I have a friend who is the best I have ever seen for putting a lure to cover with pinpoint accuracy and almost no splash. It's truly amazing to watch. He does it with flipping, pitching and casting underhanded and sidearmed. LOL! All of the above. As I have been pondering taking on flipping and pitching (have never learned it all these years), I was just sitting here thinking of how he does what he does regarding no splash. I asked him one time how he does that; he mentioned stopping the bait right before it hits the water with his thumb. Uses a baitcaster. Yep, I get it. I saw a pro describe that recently and he elaborated on it, saying that if you do this right, the bait goes from traveling horizontally to becoming suddenly halted (when the bait is at the target), with end result being it enters the water vertically, head first. Which is less surface area of the bait striking the water, which means less splash. As I sat here thinking about it, I am thinking that there is another component. And that is that his bait is low altitude the entire way to the target. Not much off the water, be it flipping, pitching or doing one of his underhanded or sidearmed casts. So, with less height above water, it has less distance to fall, which translates to less vertical energy, meaning less splash. Hmmm...

 

Most all of this pertains to soft plastics but he even does this with a crankbait! He actually loves a crankbait around trees. He often reels the bait to bump the tree.

 

I know one thing from watching him. Day in, day out, on the same lake with cover targets, he will win if you don't master this. But I am not in competition, just making a point that to increase odds of catching fish, this is the ticket.

Great skill to have but you also need to remember a “noisy” entry or splash has its place as well.  If I am fishing stained water, I want a splash because I know the fish are using their lateral line more than eyesight to key in on a bait.  I also want a noisy entry bed fishing to get the attention of the bass and fire up their protection mode.  

I fish very clear water and this might slant my perspective but, I don't want a "noisy" splash anytime... except maybe in my toilet.

 

oe

4 minutes ago, OkobojiEagle said:

I fish very clear water and this might slant my perspective but, I don't want a "noisy" splash anytime... except maybe in my toilet.

 

oe

Lake St Clair is gin clear and when we are bed fishing we will sometimes splash the water with our rods to get them fired up.  So splash has a place in clear water as well.?

There’s a time and place for everything. 
As @OkobojiEagle mentioned In clear shallow waters a silent entry is important, in some cases almost paramount.

 

And as @TOXIC mentioned there are times a loud splash is what’s needed. 
Those 2 are the extremes. 

In my opinion, fir the casual or even an avid tournament angler, a silent or as close to it as possible, entry is one of the best ways to increase your odds of getting bit. 
 

It takes practice to do it consistently as is learning how to skip. 
The principles are the same. 
The only difference is in the last foot of entry. 

When skipping I’m aiming fir a specific area not necessarily a particular spot 6” in diameter so a loud entry will draw them in. 
However, say when flipping that 6” area can be too large. When target shooting in a hole I want absolute silence on every offering. 
 

Both are really not hard to do if you put in the time. 
 

 

 

Mike

Learning how to cast properly and accurately requires rod, reel and lure control. 

Practice casting into hoops set at 20, 30 and 40 yards apart.

You can’t land in the target hoop without mastering casting technique with soft landing.

It’s a needed and developed skill for bass anglers.

Tom 

 

As some have mentioned on this site, often lure presentation is more important than the lure you are using. Learning angles is important as an "angler" and dropping a bait in the water is part of this. Sometimes it needs to be a low angle for a silent entry but other situations call for a nice splash. Just dont go try to recreate Hiroshima with a drop shot ?.

You can also cast onto the shore, and then drag the bait into the water. . . . conditions permitting.

When confronted with a lure dropping in their faces, fish have 2 options. Flight or bite. But big fish have less flight in them. And I'm sure the entry sometimes triggers the strike. Often times I'll toss the frog into the lilies and make it plop down. It gets their attention. Sometimes they bite immediately.

Sometimes during a shallow retrieve I'll bring the bait up and out of the water to create a small splash, and I've been rewarded with bites before. First time was an accident, now I do it deliberately.

1 hour ago, Big Hands said:

You can also cast onto the shore, and then drag the bait into the water. . . . conditions permitting.

I do this at night unintentionally, sometimes 10’ up in a tree?

Tom

 

I’ve spent the past 5 years or so really working on this.

 

It’s all about technique and repeatability...you don’t need expensive stuff, just experience. I’ve spent several afternoons on docks practicing quiet entries and pitching. That’s the best way to practice, imo. There will always be a small margin of error (even high level pros get stuck in the trees) but you have to get it to the point where you know exactly what your bait is going to do on release.

 

The one specific thing I can tell you is that raising your rod tip on the back end of the cast really helps. It has this dual action of slowing your bait down while disrupting its ballistic trajectory. It’s something I just realized I was doing one day and made a mental note. Once you have that timing down, you’re going to be a LOT less noisy. You can also experiment with your thumb. Try stopping your bait at different points, etc. See what’s most effective and develop that...

19 hours ago, TOXIC said:

you also need to remember a “noisy” entry or splash has its place as well.

 

I do this a lot when fishing thick grass, it's also one reason I don't peg my weights. The separation between the weight & lure causes it to tangle slightly. When I shake it loose it'll attract bass.

 

I fish Lacassine Wildlife Refuge which averages 2' deep of crystal clear water. One can quite often see the bass they're casting to. This is another time I will purposely cause a loud splash & purposely cast 15-20' away from the bass.  You can watch the wake as they streak straight for it.

 

If bass didnt like a little splash or noise, top waters wouldn’t work.  Buzzbaits, frogs, poppers, etc.  ?

I try to make quiet entries , I'm not as good as some of you guys . A lot better than the guys doing overhand Hail Mary lobs . I can get buzzbaits to touch down lightly and not  sink at all . They are buzzing as soon as they hit the water . A lot of times bass destroy one within inches of touch down .

21 hours ago, TOXIC said:

Great skill to have but you also need to remember a “noisy” entry or splash has its place as well.  If I am fishing stained water, I want a splash because I know the fish are using their lateral line more than eyesight to key in on a bait.  I also want a noisy entry bed fishing to get the attention of the bass and fire up their protection mode.  

 

X2

I learned a long time ago that stealth works but sometimes the opposite is what gets fish fired up to bite. My buddy & I were fishing up in Canada casting for pike in shallow dark bottom bays. It was early season & the pike were stacked up shallow in the reeds but would not bite. Our Indian guide sensed they needed woken up & proceeded to take a paddle & slap it loudly on top of the water. The pike scattered in all directions disturbed by the sudden loud noise. Within just a few minutes they started to bite like they had never seen a lure before. The loud disturbance triggered their their predator instincts and it was game on for us. I have never forgot that lesson. 

I think that there is a time and place for both techniques.  I have a bad habit of going to the side of     "Wow, that sounded like a 155mm round hit the water." Usually happens when I am trying to be silent!

Your observation is correct.  Momentum is what makes the splash.  So the trick is to control the vertical momentum by not casting it very high above the water, so it has less distance to fall and gain speed before hitting the surface.  You control the horizontal momentum with your thumb, killing the vertical momentum just before it's supposed to drop into the water.  

 

And others are correct in that sometimes you want a silent entry and sometimes a splash is good.  A splash can help fish locate the bait from a distance.  Baitfish break the surface of the water all of the time, so it's a natural sound that can trigger strikes.  However, if you make that splash just above the bass, you can startle them and scare them off.  Predators like egrets also make a splash when they enter the water.  

 

When I was a kid, we went fishing with a guide who pulled up to a sand bar and pulled out an oar and beat the water with it for like a solid minute.  He said that it would scare off the fish, but by the time we got our rods rigged up, they'd be back, and they'd be curious about what made the commotion, and more likely to bite.  It must have worked, because we did catch quite a few.  These were white bass and hybrids, so that may have been why it worked.  I've never tried it on black bass.  But it if nothing else, it does prove that a splash can also be a good thing under the right circumstances.  

The amount of entry splash when flipping and pitching has the least influence on a bass hitting your lure.  I have seen both extremes. A lot has to do with the clarity and depth of the water where you are fishing as well as the activity level of the fish. The greatest factor in this type of fishing is the fall itself.   The lure's weight must match the cover you are fishing.  The lure should fall through the cover naturally. You want the lure to "pin ball" through cover like a falling prey would.  It is important to let the lure fall on slack line. The lure careening through the cover alerts the bass that something good is coming it's way.  You must "check" your bait after every drop as a bass may have your lure and you won't know it until it's too late.

16 hours ago, Manifestgtr said:

 

 

(even high level pros get stuck in the trees)

 

I have never in 65 years of fishing caught a bass in a bush or a tree but do occasionally still try it once and awhile.

 

I believe if bass are actively feeding, a splash is less likely to be harmful but I still opt for a low splash unless I’m casting past the juice.  I always err on the side of stealth.  Many of these bass are feeding up and often will see your bait before it hits the water.  I think that is usually what happens when you get bit as soon as your lure hits.  I’m sure everyone has seen a bass hit a dragonfly above the water.

1 hour ago, RDB said:

...I’m sure everyone has seen a bass hit a dragonfly above the water.

 

I have not! You have? That is cool.

 

 

On 4/18/2021 at 11:17 AM, OkobojiEagle said:

I fish very clear water and this might slant my perspective but, I don't want a "noisy" splash anytime... except maybe in my toilet.

 

oe

Had a day on a gin clear lake where I noticed that the fish would only hit on a silent entry. Think it depends on the mood of the fish.

And here is Denny Brauer's take on quiet entry flipping...