5bites Posted October 5, 2015 Posted October 5, 2015 Seth I won't say I'm good at skipping but I do it a lot. If my feeble effort can be of any help let me know.
Seth Posted October 5, 2015 Author Posted October 5, 2015 What type and weight lures do you usually skip? Most skipping involves a jig the way it sounds. Do you have more trouble with skipping in rough water versus smoother water? The water chop was the biggest thing for me it seemed like because my skipping was much more consistent early on before things go too rough.
fishinwrench Posted October 5, 2015 Posted October 5, 2015 Hard to describe in text....but if you follow thru with an upward rod movement as the bait it scooting forward it keeps the bait from biting too much water. After some practice you'll learn to drop the rod during the last 3-4 feet of travel so you don't end the shot with too much slack and a high rod position. This is important because 80% of your bites will be almost immediate. You can ship or shoot anything. My partner is on his way to mastering skipping/shooting a buzzbait. He nailed it about 3/4 of the time yesterday. Seth and MOsmallies 2
WeekendWarrior Posted October 5, 2015 Posted October 5, 2015 We struggled finding any size fish this weekend, Saturday we only boated 3'keepers and other boat had 8 keepers with no size. Sunday we had 5 keepers in first spot and had about 8 keepers for the day. Seemed like there was a good morning bite and then slowed to a crawl for us. Everyone was more than courteous when fishing except one boat that we ran into that we shut down about 30 yards shy of a spot to fish a deep bank that led to a flat with brush and a boat went by us and shut down 10 yards in front of us to fish same spot. They fished between one set of docks for 5 minutes and left so maybe they were a little confused ?
5bites Posted October 5, 2015 Posted October 5, 2015 What type and weight lures do you usually skip? Most skipping involves a jig the way it sounds. Do you have more trouble with skipping in rough water versus smoother water? The water chop was the biggest thing for me it seemed like because my skipping was much more consistent early on before things go too rough. 3/8-1/2 jigs are a great skipping bait. The Eakins Flippin jig is a great one to buy off the shelf. I usually use ones I make. I almost always have a paca chunk trailer. A few weeks ago at table rock I was skipping a swim jig around 1/4-5/16 with a swimming fluke trailer and it skipped like a rock but it would have done even better had it weighed 3/8. It was still fun though. In rough water it's just tough period. Nobody is exempt from that. Even Gerald Swindle who is a fantastic dock guy says it's almost not worth it sometimes and has had days were wind killed his dock pattern. You have to beat this by using cables as levers. You aren't necessarily skipping but putting the lure under the cable and the cable holds the lures trajectory if that makes sense. It's tough on line but buy good line like Sunline Shooter and you're gtg. Same with skipping between foam You can use the angle iron to lever the lure under there. I do those with a roll cast when I can because of the distance advantage but I do it pitching too. The right reel and rod are key (!!!!) to this! Seth 1
Seth Posted October 5, 2015 Author Posted October 5, 2015 3/8-1/2 jigs are a great skipping bait. The Eakins Flippin jig is a great one to buy off the shelf. I usually use ones I make. I almost always have a paca chunk trailer. A few weeks ago at table rock I was skipping a swim jig around 1/4-5/16 with a swimming fluke trailer and it skipped like a rock but it would have done even better had it weighed 3/8. It was still fun though. In rough water it's just tough period. Nobody is exempt from that. Even Gerald Swindle who is a fantastic dock guy says it's almost not worth it sometimes and has had days were wind killed his dock pattern. You have to beat this by using cables as levers. You aren't necessarily skipping but putting the lure under the cable and the cable holds the lures trajectory if that makes sense. It's tough on line but buy good line like Sunline Shooter and you're gtg. Same with skipping between foam You can use the angle iron to lever the lure under there. I do those with a roll cast when I can because of the distance advantage but I do it pitching too. The right reel and rod are key (!!!!) to this! Well maybe I'm not as terrible as I thought then. My skipping percentage was pretty good when I could find some calmer water early on. I never thought about using the cables and angle iron to keep my lure on a certain level like you mentioned. It does make sense though. 5bites 1
5bites Posted October 5, 2015 Posted October 5, 2015 What outfit are you using? Heres the Getald Swindle video. There's a part one also but this one talks about wind. I'm not the biggest Gerald fan but at times I do like what he has to say. http://youtu.be/MPNa2U1AarY Mitch f 1
Mitch f Posted October 5, 2015 Posted October 5, 2015 Hard to describe in text....but if you follow thru with an upward rod movement as the bait it scooting forward it keeps the bait from biting too much water. After some practice you'll learn to drop the rod during the last 3-4 feet of travel so you don't end the shot with too much slack and a high rod position. This is important because 80% of your bites will be almost immediate. You can ship or shoot anything. My partner is on his way to mastering skipping/shooting a buzzbait. He nailed it about 3/4 of the time yesterday. that's a tough thing to learn Seth, not that I'm any good at it. "Honor is a man's gift to himself" Rob Roy McGregor
buckcreekmike Posted October 5, 2015 Posted October 5, 2015 3-4" Tube jigs skip great, but I really can only do it with spinning rod as well. I would imagine their shape lends to skipping wih baitcaster as well.
MOsmallies Posted October 6, 2015 Posted October 6, 2015 I'm still trying to perfect skipping with a baitcaster as well. While I have gotten much better, I still suck a good chunk of the time. Definitely easier to do when fishing alone and not having to worry about the boat angle for someone in the back of the boat. Compact baits like a Sweet Beaver or D-Bomb skip much easier. The thought of skipping a buzzbait like wrench's buddy is enough to give me nightmares. Kudos to him. Fishing these baits on a 3/8 to 1/2 oz jig or jighead is ideal. One of the biggest keys is to not have your spool full of line. A half or 3/4 filled spool will lead to a lot more success. Here's a killer video about skipping docks. This was actually filmed in our cove on LOZ last November. My buddy Pat and I were sharing water with these guys all weekend. They did way better than we did, but we were slinging the buzzbait mostly. The video gives great advice on rod, reel, line, bait, and how to adjust your reel for skipping. Brett Govreau is one of the top tournament guys on LOZ... Here's my report from that same November weekend... Wish we would've been skipping behind docks and walkways...
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