I hear this term a lot, and folks seem to use flippin when they are talking about anything close.

 

My understanding though is that flipping is when you use your off hand to pull and control the line while your strong hand controls the rod. The reel is locked, and the off hand moves the line through the guides so as to control the lure in a manner that it enters the water very softly.

 

While pitching is when you take the lure in your off hand and sort of throw it while the strong hand raises the rod tip quickly, allowing the lure to pendulum towards your intended target. Usually resulting in a low to the water lure presentation.

 

But, what I've noticed is people say "I went down this shoreline flippin' and pitchin'", but in actuality, they did neither, they mostly were roll casting or just short casting to various targets of opportunity such as stumps, brush, and pockets. Is there not a term for short casting to these targets and people just say flippin' and pitchin' because there isn't another name for it or what?

Flipping is when you're targeting someplace that's reachable by only the line you've got pulled in your off-hand.

Pitching is when you're targeting someplace that requires the reel to let out line.

 

Both 'casting' motions are identical...a pendulum swing of the lure to get it moving.

^^^^this^^^^
The term has been hijacked like several others in bass fishing.

Dee Thomas introduced “Flipping” to tournament bass fishing using a 12’ long pole without a reel. Rule changes required a reel used and the rod length not to exceed 8’. The since change to 8’6” ?

Think of a flip cast as no reel needed.

Tom

2 hours ago, Bazoo said:

Is there not a term for short casting to these targets and people just say flippin' and pitchin' because there isn't another name for it or what?

I call it target casting.  But you're right, there isn't a proper term for short casts to targets that aren't flipping or pitching.

 

You're definitions of both flipping and pitching are correct.  Here's a video about pitching that shows it in detail:

 

 

I agree with @MN Fisher and @WRB-2.0.  Dee Thomas invented Flipping.  I don't know who invented pitching but Denny Brauer mastered it.   Flipping is done with a long rod and is more of a vertical presentation.  You get in close and gently drop it right on top of them,  often in the thickest cover that you could never cast into.  You yank them out of the thick stuff right into the boat so you need a very heavy rod and line.

 

Pitching allows you to accomplish almost the same presentation from a distance.  Denny Brauer used to demonstrate his technique at shows.  He would pitch a jig across the stage at targets 25 feet away and point out that his jig was never more than 12 inches from the floor.  He used this technique to get to places under docks that most people could not get to.  

Pitching in tournaments would be Dave Gliebe.

Tom

F & P are very effective and I used to do a lot of when I could stand up.  Now I fish out of a small boat and can't stand anymore.  I do what I call "dippin'".  A 10 foot rod with a baitcaster with 40# braid.  Move slowly and quietly near heavy cover and methodically dip your jig or worm into places where you couldn't cast to.  I use a reel with a flippin switch so I can hold the rod tip over the spot and let the bait down horizontally and can engage the reel instantly when I get a bite.  The long rod is awkward as heck in a tiny boat, I usually hand over hand the rod to land a big fish, but it is pretty effective in dirty, shallow, water with heavy cover such as weeds or wood.

I think this is kinda how Dee Thomas did it back in the early days of flippin'.

Anyway this is one way to "flip" if you don't have a wide, stable boat and you are old and have strength and balance issues and must sit down.

 

I’m not aware of any specific name given to the technique over the years. As has been mentioned, flipping was Dee Thomas. Beyond that, history tends to get more clouded, with similar things popping up in different parts of the country around the same time. Generally speaking though, Tommy Biffle is most frequently credited with developing “pitching.” For the short casting you mention, most would credit Jimmy Houston for developing that technique, but I never recall reading where he gave it a name. Various outdoor writers referred to it as ‘roll casting’, ‘side arming’, ‘speed casting’ and ‘underhand loop casting,’ among others, but “roll casting” is probably the one you hear most often.

On 7/5/2025 at 3:19 PM, WRB-2.0 said:

^^^^this^^^^
The term has been hijacked like several others in bass fishing.

Dee Thomas introduced “Flipping” to tournament bass fishing using a 12’ long pole without a reel. Rule changes required a reel used and the rod length not to exceed 8’. The since change to 8’6” ?

Think of a flip cast as no reel needed.

Tom

Back in the 60's it was called doodle-socking.  I remember my dad buying a 12' bamboo pole and tying on a lizard he made to dangle in the reeds.   He was a man before his time.