FLIP GILL

The FLIP GILL is a wide, flat bluegill-style soft plastic from NORIES designed around the behavior of bass feeding on suspended bluegill.

Its broad body and short curled tail create a distinctive falling action. When fished without a sinker, the lure can slide and spiral naturally through the water rather than simply dropping straight down.

The tail is deliberately shaped so that it does not produce excessive movement during a weightless fall. When additional weight is introduced, however, the same tail can contribute to a flashing swimming action.

NORIES developed the body dimensions through repeated prototypes to balance action with practical hook-up performance, despite the lure's unusually wide profile.

The current lineup includes the 3.6-inch FLIP KOGILL and the larger 5-inch FLIP GILL.

The FLIP GILL has become a distinctive bluegill-style soft bait in Japanese bass fishing because its wide, flat body can produce several very different presentations.

Its original strength is cover fishing. The broad body creates a natural landing sound and a sliding, wide spiral fall designed to appeal to bass feeding around suspended bluegill. NORIES recommends relatively heavy tackle and Texas rigs for fishing the lure around vegetation and other cover.

Japanese anglers have also adapted the FLIP GILL to Neko-rig fishing.

One notable example is the horizontal "yokoyoko" presentation. Instead of using a conventional straight worm, anglers take advantage of the FLIP GILL's wide body to create lateral movement and flashing action.

Professional angler Takumi Ito has featured the FLIP GILL among his frequently used Neko-rig presentations, helping demonstrate how a lure originally associated with cover fishing can be adapted to a very different finesse-oriented technique.

This combination of a bluegill profile, unusual falling action, and unconventional Neko-rig applications makes the FLIP GILL particularly interesting within modern Japanese bass fishing.

One of the most interesting modern Japanese presentations for the FLIP GILL is the Neko Rig.

Rather than using the long, narrow worm normally associated with Neko-rig fishing, anglers take advantage of the FLIP GILL's wide, flat body to create a horizontal side-to-side presentation often described in Japan as "yokoyoko."

Small rod movements can make the broad body shift, roll, and flash laterally, producing a very different presentation from a conventional Neko-rigged straight worm.

The FLIP GILL is not limited to finesse fishing, however. Its fundamental application is cover fishing.

NORIES recommends 16–20 lb line with a 3.5–7 g Texas rig for cover flipping. In shallow water, the lure can be allowed to reach the bottom, worked several times, and retrieved. In deeper water, anglers can work it around suspended cover.

It can also be used with heavy drop-shot rigs, as a jig trailer, or weightless to take advantage of its natural sliding and wide spiral fall.

• Neko Rig fishing
• Horizontal "yokoyoko" presentations
• Bluegill-oriented bass fishing
• Suspended bass
• Vegetation and shoreline cover
• Wood and heavy cover
• Cover flipping
• Weightless falling presentations
• Texas rigs
• Heavy drop-shot rigs
• Jig trailers
• When bass are feeding on bluegill

For US anglers, one of the most interesting aspects of the FLIP GILL is not simply its bluegill-shaped body, but how Japanese anglers rig it.

The Neko Rig is usually associated with narrow straight worms. With the FLIP GILL, the same basic rigging concept can be applied to a wide, flat bluegill-shaped bait to create a horizontal side-to-side presentation known as "yokoyoko."

This produces a presentation that looks very different from a conventional Neko-rigged worm.

At the same time, the lure retains its original cover-fishing capabilities. Its broad body is designed to create a sliding and wide spiral fall, while its short curled tail behaves differently depending on whether the lure is fished weightless or with additional weight.

The FLIP GILL therefore illustrates an important part of Japanese bass fishing: anglers often take familiar rigging concepts and combine them with highly specialized lure shapes to create entirely different presentations.