Tips for Flippin' and Pitchin'

Flipping heavy cover has evolved drastically the last few years. A term that once meant throwing a texas-rigged plastic into brush now encompasses everything from punching matted vegetation to pitching a jig around docks. Perhaps the term has been abused or perhaps we're learning new ways to expand and catch bass that are hiding in the dark. 

However you want to look at it, Flippin' has changed. In this video Matt breaks down everything from traditional texas rigged plastics on a straight shank hook to newer twists including screw locks, Superline hooks, and even jigs. The changes include rods as well so if you're flipping with a 7'6" rod you might want to consider expanding into both shorter and longer rods for different approaches. 

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Below is a breakdown of some of the gear Matt and Tim have found to help them catch more fish when flipping and pitching in cover...

Flipping Rods...

-Light Flipping 7'2" Zodias
-Heavy Flipping 7'6" Expride
-Heavy Flipping 7'9" Extreme 795
-Punching 8' Champion 805

-Reel: Shimano Curado 200 7:1

-Line: Sufix 832 65 lb braid

-Favorite Flipping Jig
-Favorite Punch Jig

-Tungsten Weight With Liner
-Dirty Jigs Punch Skirt
-Bobber Stop (Weight Stop)

-Gamakatsu EWG Superline Hook (4/0 Size)
-Owner Twist Lock Hook (4/0 and 6/0)
-Straight Shank Super Heavy Cover Hook

Preferred Baits...

-Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver
-Missile Baits D Bomb
-Strike King Rage Bug

Braided Line and Leader Length

Many anglers have made the switch to braided line for their bass fishing but many still struggle with the specifics. The main struggles are when to tie a leader, how long should a leader be, what knots to use for braided line, When to use a leader and when to tie direct to braided line. 

In this video Matt focuses on when to tie a leader and how long that leader needs to be for different techniques like flipping, pitching, crankbaits, jigs, finesse fishing, topwater, etc. Leader length for flipping is vastly different than leader length for reaction or finesse techniques. The only aspect of the leaders that remains the same is the knot. 

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Matt's connection knot of choice to connect braid to mono or fluoro leader material is a blood knot. Here is the video on how to tie the blood knot if you're not familiar with it: https://youtu.be/XKn9Pgl1sYI

Matt's preferred Lines...

Sufix 832 Braided Line
Power Pro Maxcuatro Braided Line
Seaguar AbrazX Fluorocarbon
Maxima Ultragreen Monofilament

**We do not advocate Maxima Ultragreen as a main line because it is stiff and has excessive stretch. However, as a leader material it is phenomenal! It has strength, shock absorption, and abrasion resistence. 

Keith Combs' Crankbait Tips

Keith needs no introduction but for those Western anglers who may not follow professional angling as closely as they should, he's won the Texas Big Bass Classic on Lake Fork 3 times, fished the Bassmaster Classic 5 times, and set the record for the heaviest ever tournament weight with a 3-day total of 110 pounds! He's a legend with a crankbait, especially when it comes to Lake Fork, Texas. 

We were thrilled to have the opportunity to fish with Combs last month at the Shimano Content Creator's Conference on none other than the famed water he has made his name on. Watching Combs fish Lake Fork was very rewarding but watching him operate his Humminbird Onyx electronics was mindblowing! When we got back to our rooms we compared notes and were both agreed we were most impressed with how he fine-tuned his electronics, located fish, adapted his baits accordingly, and immediately put the fish on the screen onto the deck of the boat. 

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If you ever have an opportunity to fish with an "Elite" angler, you should take the opportunity. It was a very eye opening experience! 

Tim spent much of his time fishing with the Shimano Antares reel and was blown away by the performance! Its not for the faint of heart with a price tag of $599.99 but to our amazement, its worth the $$$ if you can afford it. However, for those that live within a budget, the Shimano Casitas at $119.99 held up extremely well, even when slinging a giant 10XD Crankbait all day. We'd both overlooked the Casitas in the past but will be taking a better look going forward. 

Combs on the other hand keeps his arsenal very simple. He preferred to use a Shimano Curado in 7:1 gear ratio, even when throwing a 6XD and 10XD. He explained that he can slow it down if need be but when he gets a big bass on he's able to power up that 7:1 reel and really keep control of the fish. 

How to Get the Most From a Baitcasting Reel

We received a request for a video on how to adjust a baitcasting reels to get the best performance. Neither Tim nor Matt are reel mechanics but Tacticalbassin is all about helping anglers improve their fishing. This week these two fishermen will show you exactly how we adjust our personal reels when its time to hit the water.

As always, Tim and Matt rarely agree so instead of pretending, we're showing you the reels we actually use on a daily basis. For Tim, that means a Revo STX Gen 3, and for Matt, that's a Shimano Curado.

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This video shows how we adjust both Shimano and Abu Garcia Reels without going into all the technical details. This isn't a reel breakdown by a reel technician, its a real world video of what each of us do to our personal equipment when we get a new reel and want it to perform at its best.

We hope this video helps! We know its not the video most expect to see, and I'm sure a reel tech or two will shake their heads but this is how the two of us fish our equipment year after year and it has stood the test of time.