Advanced Flipping Techniques

I thought it would be good to do some tips & techniques again, been mostly focused on tournament stuff.

Hey you all that love flipping, here are a few things to try to increase you hook-up ratios.

1. When in doubt, go TUNGSTEN. Its denser and smaller, so you get better penetration on the flip and on the hook set when the fish clamps down on your weight. Tru-Tungsten has some great designs and colors to meet all your needs. So try some of these Tru-Tungsten Tungsten Sinkers

2. Try a snell knot on a heavy duty straight shank flipping hook! If done correctly, when you slide a slip-sinker down on the hook, you will see the hook point curl up like a scorpion tail. This action causes most bass to get hooked solid in the roof of the mouth. The snell knot works effectively when you peg a bullet sinker as well, but precautions must be taken. The most important element is how tightly you snug the weight.

If you peg the weight down so tight that it doesn’t slide up the line, the hook won’t kick, and you might as well just tie a Palomar knot on an offset hook. It has to have room to move so when you set the hook, it slams against the weight and shoots the hook upward. So you use a bobber stop or a Smart Peg to peg your sinker, not one of those threaded rubber toothpicks.

For hook selection, consider Mustad Denny Bauer Flippin’ Hook or the Brand New Reaction Innovations BMF Flipping Hook. The BMF hook is a special hook that had a completely closed hook which will make the snell knot a little easier to tie and will not let the knot slip out on the hook set. Youvella is coming out with some great flipping hooks as well!

Reaction Innovations BMF Flipping Hooks

3. Use a high quality Braided line, like Power Pro Braided Line. Tie a Palomar or Double Palomar Knot and a dap of super glue does not hurt either. Also camouflage your braided line with a permanent marker, the line often fades and turns white after use, so take a blue, black or green marker to your line for the first few feet. The other option would be to go with 20-30lb flourocarbon, but I like braid better.

Hopefully you can try a few of these tips and they will help you put a few more fish in the boat. Beware, practice the snell knot at home or on land, its not an easy knot to learn when out in the boat