Ah flippin'. Its all in the equipment. I personally cant set the hook worth squat when I'm flipping unless I'm using a 7'6" team diawa rod - it has a good amount of tip flex to help protect that 20 lb line MINIMUM that I use. Just cross its eyes. Its pretty funny to hook a 3 pounder while flipping, and set the hook and land him in under a second without touching the reel

I tried spinning tackle about 10 years ago and quickly learned that if I wanted good hook ups with plastics, I needed to use a baitcaster.