A-a-a-ag-g-g-gh-h-h-h-h!! I give up!!

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Staci Matheis

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I made myself a promise yesterday. I was going to get the hang of flipping and pitching with a baitcaster. Even if it took all day!



Now, I don't know what I'm doing wrong..... Maybe I set the cast control too loose - but if I set it tighter, that doesn't work either..... Maybe I need to pull out more pins - but that doesn't help.....



I can tell you - the thumbnail-on-the-spool-to-remove-birdsnests trick DOES WORK!



I tried for what seemed like all day - but was probably only half an hour - then gave up and went back to using the baitcasters for casting only.



What is the trick?



This was the first time I've really had a chance to explore Shelbyville in central Illinois - I liked it! Lots of small coves! Lots of standups and laydowns! I did manage to catch a couple of 12" largemouth and two nice crappie on cranks and spinnerbaits in the backs of coves. Then, about mid-afternoon, I decided to fish some laydowns along the main lake body. Got snagged..... Started to move over toward the snag to retreive my lure..... Pulling all the way..... And I guess the limb or whatever broke loose..... It started to give as I approached..... Then broke the surface..... Cleared the surface by several inches! Big, Fat largemouth - 6 pound class! Shook it's head and my crankbait! Crankbait went up! Fish went down..... Explative deleted.



It was a great day, thought! I think that Shelbyville is going to become my lake of choice here in central Illinois - even if it is an hour further than Carlyle!



me!
 
Scott,



If you flip with your right hand, try turning your wrist to the left (so your thumb is on the left instead of on top)....hope you understood that....better if you can see it. Your thumb will still be on top of the spool but it will be on the left side. Once I started doing that, my flippin' was accurate. I also can flip with my spinning reel too.



Carli
 
Do what I did, just give up and go buy a Zebco with a thumb button. Robert
 
I'll have to show you the next time I see you....it's reeeaaalll easy with a curado. I can pitch ACCURATELY over 75 feet with a 7' med heavy, 12lb. line and a 1/2 ounce jig...and by accurate I mean into a 5 gallon bucket at 75 feet, a baseball hat at 50 feet and a coffee cup at over 30 feet....Mac and Mini can attest to that!!!
 
TOX -



Honest to gawd..... I thought I had a snag..... It didn't move - at first..... Then pulled to me like a dead limb that has been snagged..... Then straight up..... It would have been the biggest bass I had ever caught..... It did the self-release thing - as usual - only about 10' from the boat..... Wow! That thing was big and Fat! Must have just been getting ready to spawn! If it weren't for the severe thunderstorms here today - I'd be back there!



Everyone else -



Yes, I cast with the rod in my right hand. Yes, I'm using a Curado 101 with 14# line and a 6'6" medium-heavy BPS Extreme. No, I haven't tried turning the thing 90 degrees.



Why does turn the reel on it's side help?



And, Carli and Bassyankee, you mean have the tip of the rod on the side of me opposite the side I'm holding the rod on? I've always done it from the right side with spinning equipment.



Ken, I should have gotten you to give me lessons down at Kentucky Lake!



Maybe Nominal has the right idea..........



me!
 
Pitching takes a little practice. Try heavier baits til you get the hang of it.

 
Take you hand, with rod in hand, and move the rod up/down to it's full range. Now, turn the rod/reel/hand 90 degrees to the left. Do the up down thing again.



See how much more range your wrist has when turned 90 degrees. Friend showed me this last year. Improved my casting of baitcasters 100%.



Tex
 
Scott,



When Carlos and I were out, I had the same thing happen. Thought I was snagged in a silt fence that had was in the water until the big girl came about 2 feet out of the water. Only reason I didn't lose her was that I was using a Gamagatsu hook and she hooked herself. A lesson on using priemum hooks!!



You need to get Pierre to give you some tips on pitching. He is one of the most accomplished pitchers I have ever seen. He is a pitching machine!! He can curl a bait 5 feet under a dock with only a 6 inch gap between the water and the first board. He doesn't know it but I learned a lot in the time we were on the water. There have got to be some tips he can give you. I learn better by watching. We were skipping and pitching docks most of the day. And here's a new one.....he pitches spinnerbaits!! Amazing...



TOXIC
 
Pierre! Forget about Cuba - come to St. Louis on your next trip!



Like I said a couple of weeks ago, Tox..... I can get those trebles on crankbaits permenantly stuck in anything except a fish! I was using a Wiggle Wart or Rattlin'FatRap or some such 5 -6' crank in baby bass color.



Tex, I just tried it..... You all are so right!



Is it next Saturday yet???!!!????
 
Scott......



YES....just what Tex said about the 90 degrees. (Gee I thought I was the only one that figured that out!!)



Congrats on the hawg too!! That's what we call a "gimme".



Carli
 
No such thing as a "gimme"..... If it wasn't in the boat to be photographed - it wasn't a "caught fish"! But it sure was exciting to see it jump!
 
See that.....fancy bass boat....bigggg fish! Dem basses love sparklies!



Carli
 
Scott,stand on a chair in the kitchen and practice,practice,practice.
 
Folks that is why when come here and stay. I am not as accurate as Ken yet but I can hit a cat at 40 ft and it was all in the turn of the wrist.. That was so simple but yet so good. Hey I thought everybody pitched SB's and Crankbaits also..

BF

P.S Scott that is why I set the hook everytime.. tree or not and that landed my 5-6lber week before last.
 
Try standing in your boat when it's parked in your driveway and targeting something in the yard (or parking lot) I actually roll my wrist during the forward motion. It was kinda like learning a backhand stroke in tennis when I learned. I was in a two-day tournament as a non-boater on Toledo Bend (my first tournament)with a great flipper who kept the trolling motor on high for most of the tournament. Believe me, I learned to flip about halfway through the second day after seeing my partnet boat fish after fish. With practice, you'll be flippin like a pro soon!!!
 
stay after it scott as you will get the hang of it. I kind of find that I turn my wrist a bit also which kind of points the top of the towards the other arm your not holding the rod with. Also, I've found it a bit easier to pitch with a longer rod but it can be done with any length. another thing to keep in mind is to make it one smooth action and lifting the rod tip up to get the centrifical force or motion going. I sit in the living room on the couch and flip a small spinnerbait with the hook cut off into the fireplace. The day that I really learned was similar to mikel's post above as I was fishing with a friend and we were pitching flukes weightless into the weedbeds on a windy day. using a real light bait is not as easy, but it will let you know real quick where the leverage is because if you don't do it close to right, it ain't going very far. the lake i fish, I end up pitching 90% of the time and learning this as helped my catch tremendously. hang in there as it will come with more practice and don't be afraid to have someone show you in person. pitchin spinnerbaits into cover is an awesome way to catch fish. i haven't pitched crankbaits yet, but will try that some too this year.



jd
 
Thanks for all the advice and encouragement, everyone!



OK..... Next Saturday..... I promise.....
 
The most important thing to do when learning to flip it to keep your rod tip moving up during the cast. You have to stop the bait with your tip high and then drop it on your target. If your rod tip is level to the lake you will have a hard tome placing the bait where you want it to go. Stand on a bench in your back yard (I bot two plastic stools) and put out some paper plates for targets. It won't be long and you'll be using a plastic cup for a target.
 
hey Scott....



You may be just using too much arm and not enough wrist. All it take is a easy flip of the wrist and forearm swing to accomplish some distance and accuracy. I used to stand on the floor and pitch a 3/8 oz. hookless jig on a 7' rod down the hall to the back bedroom just to learn the easy arm motion it takes (til the wife noticed the marks on the wall from the misses,ha) and I'm only 5'11" tall. You just can't snap it too hard (backlash time).

And now that I've read it here, I noticed that I roll my wrist over so my reel is sideways to almost upside down (more comfortable feel to my arm/wrist.) and my thumb only totally disengages from spool for a short period of time (probably at the highest point of lure arch to just before it hits the water), feather it out and feather it in to the water.

Like everyone else says, practice, practice, practice...technique and acuracy at home and distance increases on the water.



Good luck and keep trying, it's the best way to present you're bait softly at greater distances than you can flipping. A necessary tactic for those big bass that hold up or roam around shallow.



Tom
 
i know you've heard this before. but, don't bring anything but your flippin rod. it's amazing how fast you learn when you have no other choice. also when i was learning i stood on level ground. which is harder than in your boat, making your boat easier to pitch out of. also it helps when you fish a lot with people who are very good pitchers. you have your line in the water a lot more when pitching because it's a quicker way to cast. and of course and very important at times you can hit the water very softly with barley a ripple. also in your yard, pitch under any bushes all the way back to the base. also make sure you pitch the lure out of your hand. it can be done without but it's easier with. probably more info than you need,maybe something here will help. thanks stan
 
Thanks for your optimism, everyone!

You make me believe that an old dog CAN learn new tricks!



me!
 

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