Glenn Browne loves a flipping switch. He recalls how he helped lobby for its addition to the Lew's SuperDuty reel.
The SuperDuty reel is one I actually had a little bit of input on. We were snook fishing with the guys from Lew’s—Lyn Reeves and a few others. Randall Tharp and I were talking with them about a flipping reel and how no one had a flipping switch anymore. For flippers like me, that was a real struggle.
Well, we got them to take the SuperDuty and put a flipping switch on it. This is the toughest reel they built. This is designed for heavy braid, a 7’11” flipping stick, and punching big weights.
This reel style had fallen out of favor, but this style was needed. We’re really lucky that the guys at Lew’s brought it back for us flippers like Terry Scroggins and Jason Christie. It’s built for mat flipping and heavy cover, and it’s a great reel for that kind of fishing.
The flipping switch works by releasing the thumb bar, which saves you from having to engage the reel. You could take the flipping switch off and keep it a conventional style reel, but I love a flipping switch.
In a regular baitcast reel, the thumb bar stays depressed and you have to turn the handle to engage the reel. With a flipping switch engaged, the thumb bar pops back up when you release your thumb, making it easy to engage the reel without using both hands.
As soon as your bait drops through the mat, the fish pound it. So it’s great when you don’t even have to put your other hand on the handle, you can just let up on the thumb bar and jerk to set the hook. That catches some big fish.
