predictions come true, the result may be the return of meaningful, but not necessarily drought-busting, rain in California.
More rain equals more water, and more water usually results in high water years that place bass in cover where flipping becomes necessary to present a bait into shallow water strike zones. Weather conditions and the availability of shallow prey play a major roll catching fish flipping during the fall.
WHY FLIP
Fall makes a great time for flippin’ because the bass are migrating up creeks, chasing shad and other prey in shallow water before winter.
Huckaby believes that flipping is the better choice during the fall in clear water when the cover is not as thick. He targets places where anglers may typically punch with big weights, yet he opts to lighten his flipping weights to keep his baits in the strike zone longer. “You can flip worms and small finesse baits during the fall to catch bass that are in shallow water looking for an easy meal,” says Huckaby. “I use my Hummingbird electronics and Navionics+ chip to find creek channels bends that have undercut banks with deep water access nearby.”
According to Angler’s Marine Pro Tony Lain, “Flipping as a technique is used on bass in shallow cover; so a stealth presentation as to not spook a
fish is essential.” He continued “Flipping is best suited when a bass has a small strike zone in shallow water cover or in off-colored shallow muddy water.”
SHALLOW WATER TARGETS
Any visible target such as floating vegetation, boat docks, or heavy cover are all ideal places to catch bass flipping. Huckaby suggests that fall conditions are ideal when bass are locked on targets in less than 5 ft of water.
“There are always bass in shallow water,” says Costa Del Mar pro Todd Woods. “I like flipping a weightless Yamamoto Senko, because I can let out line so that the lure falls naturally right in front of a hungry bass.”
“Flipping in the fall is the ultimate option for catching shallow bass that are often overlooked by others,” says Woods. “Bass prefer to be in shallow water with something over their head that can be used as an ambush zone.”
Bass are known for staging in shallow cover as a way to shoot out and ambush unsuspecting prey that swim by. Places such as grass beds, sticks, docks, and other shoreline vegetation present plenty of edges that a bass can use to ambush prey such as shad, bluegill and crawdads.
FALL 2015
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