Photo FLW
With so many line choices out there it can be hard to decide which one to use for each fishing application.
Monofilament, fluorocarbon and braided line each have a time and place and professional anglers like Scott Canterbury use all of them. When it comes to flipping and pitching, Canterbury has specific uses for each of the different line types on the market.
Fishing Line for Wood and Rocks
Even though braid is the most effective choice for thick grass, it does have a downside when fishing other cover. For fishing wood, docks, logjams and rocks Canterbury relies on fluorocarbon.
“I have found myself using fluorocarbon much more in the past few years since it will not dig into things like limbs and pieces of bark on logs,” he said. “It does have more stretch than braid, but still much less stretch than a mono and I really like the feel of pitching and flipping with fluorocarbon.”
Fishing Line for Cold Water Fishing Line
Monofilament is much more limited in Canterbury’s flipping and pitching arsenal, but it does have a place.
“Many fluorocarbons on the market do not do well in cold water,” he explained. “I find that a mono like the P-Line CXX in a 17 or 20-lb is great for when it is really cold. It has a little stretch to it, but sometimes you need that in the cold.”
Fishing Line for Lightweight Pitching (Wood and Rocks with Soft Plastics)
When fishing around wood, rocks and docks Canterbury will often pitch soft plastics with a light tungsten weight.
“I’ll do a lot of pitching with a Net Bait Baby Paca Craw or the B Bug,” he said. “I’ll rig it on a 4/O straight shank hook, a 3/8- or ½-ounce weight and 17- to 20-lb P-Line Ultimate Fluorocarbon.”
Fishing Line Jig Flipping and Pitching
Canterbury is most comfortable with a jig in his hand and he says he will flip and pitch it anywhere that looks good. He shared examples of pitching it everywhere from Florida grass to Beaver Lake in Arkansas and bluff ends to shady areas on Nevada’s Lake Mead. For him, it comes down to having confidence and putting it in front of a fish.
He uses his signature series Dirty Jigs Scott Canterbury Flippin' jig in a variety of colors and will adjust the weight of the jig based on how deep he is fishing and how slow he wants it to fall.
When pitching a jig, he also adjusts his line size. For docks, 15- to 17-lb fluorocarbon is his pick. Brush and shoreline trees are when he reaches for 17- to 20-lb and even up to 25-lb with the thickest of logjams.
“I won’t hesitate to jump up to 20 or 25-pound-test, if it is really thick,” he added. “P-Line is coming out with the 25-lb in bigger spools, which is great because I have been using the leader material since it wasn’t available. Overall 17-lb is probably my favorite all-around size for strength and how easy it is to flip and pitch with.”
To adjust the rate of fall, he will also adjust his soft plastic trailer. “I use a ton of different trailers from the Net Bait Kickin B Chunk, Paca Chunk and a few others,” he said.
Fishing Line for Vegetation
Braided line excels when flipping, pitching and punching around vegetation. This is when Canterbury reaches for a reel spooled with P-Line TCB 8 Teflon Coated 8-Carrier braid.
“Braided line is the way to go anytime you are fishing around vegetation. It slices through the thickest of grass and it having no stretch is key for landing big fish whether you are pitching, flipping, punching or really any techniques around grass,” says Canterbury,” he said.
He will use 50-lb for sparse grass and upsize to the 65-lb for the thickest of cover and when punching.
When punching heavy cover Canterbury adds a heavy tungsten weight and a Net Bait Paca Craw. His hook size varies based on the size of the bait, but he will always use a straight shank hook. “For punching I want a big hook that has a 2X thickness,” he shared. “A 5/O is what I use most, but a 6/O I’ll use for bigger baits.”
Knot Choices
Knot selection usually comes down to personal preference and experiences with different knots, both good and bad. Over the years he has switched from a Palomar to a San Diego Jam Knot.
“The Palomar is a great knot and it is what I use for braid, but it can pinch itself with fluorocarbon,” he said. “I’ve had it fail on me in the past. It is probably fine with heavier line, but I don’t want to take a chance and the San Diego Jam has never failed me.”
Anytime he is using a straight shank hook, whether he is using braid or fluorocarbon, he will use a Snell Knot.
According to Scott Canterbury, flipping, pitching and punching is all about putting the bait in front of a fish. Success comes from making the right presentation and having the right equipment to pull them from heavy cover.
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