CFDoc

I’m sure people are tired of reading what I say on skipping but you don’t need water to practice it. I probably practiced for a month on concrete before I ever had enough confidence to try on the water. If you have a driveway, start there. Get crappy/cheap line and a jig you don’t care about and have at it. Believe it or not, the concrete will teach you what you need to know. When you can get the bait to stay in contact with the concrete but see the ‘gliding’ across the top, you’ve done it.

My favorite response to that is at 0:45 of the following video. To quote: “I want to skip docks, not with a spinning reel, my wife does that. I use a bait caster”. lol

Paved parking lot is fine. Anything other than water for your first attempts I would highly recommend. The SV spool is a great braking system for skipping but it will allow nasty back lashes on the accidental diving cast. I skip with Lews SLP reels which have both centrifugal and magnetic braking systems and can do pretty much thumb free skipping with them as well. What I like about Fish the moment videos on skipping is the good video angle on how to roll cast. When you start, really accentuate the cast low, finish high technique. His video I think shows the roll low, finish high. I would disagree with him on the 7’6” rod length though. Unless you’re really tall, that’s a lot of length to control.

If you’re brand new at skipping, I would actually say the best place to start is not on the water, but on a flat concrete pad. You can stand on an ice chest or a bucket to get the height above the concrete you need. On concrete, you can really practice the roll cast technique without worrying about crazy back lashes. Just keep practicing the roll cast over and over until you can consistently get the bait riding just on top of the concrete where it sounds like the bait is ‘gliding’ across the surface. From there, the best equipment available I’ve found is shorter rods (6’6” - 6’10”), softer tips, and start with easy skipping baits like flukes, wacky senko, etc. Save the jigs for later. Reels I prefer something with combined centrifugal and magnetic braking systems. Also, Google Gerald swindle, Andy Montgomery, and Fish the Moment YouTube videos. good luck. Skipping is my favorite hobby.

Bandersnatch, Thank you for those pictures. For me, it’s those ‘height’ pictures from the side that tell the story. They seem very similar in height on the side plate. Definitely still a good bit larger than the SLP frames from Lews it seems.

This thread disappoints me. I have a bunch of Met B’s but I also believe it is just a skosh too big to be ‘the one’. I was hoping the new zillion was going to be it.

I have both ratios. The 7.1 is definitely the better choice for all around IMO. I crank and flip with the 6.2. I do a lot of stuff with the 7.1.

Everyday, for the past 5-6 years, I’ve woken up and said a quick prayer asking for Shimano to bring back the cumara line of rods. Im starting to think there’s no cumara god out there.

This is absolutely true about falcons ratings. A bit slower than most other manufacturers for a given rating. I’m actually a big fan of their slower actions as it seems everybody else is in a race to make the next broomstick. The slower actions cast much more accurately for me. Hopefully falcon is working on offering both slow and fast offerings in their lineups. I’m a huge fan of the experts so I’m curious to hear differences.

Rat-L-trap. Its the only one left in my arsenal that has never gotten bit.

Does anybody out there have a tungsten swim jig with the flat triangular head shape? For reference, this would be a head shape like the booyah swim jig. I dunno if it’s confidence or scientific, but I can absolutely skip the crud out of a booyah swim jig with that head shape. And not just ‘ok’ skipping, I’m talking that really consistent, almost constant contact with the water, type skipping that travels a long ways and is very quiet. Ive searched and searched for a tungsten version of that jig head with nothing to show for it.

This in every way. The 2020 Met is a different animal than the previous Mets and the Chronarch MGL. And by different I mean better in every way. The Bantam is truly the only other reel not named Antares that compares in the Shimano class current offerings. I have no desire to buy a Chronarch after using 2020 Mets for 9 or so months now.

Haha. Yeah, I can't count the number of times a neighbor has walked by and asked if anything is biting in my flower beds while I was out practicing. But those hydrangeas make good targets... OP, I own a lot of Lews SLP reels and they make great flipping reels once you get the technique down.

I hear you. I wasn't trying to insult you as a fisherman. We all sucked at some point. I know I did. I was more or less trying to highlight what DVT was suggesting that a braking system is probably going to do very little, if anything, to help reduce backlashing at flipping spool speeds. As other users have suggested, the best way to get better at flipping is to practice keeping the bait traveling flat (instead of upwards). And practicing can be done in your front yard. It doesn't require water at all.

I have no personal experience with EDGE rods. However, there's actually another thread right now on another forum that has the same initials as British Broadcasting Corporation where a lot of horror stories are being described. There's a guy from an old fishing club that I know that had a HORRIBLE experience with them. His story is on the other site as well. His experience was unbelievably bad and that alone would lead me to avoid them.

So much this. I'm struggling to see why you need a fancy braking system to manage a spool speed that barely spins faster than what gravity would allow?!? I would suggest more work on your technique before buying a new reel. Flipping/pitching is just feel and touch and can be learned with practice in your front yard.

Well this is sad. Between the house, lake camp, parents house on a lake, and the deer camp with some ponds on it, I probably have 10-12 presidents and I've always been impressed with the way they handle bass, huge catfish, crappie, bream, etc. with no issues over the past 15 years or so. Is Pure Fishing responsible for allowing Pflueger quality to diminish?

Bass Pro had the pflueger president XT for $50 this year. If there’s any left, that’s probably the best bang for the buck I can imagine.

The weather sucks today so I took some measurements just out of curiosity. I know these reels “feel” very different when in use but wanted to know the numbers. I compared a 2020 Met to a Hyper Mag. A hyper mag is going to be almost identical in shape to the pro TI. The Met is going to be very similar to the bantam maybe even a tad slimmer. They were put on identical rods. The falcon expert spinner bait rod fwiw. The diameter of the palm side of the hyper mag is just under 1/4” smaller than the Met. When sitting on a reel seat, the hyper mag is about 3/16” lower to the “ground”. Hope this helps.

If you liked the way the revo fit in your hand, chances are you’re going to really like any Lews SLP reel.

Finally! I loved the mechanics of my zillion I had 6-7 years ago, just never got comfortable with it ergonomically. A more palmable zillion is a huge upgrade imo.

If you can find it for $250, it’s an incredible reel and deal. At $350, it’s tougher to swallow. And you can get a 2020 Metanium for $350 all day long. I’ve got both Lews and Shimano top of the line reels. If you’re trying to win a distance contest or do a lot of finesse fishing, spring for the Shimano. If you’re a heavy line, jig skipper, T-rig, flipping and pitching. The Lews are great in those applications. I actually prefer Lews over Shimano in those settings.

I have not. I've never ventured into Daiwa JDM world at all really. I've owned or spent time with Fuego's, several Tat variations, Zillion, and a few moments with Steez. I thought the Alpha's were pretty much all BFS focused? Is there an Alpha frame that would handle 1/2oz and up jigs, chatter baits, tubes, etc. that are my go-to skippers?

This. My only difference is I've gravitated more towards the SLP line of Lews these days for pitching/skipping based solely on ergonomics and palming of SLP reels over Daiwa. For whatever reason, I just can't seem to find a Daiwa that feels "natural" in my palm. Great reels however.

Would you say there's a difference between an Antares A and Caius? I mean, they're both made by the same manufacturer... To the OP, put me in the Lews over the Abu for the models you're considering. I owned two Revo's in my day and had issues with both.