Flipping & Pitching

Category: Techniques

Flipping and pitching are close-quarters bass fishing techniques designed to deliver a bait quietly and accurately into heavy cover — brush piles, laydowns, dock pilings, vegetation mats, and flooded timber — where bass hide and ambush prey. Flipping uses a long rod (7'6" to 8' heavy or extra-heavy action) with a fixed amount of line, swinging the bait pendulum-style into targets at close range (typically 10-20 feet). Pitching extends the range to 20-40 feet by releasing the bait with an underhand motion that keeps the trajectory low and the entry splash minimal. Both techniques use heavy braided line (50-65 pound test) or heavy fluorocarbon (20-25 pound test) to pull fish out of cover before they can wrap the line around structure. Jigs, Texas-rigged creature baits, and punching rigs are the primary lure choices. The key to effective flipping and pitching is stealth — approaching targets quietly with the trolling motor, making accurate casts that place the bait within inches of the cover, and allowing the bait to fall naturally along the edge of the structure. This is a technique that rewards precision over distance and patience over speed.