hands. It makes dock fishing a lot easier to get the cast angle right with less boat movement. I think it helps to be able to pitch with both hands, even though I only reel with my right hand.

[RK]

Hiya -

I shouldn't have tons of trouble switching to left-handed pitching. I cast left-handed when I fish muskies, and have used left-hand retrieve reels for flipping for a while, plus all my spinning reels are left hand retrieve. Hopefully it won't be a complete disaster. Will take some practice though.

Wish I was as ambidextrous as my daughter. She's 13 and can use a baitcasting reel either handed, shoots from the right side in hockey, pitches softball left-handed, and bats from the right side. She's a freak...

Cheers,

RK

[Larson15]

About 4 years ago I told myself that it makes alot more sense to use a left handed reel. It was a little weird at first but when I switched there was no looking back. I use 100% left handed reels now.

[slopmaster]

RK is dead on, i've been practicing out in the snow the last couple weeks with my girlfriends dad and at first it seemed foreign, but after awhile you get back in the groove. Another thing i've done is set up cups in the house and practice pitching into them for accuracy, or under a low table of some sort to imitate a dock.

I was also thinking about switching to my left hand for pitching and have practiced it a bit this year and man is it ugly. I also tried out a left handed reel (normally right handed) so i could still pitch right but just reel with my left but than you get into possible hook setting problems. Don't know if I like that idea either though.

[mww24]

For the guys that practice in the yard or house. How do you do that? I can't imagine trying to practice inside with a 7'6" rod. Also, Do you stand on something outdoors to simulate being up off the water like you would in a boat? I just bought my first pitching stick this last week as well. Thanks for the advice.

nevermind. Just re-read RK's post and saw he does stand on a box.

[walleye365]

agree 100% up until last winter i couldnt pitch/flip/skip for nothing. Last winter i started doing the same and i couldnt believe how it helped no more dings or dongs around docks/boatlift i can pretty much put it were i want it.

[Juan Grande]

Larson beat me to it, but I was going to ask why more right handed fisherman don't use left handed bait casters? I was so used to my spinning gear (reeling with my left hand) that when I switched to a bait caster I had to switch and it was hard to get used to. I almost lost my balance when I set the hook with my left hand.

Is that "just the way it is" or is there a reason that a lot of guys cast with their right hand and then switch to their left to reel? Seems kind of inefficient.

[Gardiner14]

i always use left handed bait casters. The one time i tryed to use a right hand the same happend to me, i felt unbalanced.

[MN BassFisher]

I bought my first baitcaster last year, all I ever used was spinning gear (left retrieve) so I when I started using my baitcaster last summer (right retrieve) it felt weird. I never got completely used to it, but then again I didn't use it that much. The hookset felt wrong. But this year I have 3 baitcasting setups, all right handed so I'm hoping the more I use them the more I'll get used to the change!