I have a St.Croix Premire 7' med, fast bait caster that I'm thinking about Pitching and flipping with. I understand that the conventioal wisdom says to use a MH or H rod. I live in Ohio and most bass I land are under 5 lbs. The cover is mostly lay downs and some thick weeds by mid summer. Do you think it will have enough backbone of should I be looking for MH/H rod. Also what line do you think would be best with this setup?

That medium is pretty light for flippin. I think that most of the time you might be able to get away with it but, remember, flippin is on short line and if you are in lay downs or brush those fish will try to bury themselves down in it most of the time. You have to be able to set the hook and put the pressure to them to turn them. I would say go to MH and #20 test but, if you decide not to I would recommend Big Game #15 for your medium rod and flippin.

Even if I'm just fishing laydowns or sparse cover, I want a rod heavy enough to move the fish away from that piece of wood FAST, to prevent the fish from wrapping me around anything.  If the fish does get me wrapped around something, I want my line heavy enough that I don't have to worry about it getting sawed in half by a thrashing fish.  And finally, if I'm pitching a 1/2oz jig, if my rod loads up too easily it is hard to effectively work the jig, and it wears out my wrist.  When I fished club tournaments in high school 13yrs ago, my heaviest setup was a 6'6" medium heavy rod spooled with 14lb Trilene XT, which I used for worm and jig fishing.  Breaking off some fish and having fish come unbuttoned was just part of the game I thought, until I finally bought a 7' heavy action rod.  Solid hooksets and the ability to horse in fish made my bite to catch ratio skyrocket, and I couldn't believe I hadn't bought a heavier rod sooner.  I also almost never fished true heavy cover, mostly just pitching to laydowns and fishing the occasional beaver dam.  You don't need a 7'6" heavy action rod, but a St. Croix medium heavy or Loomis heavy action is minimal I think.  I like fluorocarbon for my pitching, and opt for 17 or 20lb Vanish.  If you don't like fluorocarbon, or think it is too expensive, I would recommend 15lb Pline CXX.

I would go for a H, atleast a MH. I don't think that M will have enough back bone to pull a fish out of cover. You hit a fish and it runs into that cover,don't think its coming out.

I fish western Pa and eastern Oh. My flippin stick of choice is a St Croix Avid AC710HF

(7'10' Heavy/flippin) Have 2 of them

If you don't want to spend a lot of $$$ and get a true flippin stick, check out Gander Mountain's guide series Flippin stick(7'6") its about $60. Its not as lite, or sesitive as the st croix, but its a  really nice rod. have 2 of them too. If the store by you does not have them, ask, they will get them.

I use braid on my flippin sticks. 40# or 50# Spider wire with a 25#Yo-zuri Hybrid leader

If you don't want to use braid. try Yo-Zuri Hybrid 25# or 30# it holds up good and can take the hits heavy cover can dish out. If you do try yo-zuri, get some "reel magic"spray. Spray it on the line every so offten. make the line more workable.

Bugman, I have that very same ST Croix Premier 7'MF. I use mine for spinnerbaits and the like. Would not recommend this rod for pitching/flipping. I also have a MHF ST Croix Premier that I pitch jigs with. Works great! ST Croix's MH model rods should do fine for any pitching or flipping you will be doing. Now just decide whether to go with a 6'6" or another 7' in the MH.

It'll work, but depending on the cover, you'll lose some fish.  I would definitly use braided line.  Your gonna want to put as much power into that hookset as possible.

Thanks for the advice about Flippin-sticks. I picked up a St. Croix Avid AC73MHF that teloscopes down for storage. I matched it with a Shimano Castaic reel and 15# Izorline. I'll keep you posted on how it works out for me.

Bugman