I was thinking about this today. I just bought a dobyns flipping stick to pair with a chronarch and 20lb fluoro for flipping docks and small timber. I also bought an irod punch rod to use with 65# braid for punching florida grass (moving there soon). Do you think this is smart or do you guys flip with one rod and use braid for most cover situations? I don't like the idea of a leader, i dont know why i just dont want to do that. I feel like a system is only as strong as its weakest point, that is a lot of knots and i prefer not to get my heart broken when i dont do something exactly right.

I love flipping and pitching, aside from a Texas rig it is my favorite and most productive, so i guess it doesnt hurt to have 2 setups. But then again, i could be going about it the wrong way. What got me thinking about this is that i was flipping some reed edges at Lake Austin 2 days ago and got a huge bite and the fish headed straight for the reeds. My fluoro never stood a chance. I should have been using braid but there was a drop off in depth so i was mainly flipping to the drop off and reeds just happened to be there. Water was clear so i wanted to use fluoro instead.

I personally don't like actual flipping with braid. I use heavy fluoro or copoly, like 20# CXX.

Any other heavy weed cover presentation, it's usually braid.

Thanks J, my thoughts exactly. Just was curious what others thought too. Since i am moving lakes i have to redo some of my setups.

I carry 2 rods/reels that are designated for a light Texas Rig & a heavy Texas Rig or a light Jig-N-Craw & a heavy Jig-N-Craw. I can also mix & match as the bite dictates. The light rigs have fluorocarbon & the heavy rigs have braid.

 I don't like the idea of a leader, i dont know why i just dont want to do that. I feel like a system is only as strong as its weakest point, that is a lot of knots and i prefer not to get my heart broken when i dont do something exactly right.

 

Have you tried it? I was a straight braid, or straight fluoro/mono user for years and was afraid of the knot too........untill I tried it. It's a non-issue. I have hauled big fish (5-7lb around here) out of the nastiest cover with 20lb fluoro tied to 50lb braid on H power rods with ZERO issues. Keeps the flipping stick selection simple..................one rod with braid on it, no leader for punching or heavy grass, leader for docks/rock/wood.

I personally use three flipin sticks, two have floro, and the other has braid... 20 lb floro is pretty strong stuff, i have never had any kind of issue with it other than the manageability is not great ( a little kvd helps) but using the heavier t-rigs and jigs it is not an issue... up here in mn braid gets cut too easy by pike, and i am one of the people who think fish can see lines in the water so i choose floro and mono much more often... 

 

Mitch

Yup, I've lost a many baits to them toothy critters! As far as the flippin sticks go I use one with braid for the real heavy cover and I use one with 20lb fluoro for lighter cover and clear water conditions.   

If you love flippin and pitching you're gonna love living in Florida.

There are times when that is all you'll do, all day long.

I wouldn't redo anything.

65 lb braid for punching and for flippin heavy grassy areas is ideal for down here.

Some guys I know won't use anything else, a few swear by 80#.

I'm a co angler so I need to be flexible. I use 50# but that double's as my soft swim bait setup also.

I use 20# floro on my jig rod which is the only technique specific combo I use.

For lighter plastics t-rigs and Florida rigs I use 15# floro.

The only time I'll use a leader is on a spinning outfit.

Mike

I personally don't like actual flipping with braid. I use heavy fluoro or copoly, like 20# CXX.

Any other heavy weed cover presentation, it's usually braid.

Is this due to your thoughts on semi-slack line sensitivity?

Lol, no I just don't like handling braid through my fingers. It leaves cut marks in my callouses on my index fingers. Hard to explain it. The callouses are from playing drums for 30 years.

I'll flip with braid, but if I know I'm going to be flipping short targets all day, I'll switch to fluoro.

Ive got 2 flippin sticks with braid and one with 20lb floro.  

It's funny you should bring up this topic, over the winter I picked up a new Crucial 7'7" MH flipping stick just so I could rig it with 20# fluoro. I had 3 flipping sticks prior to picking this one up and I was running braid on them 99% of the time. In the summer months the water here can get pretty clear and I'm almost certain last year I was missing some flipping bite opportunities by still using straight 65# braid.

 

I think this new flipping rod will be just the thing for what I'm looking to do with it, I'm not going to flip the really heavy grass with it but mainly docks, lay downs, and sparse grass. I think you're right on track with your rods, although I've never fished in FL so I could be entirely incorrect. More than likely though you will be very happy with those two rods and how you plan to use them.   

I use a couple of different 7' rods for pitching, one with 15 lb fluoro and the other with 20 lb fluoro.  I also have a 7'6" "flipping stick" with 50 lb braid that I use for punching and fishing heavy vegetation.  I find myself using the shorter rods with fluoro much more than the flipping stick.  I also don't really flip much and don't find the extra length beneficial to pitching (for me).

If youre moving to florida youll see a lot of the lakes in the southern part of the state may require long pitches deep into the cattails surrounded by chopped grass and all kinds of other junk. I personally wouldnt feel comfortable with anything less than 65# braid. It gets super thick in some of these lakes.