Flipping and Pitching Equipment

When it comes to flipping and pitching using the right equipment is extremely important. And, I'm going to start with the reel. I have been in product design with sponsors for a lot of, lot of years and I helped in the design of this reel. It's the Ardent F700 designed strictly for flipping and pitching. It's got a narrow spool so you don't waste a whole bunch of line. It's got a little peg that you tie to when you fill it up. Make sure when you're putting braid on a reel that you either have a peg to tie to where it won't slip or put a few yards of monofilament or fluorocarbon on first and then tie to that. That will keep it from slipping on the spool. This reel also has no star drag. It's got a built-in drag system of 22.5 lbs so you get no slippage on the hook set. Very, very important, if you're using a different reel, make sure you tighten that drag down as much as you can so that you can get the hook set and get those fish out of the heavy cover. Important, important features, to have a reel that's heavy duty because you are going to be using a heavy rod and heavy line along with it and the reel needs to be able to hold up.

Okay, the rod, this is an Ardent rod that I designed for those folks. The most popular length is a 7'6" flipping rod. Some guys when they come to pitching, they like a little bit shorter rod. I've got a 7'5" pitching rod. I've also got a 7'10" heavy duty flipping rod for when I'm flipping them at grass for great big bass. The bottom line is find a rod that works for you. If you're a little guy you probably don't want a real long rod but always make sure when you are flipping and pitching that that rod is at least 7 foot long so you can get the leverage and you can do the techniques correctly. It's going to have to be a heavy action rod to get those fish up out of the cover.

Now the line. This is where a lot of people get confused. And, this is why I went to work with Seaguar to design these flipping lines so that you would have the correct line when it comes to flipping and pitching. The braid, we've got it in 50 and we've got it in 65. I love to fish the braid down through the heavy cover. Matted grass, places like that because it will cut right through the grass on the hook set and there is no stretch to it so you get a really good hook set. You bury that hook good. If you're a person that's got a weak hook set you might think about going to braiding all your fishing because it will help you bury the hook a little bit better. Now the fluorocarbon, if the water is a little bit clear, isolated targets, that's when I like to go to the fluorocarbon and the Seaguar Flipping Fluoro is available in 20, 25, and 30 and those are perfect weights. If it's real clear water, isolated targets, you can get by with 20. If the cover is pretty dense, move on up to 25 and if the water is a little bit dirty, shoot, jump up to 30. You're never going to have to worry about breaking off a fish and that's very, very important because the biggest mistakes that happen in flipping and pitching are involved with your line. Either using the wrong line for the wrong situation, using too light a line, not taking the time to retie. So, keep all of those things in mind and you will become a better fisherman.