I like to flip and am sufficient at it but also enjoy covering water with crankbaits etc. sometimes when the crankbait bite is slow I feel like flipping would catch more bass. I often can find areas that hold bass, but don�t know exactly how much to slow down, how much to pick it apart, or when to stay or leave. How thorough do y�all flip an area before leaving? Do you flip the entire area or pick certain areas within an area? Would you flip an area where the structure or cover is submerged and not visiable? Thanks for the help.

If I�m fun fishing, I will spend hours trying all kinds of stuff to try and get them to bite. Most of the time, I�m fishing a tourney though, so if I see them on the graph, I give em 10-15 minutes max to hit the best guess I�ve got at the time. If they don�t bite, I�m going to find some that will. For me, it�s about effective use of the limited time I�m given. On a fun fish day, like I said, I�ll throw the boat at em.

Flipping for me is a moving tactic, Ill often flip to certain parts of structure after throwing a crankbait or spinner thru there etc.

I tend to camp or over fish a area vs moving like tourney guys do.

This year Ive chosen one isolated stump several different times on different lakes etc and thrown a buzz bait, spinner bait, crank bait, frog and then a plastic and picked up a fish on the plastic.... or a worm or whatever other plastic I threw. It has blown my mind that they bite on the 5th presentation... So far when I have done that its always been a 3lb plus fish.. There have been times I have caught them on the second lure, 3rd etc, but the two most memorable were the 5th.


That said I read posts like steez and always say I need to quit the camping but it intrigues me I guess.. Ive fished with two guides in my life and only one was bass but both left a spot if we were there 5-10 casts tops..

I will work a specific type of cover in a high probability area first to eliminate as many variables as possible. For example, I may decide to flip mature bushes with a large base working from the outside of the cover to the base of the trunk to the back. Run that for 10-15 bushes. If no bites then I might start just flipping outside edges of thinner bushes. After that then grass holes to grass outside edges to inside edges. Depending on how the area sets up I will pick an order that keeps me from plowing through flip-able stuff first just to get to a good looking bush. It may be a little too methodical but it works for me. I have been known to camp out in an area the size of a basketball court all day and work my way though the variables. Its hard to gauge when enough is enough in one area because I have seen it just be brutal for 2 hours but then just blow up for the next 2 hours. This type of close combat fishing can be a little monotonous and truly requires laser line focus but have been part of some heavy sacks coming off if a flipping pattern once you dial in where in the thick stuff they are setting up.

What if there is not a lot of visible cover, mostly rocky banks and drop offs? Is it even worth it or is it just best to crank those areas?

In that scenario use moving baits to find fish then slow down using jigs of soft plastics. Flipping rock banks or ledges would be inefficient with respect to covering that type of water.

I use Low Water Imaging to complete my search for the shallow water Irregular features to fish. Knowing the specific rock piles, ledges and the last brush line or trees setting in gouges really helps to narrow your search down. I pick these features that are as close to the last 20 ft depth in a cove with the most irregular contours at that depth. From there to the shallows is where I start working the high percentage HOT SPOTS found on low water imaging. Mapping knowledge is a must unless you have lots of time to spend on the water.

Thank y�all for the insight.