If you take one look around me right now all around this boat is nothing but shallow cover.
Throughout the entire country it means big bass. I grew up fishing in Georgia. A lot
of muddy water shallow type fisheries. It's hard to beat flippin' and pitching soft plastics
for big bass.
When you're working down a stretch of bank you're going to look for something that looks
a little bit different than everything else. We've got a bunch of bushes back there and
they look sexy, but they're in about 4 inches of water. Not the best depth for catching
big bass. So what I like to do is target pieces that come out just a little bit further. So
we've got 6 inches back here, the boat is in 3 and half feet, and these bushes right
here on the outside are in probably about 2 or 2 and half feet. Look for something different.
Bass love an edge and that's why I target edges. It gives them something to orient to
as they move to and from shallow water. Just pick it apart. I mean if you're not convinced
there's not a fish somewhere you just casted cast again. It's about being efficient to
though. I mean you've got to just go through here and just go to work. Keep your head down
and just keep fishing. When I'm in super shallow cover I'll just flip it in there, lift it
about two or three times, and if it doesn't bite it by then its lost its chance. Now they're
are sometimes where that changes. But that's primarily what works best for me.
So there's not a better feeling in bass fishing than flippin' into heavy cover, feeling that
thump, seeing your line swim off, and setting the hook into something solid.
I love jig fishing and I catch a lot of big fish on jigs. But the most consistent technique
day in and day out is flippin' soft plastic baits.
Now when you walk down the isle of your favorite tackle store whatever it may be. You're going
to see bags, bags, bags, and probably more bags of all these soft plastics. This one
is going to say it's the best and so is this one so it's really hard to choose. But in
my opinion you can break it down into four categories that's going to make it your purchasing
easier, and I think you'll catch more fish with it.
Now these four categories I like to use are both for application and storage. You can
store it a little bit more modularly, and pick through it easier to find what you need
without having to shuffle through your entire boat.
I really like to use crawfish type soft plastics in situations of course where you might think
there is crawfish around. Now those situations are times like a full moon. A couple days
before and after a full moon you're going to have a lot of crawfish come out of rocks,
deep brush piles, around the bank, and the bass eat those. It's a great source of protein
for bass. Craw baits like this will work any day really. It's just a really good staple
that if you flip it to enough trees and blow downs you'll catch fish.
I also like to use lizards. People think that the lizard is a springtime only type deal.
Now it's at its best in the spring. But you can absolute whack em' on this throughout
the entire year. You can flip this thing underneath docks, to grass lines, and you can even swim
it through heavier vegetation on a light Texas Rig. So it's very versatile and allows you
to get to the fish easily. I mean a bass cannot stand the sight of these things so this is
always a great choice.
For my heavier cover presentations like when I'm in very thick grass when I'm trying to
penetrate cover and get down to the bottom where those fish are sitting I like to use
very slender beaver baits. Like this Missile Baits D-bomb that's what this one is. It doesn't
have many appendages, you'll notice it's very smooth, and it doesn't have a lot of noise
more or less to get caught on branches or grass strands. So when you're trying to get
into really small areas you can squeeze this little dude into anywhere. You can get to
those fish on high sky days when it's really sunny and they're tucked in really tight to
cover.
Finally, when I'm looking for a big bite and they won't eat that jig I like creature baits
and that's what I call these. This happens to be a ZOOM Brush Hog. They're larger; they
put off a lot of vibration in the water, and a lot of displacement. So when this thing
is falling these ribbon tails are just twirling through the water like that. When you twitch
it you've got these side paddles making movement undulating down there. So this is a great
big fish bait and I really like it in the summer months as well.
Now you see these guys throwing these big ol' 10-inch worms in the summer and you think
well what does that really imitate because I've never seen an earth worm that long? They
actually imitate a lot of leeches and even smaller snakes. It sounds crazy but it's true.
Now this big profile can also do that in the summer. So if you've got deeper docks (by
deeper I mean 6-8 feet off the end) leading into a very shallow area this is a great choice
for it.
Another good tip for flippin' and pitching shallow cover is to wear polarized glasses
of some sort because you'll see some stuff in the water that a lot of guys are going
to miss. Any isolated pieces of wood out from the stuff everybody else hits is a good idea
because the sexier the cover looks, the more people are going to fish it. You're not the
only one that has found it I can almost guarantee you that.
You've kind of got to think outside the box a little bit.
When you're pitching and flippin' soft plastics in the shallow cover a great starting point
is far as a reel is a 7:1:1 gear ratio. It's quick enough to get the fish out of the cover
and if it runs to the boat you can take up line quickly. You can go up to 8:1 and you
can even go up to 9:1 these days. But 7:1 will keep you covered. For your rod I suggest
either a 7' for shorter guys or a 7'6 for taller folks. Medium heavy-to-heavy action,
whatever allows you to cast best and get the fish out of your specific cover on your home
fishery. As far a line selection you want it heavy and you don't want a lot of stretch
in it either. So that's why I'm going to pick a 16-20 pound fluorocarbon line. It's got
low stretch and the fish can't see it. So when they bite you can yank them out of the
crud without having to wrestle with them too much.
Your hook selection is also critical with this technique. I suggest going out and getting
you a few packs of 3/0-5/0 hooks. You can choose between two types: You can choose between
extra wide gap (EWG) which are better for bigger creature baits that have a little bit
more meat on them. You'll get better hook penetration sometimes and that's pretty much
what I use is the EWG's for. Now for the smaller more compact flippin' baits I like to use
just a straight shank flippin' hook. A lot of company's make some really cool ones and
like I said 3/0-4/0. Now these straight shank flippin' hooks are great for flippin' into
small areas because when you set the hook this dude is pretty mean. He's going to come
straight up and stick right there in the hard part of that fishes mouth and that's where
you want to hook them.