By Vance McCullough – AC Insider

Wanna become a better flipper?

As we head into the new year, we look forward to warmer weather and the fishing fun that comes along with it, but until then, cold fronts and tournaments have a relationship that rivals that of trailer parks and tornadoes.

As a result, many of us will be doing a lot of flipping all winter and into spring. Whether that means pitching a jig around laydowns on sunny, wind-protected banks or punching canopied cover with a heavy Texas rig, close quarters combat with a long rod and short line will be a key technique.

Once you have the presentation down, strike detection becomes the next big step to your success. MLF BPT Pro Fletcher Shryock made a helpful point. “I want to keep a soft wrist when I’m working that bait.”

Shryock is talking about, in his case, his left wrist as he holds the rod with that hand and winds slack with the other.

“One big thing that I’ve had to learn is to keep a soft wrist when pitching and flipping. All the time. Even right now as I’m reeling this bait in, I know nothing’s gonna bite it but every now and then, not real often, but every now and then you’ll get a fish that comes by and smokes it as you’re reeling it in. Train your wrist to stay soft, to have a breaking point so that if one bites it, I can break the rod tip to that fish, which allows that fish to fully inhale that bait. I catch that fish just about every time, but it’s taken me years to figure out ‘hey, you’ve gotta be ready for a bite at all times’.

“I don’t consciously think about it. I’ve just trained myself to leave this wrist a little relaxed. If one bites and I’m super-stiff and the fish doesn’t really get the bait, I’m not gonna hook it.”
While strike detection is important, Shryock says there’s no need to feel like you’re playing a game of slaps with the fish, trying to test your reflexes against theirs. In fact, we’re filming an episode of the Anglers Channel Bass Wrap Up TV Show while this conversation takes place. He asks me if I want a ‘heads-up’ before he sets the hook. And that’s common among most of the good flippers I’ve filmed with. They feel the bite, then they let the fish eat it longer than many of us would imagine before setting the hook. At least long enough to say ‘there’s one’ before setting up on the fish.

While he noted that “every scenario is a little different,” Shryock made the main point, “I spend a lot of time practicing without a hook so I know these fish typically hold a bait – like – there’s a lot of times you can’t get your bait back from ‘em, especially the bigger ones. That’s taught me not to rush the bite, for sure. Don’t think ‘oh I’ve got to hurry up and swing!’ because a lot of times, if I have to catch that particular fish that wants to eat my bait and blow it out that quickly, I don’t want him anyway,” laughs Shryock. “He probably doesn’t need to make the team.

“The other 95% of the bites – say I get the bite right now and she’s moving slow,” explains Shryock after pitching a Big Bite Baits tube far back beneath a dock and letting it settle beyond sight in the very shallow, heavily stained water, “and she’s coming out this way, she’s not going toward the pilings or anything, I’m able to reel up my slack, take a step back, put the full body into motion. I’ve got a lot of range. I’ve got a lot of power. I can set up properly on that fish because I know it’s not going to drop my bait.

“I’m not going to put a lot of pressure on her, I don’t want her to feel me, but when I pick up and I feel – with a soft wrist – when I pick up and I feel her moving slow, I get in position.
“A lot of times when you first feel that initial thump, they don’t fully have it. When you feel that ‘thump, thump’ that’s them getting that bait in their crushers the way they want it. Especially punching, whenever I get a bite and she’s just kind of sitting there – now if I flip in there she takes off, I’m just gonna load the rod. But if I can wait, I feel like my chances of catching that fish go up greatly.

“No sense in rushing the bite. They didn’t go up there and grab that bait just to drop it.”