GEAR
It’s important to have the right equipment for flippin’ into dense vegetation. You need to be able to overpower the bass and pull them away from cover quickly.
I use an 8’ Abu Garcia Villain heavy- action casting rod because it has a solid backbone and isn’t too stiff to rip the hook out of the fish’s mouth. I attach a lightning fast 9.0:1 geared Abu Garcia REVO Rocket casting reel spooled with 65- lb Berkley Trilene Professional Grade Braid. My rod, reel, and line combination allows me to handle anywhere from a 3/4- to 2-oz Picasso Tungsten flippin’ Weight.
If I’m on a strong flippin’ bite, I’ll have multiple setups rigged up with different size weights. Ideally, I want a weight that is just heavy enough to slide through the vegetation that I’m fishing.
GET TO FLIPPIN’
Flippin’ emergent and matted
16
Photo by Pedro Felix
vegetation
takes
dedication
while the water
is still cold. It’s
possible to
go a long time
between bites
or that you’ll
be fishing for
only a handful
of bites all day.
However, the bites
you do get can
be quality — the
quality that makes
it worth the time
and effort. So pick
up your flippin’ stick
and don’t be afraid to
drop a heavy weight
into emergent and matted vegetation this winter. It may produce your biggest bass of the year.
Photo by Kevin Hawk
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