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RAY SCOTT OUTDOORS
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By Ray Scott

 Flippin’ Made To Order

 

PINTLALA, AL –-Shallow, off-color water, visible targets—the situation faced by most bassers in the early-season.   Tough, but the perfect place for the flippin’ technique. 

Enter MotorGuide pro staffer Tommy Biffle, one of the top short-range artists on the professional Tournament Trail.   Here’s a short course in Tommy’s Tips:

  • Tackle:Special flippin’ stick (a slipstick with a sliding handle 7 to 7 ½ feet long), baitcasting reel with thumb bar release for the spool, and heavy 20-to-25-pound test mono (abrasion resistant) or the newer fiber-core lines.

  •  Lures:   Jigs in ½ to ¾-ounce weight with rubber-type skirt.  Fiber weedguard and dressed with either a plastic or pork frog trailer.  Biffle’s favorite is his trademark Biffle MegaCraw, so named for his B.A.S.S. MegaBucks win. 

    Also, plastic worms or lizards, rigged Texas style with the hook buried weedless.  The “slip-sinker” should be pegged against the head of the lure.  A toothpick jammed in the bullet end of the weight is most common method for “pegging” a bait.

At times, flipping a spinnerbait is an option.  Triton Boats pro staff’s Doug Garrett uses a big single-blade spinnerbait with a bronze blade to flip when conditions are very muddy.  The added flash and thump will trigger a bite.

Flippin' a heavy jig and plastic Mega- Craw in the thickest cover is Tommy 
Biffle's favorite bassin' method.

Basically, the lure color chart for jigs and trailers is: blue, black, purple or combinations.  The darker colors appear to standout (silhouette) more in stained, muddy water.  Experiment with the new high-visibility plastic frog chunks in “electric blue”.

  • Flippin’ Basics:  The long-rod technique first made the Bassmaster Tournament Trail with California angler Dee Thomas.  He developed the technique for dropping lures into tight spots in the tules and reed-lined banks in the California Delta.  Today, pros like Tommy Biffle and 1999 B.A.S.S. Mega Bucks winner Ron Shuffield, have been so successful with the technique, any serious bass fisherman has learned to make the presentation.

For the beginner, Ron Shuffield, a Triton Boats touring pro, recommends starting with an elevated stool in the backyard and learning to flip at a bucket.  As the angler develops his skill at hitting the target, change the bucket to a cup.  When a flipper can drop the jig in a cup at 10 to 12 feet nine out of ten times, it’s time to hit the water.

  •  How To Flip:   (1) Drop 8 to 9 feet of line below the rod tip.  (2) Pull an arm’s length of line off the spool with the free hand and start to raise the rod.   (3)  Continue to raise the rod tip to start the lure swinging toward you and pull line through the rod guides.  (4) As the lure reaches your body, drop the rod to start the lure to move forward (pendulum motion) toward the target.   (5) Raise the rod tip and at the same time let the line slide over your fingers.  (6) With practice, the lure will make an almost silent entry into the water and on target.

Allow the lure to fall “straight down” with only slight thumb pressure on the spool.   Click reel into gear and pay close attention on the retrieve.  Often the bite is only an odd resistance or heavy sensation.  At either a strike or unusual resistance, set the hook.