THE BASS COLLEGE

By Denny Brauer as told to Ed Harp

Bassmaster.com

n the next two lessons we'll cover a couple of the more popular warm weather flipping and pitching patterns that we encounter as bass anglers. The first one we'll talk about is pitching to suspended bass in standing timber on channels. The second will be flipping and pitching summertime docks.

Many reservoirs around the country have standing timber along river and creek channels. Typically the water will be deep in these spots, sometimes as much as 40 or 50 feet. But remember, deep is a relative term. In a shallow lake, deep might be 5 or 6 feet.

The idea here is that the bass will be relating to the wood because it's near the channel, however deep that might be. Never forget that. It's one of the most important concepts when it comes to catching these fish. They're on timber because it's near a channel — deep water.

The mistake a lot of anglers make is that they fish the base of the trees. They work their baits on the bottom thinking that's where the fish are located. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most summertime bass relating to standing timber will suspend in it, not be at the bottom of it.

My favorite technique is to pitch a worm to the trees. If the water's clear, I like the Strike King Rage Anaconda in watermelon with red flake. If the water has a little tint to it, I like to go with something that makes a little more vibration such as a Strike King Rage Thumper in a darker color like plum or junebug.

Regardless of which worm I select, I always go with heavy tackle. I'll typically weight my worm with a 1/2-ounce Tru-Tungsten Denny Brauer Flippin' Weight and arm it with a 5/0 Mustad Tube Hook or a Mustad Denny Brauer Flipping Hook. I'll use heavy fluorocarbon line and a stiff American Rodsmiths rod with a powerful Ardent reel. You need to get them out of the wood before they wrap you and ultimately get loose.

All I do when I'm fishing trees is to pitch the worm out, let it fall a few feet and then work it through the limbs. Almost all of my bites come when the worm drops over a limb. I have occasionally caught bass bouncing my bait around in the tree, but mostly that's a waste of time.

Early or late in the day, or when there's a lot of cloud cover, the bass will likely be fairly shallow. I usually start fishing around 6 or 8 feet under those conditions. When the sun's out and it's really bright I drop down into the 12-15 foot range, sometimes even deeper than that.

There's one thing about this kind of fishing that you should never forget. If you catch one bass from a tree, you're likely to catch a bunch. They school tight in the wood at this time of the year. And, even if you only catch one or two from one tree, make sure you come back in an hour or two. I guarantee you you'll catch more once it settles down.

Up to this point I've been talking about worms. Most of the time that'll be your best choice when it comes to lure selection. Most times isn't always, however. Occasionally the bass will take a liking to a jig when they're ignoring worms.

My favorite jig is a Denny Brauer, 1/2-ounce Strike King Premier Pro-Model Jig in Texas Craw with a green pumpkin Denny Brauer Strike King Chunk on the back. It looks exactly like the bluegill that are suspended in the trees with the bass.

Give some of my suggestions a try this summer when you're out bass fishing. You'll add catching to your fishing.

Question. Is flipping and pitching only appropriate for jig and worm usage?

It is really just a technique to present any bait you want in a quiet and precise manner.

This year I started pitching with the punch skirt baits and either a chigger crawl or some time a ribbon tail worm and even any type of kreature bait. 

If you were not flipping and pitching those baits that Bowshooter mentioned or a jig with a Zoom or Sweet Beaver Trailer, you were hard pressed to catch any decent bass in the last 2 weeks.

10 inch worm and a shakey head have been productive here in OHIO! 

O' yeah don't forget the chatterbaits......

Flipping works very effectively when trying to get beneath overhanging cover. Tossed a 8in green pumpkin curlytail worm and immediately caught a 2lb largemouth (it's a small pond  )

Cool I am just glad you are strating to catch bass. Keep it up.

DOCKS

This time we're going to talk dock fishing, but not just any docks. We're going to concentrate on those that'll produce fish with a flipping and pitching technique during the hottest summer months.

The first thing you should understand is that bass holding on summer boat docks are keying on bluegill. Walk out on any dock, and what do you see? Almost always it'll be scads of bluegill. Therefore you want a bait that matches the hatch.

My preference is the Denny Brauer, 1/2-ounce Premier Pro-Model Jig in Texas craw with a green pumpkin Strike King Rage Tail Craw behind it. There's nothing that I know of that looks as much like a bluegill as that combination. It's the backbone of my summer dock flipping and pitching, no matter where I'm fishing.

When you're looking for a likely dock, start by searching in the best part of the lake, the area that's most likely to be holding bass. Then choose your dock. Think about the dock as a bonus piece of cover. It's almost a secondary consideration.

For instance, if a dock's on a main lake point or along a channel swing, it's probably going to be a good one. This is summertime. The water's hot. The bass are likely deep, or at least relating to deep water. On the other hand, if a dock's back in a shallow spawning cove it's not likely to produce regardless of how good it looks to you as an angler.

Once you're in the right area of the lake, look for docks that have some vertical connection with the bottom. They're almost always the best. If a dock is set on poles, start on the outside corners. I catch most of my bass off those two corners.

If there's no vertical connection to the bottom, you'll have to pick a few apart to find the most productive pattern. Start by fishing the deepest, blackest shade you can find. Pick every nook and cranny apart. Work slowly and carefully. Pay attention to every detail no matter how small or insignificant it may seem at the time.

This is where flipping and pitching accuracy — and skipping skills — comes into play. Often you'll need to get your jig back into places where no one else can, or even has the nerve to try. That gives you the opportunity to fish new water on even the most heavily pressured lake or river and to develop a pattern no one else can duplicate.

Having said all that, keep in mind that dock fishing is an art form. There's no substitute for practice and experience. Some days you'll need to make repeated casts to every dock before you uncover the pattern of the day. Other times one or two casts to the outside corners, or maybe even somewhere else, will get you a kicker or two.

At times, fishing summer docks can be tough going. One thing is for certain, though. There are always a few bass hiding under docks in the middle of the summer, and they can be caught by persistent anglers flipping and pitching the right bait.