Bass Fishing Tip of the Week 07/16/08: Boat Flipping Your Largemouth Bass

Tournament bass fishing is becoming one of America's favorite past times both on TV and on the water. Bass fishing popularity has been on an upswing and a key reason is that it is a participation sport for people of all ages and nationalities. There is no inherited physical advantage in bass fishing which also makes it popular as men and women can compete on an equal scale.

The most important aspects in having success in bass fishing is desire and knowledge. The desire to catch bass and be successful often makes the fisherman fish aggressively until the very last minute of the day even when the fish aren't biting. The more your line is wet, the greater your chance for catching fish.

Even with a great amount of desire, you will not become a successful fisherman without knowledge on how, what, when and where to catch the largemouth bass. Most of the best knowledge is found on the water through experience, but everyone needs some background to start. Florida Bass Fishing dot us is loaded with tips and techniques to get you started to becoming a great bass fisherman. OK, so much for the introduction to this site, now onwards to what you came here to read.

What is boat flipping? I'm not talking about flippin which is a heavy rod/heavy line and thick cover technique, but I'm discussing how to quickly land bass without a net or lipping a fish. If you have ever watched a bass fishing show on TV, especially a bass tournament you will often see professionals swing a fish in the boat without a net. This is the technique known as boat flipping your bass.

You may think that the fisherman is pretty dumb for swinging in the fish without a net, but you may think otherwise after reading this. The biggest advantage of boat flipping is getting the fish in the boat very quickly. The bass has less time in the water to get off, get wrapped up in cover or rub your line to the point of breakage.

The other advantage is the bass will not build up lactic acid in it's system like a long fight while you tire the fish enough to net. This will promote a greater success rate in weighing in a live fish especially during the hot summer months.

Key points to remember for boat flipping:

1- When working the fish to boat flip, make sure the fish is moving toward your loaded rod parallel to the side of the boat. When the fish gets slightly behind you (rod still loaded) use the momentum of the swimming bass to swing the fish into the boats center (low section of the boat between the platforms).

2- Do not swing the fish too low or too high. Too low of a swing will result in you knocking the fish off on the side of the boat .Too high of a swing will put undue strain on your rod as well as the fishes mouth which can lead to a lost fish and broken rods.

3- Do not attempt to boat flip a fish that's swimming away from you. This will lead to lost fish.

4- The typical size for boat flipping bass is 3 pounds or less unless you are using a heavy flippin' rig. With a flippin' rig you maybe able to go up to 4 pounds.

5- Quickly get the fish that you flipped into the boat to prevent injury to the bass and reduce slime coat losses.

6- Boat flipping is usually restricted to single throat hooks. Treble hook lures just don't have enough bite/length to be dependable for this technique.

If you try boat flipping your bass, you'll never turn back to the net for a medium sized bass that is well hooked. This tip will definitely help you in doing more catching with less fishing!

The Largemouth Herald