T
wo of the biggest moments
of Elite Series pro Chad
Morgenthaler’s career – B.A.S.S. wins on Okeechobee and Toho
– came punching thick grass with a
flipping stick, heavy tungsten weights
and braided line, so you can forgive him
if that technique holds a special place in
his heart.
Nevertheless, it is not the only
way he flips and pitches. Indeed, a
big part of what got him to that point
in his career was utilizing the same
techniques with much lighter gear.
“I grew up pitching soft plastics
to laydowns with 10-pound mono for
most of my life,” he said. “And I use
12-pound fluorocarbon all the time
at home on Table Rock, and really any place there are
shallow fish in clear water or pressured fish.”
Even on tour, unless he is fishing a wall or canopy
of vegetation, he flips extensively with line much lighter
than the 65-pound-test Gamma Torque that produced the
wins.
“In sparse vegetation I start with 12 and don’t ever
go above 16,” he said. Part of that is the ability to place a
bait precisely with the light stuff. It’s easier to skip, pitch
and cast accurately. Morgenthaler described it as the
functional difference between pitching “into a five-gallon
bucket versus into a coffee cup.”
The bigger line simply experiences more friction coming off the spool or going through the guides. Once the lure is in the strike zone, it’ll fall more naturally, too. Of course, you’ll need to be more aware of where you cast and what obstacles lie between you and your target.
“You can’t necessarily put it over or in a bush,” he said. “Your landing path has to be as clear as possible and you need to be mentally prepared to deal with the situations that may arise.”
That starts with employing the proper tackle. The 7’11” whipping stick that punches through mats from Okeechobee to the California Delta gets replaced with a Lew’s 7’ medium-heavy baitcaster. He pairs it with a Lew’s Pro Ti high-speed casting reel, and no matter which one
you choose he recommends that it
have magnetic cast control to fine tune
your casting. Ultimately, the combo
should work to match the line size – if
you overpower your line, you sacrifice
any performance advantage that you
otherwise gain.
Once fighting the fish, a finesse
flipper has to abandon the pretense of
manhandling your quarry and instead
employ a bit of subterfuge.
“What most people don’t realize
is that if you just ease into a fish, he
Photo: B.A.S.S.
will usually hold onto a bait and swim
out of the cover,” Morgenthaler said. “If
you slam into him, you’ll just activate
his defense mechanisms and they go
crazy. Once you get that down, you can
pretty much swim them wherever you
want.”
His key lures typically come from Missile Baits.
“I still roll with the D Bomb and the Quiver 6.5,” he said. “Sometimes, if they’re really spooky, I’ll go to the Baby D Bomb. Even if I go with the big D Bomb, I’ll often cut it down a little bit.”
Photo: B.A.S.S.
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Summer 2021
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