Easy Steps To Rig A Punching Setup

Add a bobber stop or punch stop to your line and slide it a couple feet up the line to give yourself room to complete the rest of the rig.

Add a tungsten flipping weight to the line next. Tungsten is a much better option than lead because it’s much more compact and punches through matted vegetation more efficiently.

If you would like to add a punch skirt now is the time to do so. Simply thread it onto the line after the weight. A punch skirt adds bulk to your presentation and allows anglers to create custom color combos and another dimension to their bait.

Tie on your favorite flipping hook. For punching, it is highly recommended to use an extra strong straight shank flipping hook. Any knot will work, but many professional anglers and avid flippers believe there are many advantages to using a Snell knot and the Snell knot is the best knot for punching.

Rig your desired soft plastic onto the hook. Rig it Texas style with the hook point protected by the plastic for a completely weedless presentation.

Slide the bobber stop down the line and bring all the elements together. The bobber stop will keep all the elements of your punch rig together when you flip into a mat, which ensures the entire rig goes under the mat and not just a portion of it and leaving your bait behind.

A punch rig is used to target bass hiding in heavy vegetation, especially hydrilla, hyacinth, duckweed and other matted aquatic vegetation. Typically, rigged with a weight ranging from 3/4- to 2 ounces, the streamlined presentation “punches” through this heavy cover and allows anglers to present a bait to fish hiding underneath.

Choosing the correct size punching weight is going to depend on how heavy the cover is that you are fishing around. While standard punching weights range in size from 3/4 to 1-1/2 ounces, when fishing around super dense vegetation, it may be necessary to size up to 2 ounces or more to effectively penetrate the cover.

While punch stops might be a preference for flipping, a punch stop (sometimes even two) is necessary for punching. Punch stops keep your presentation compact and allow it to remain streamlined, so it can easily slip through dense vegetation.

A heavy gauge straight-shank hook with a sharp point and a solid hook keeper is a good choice for flipping and punching. The heavier hook wire provides the muscle necessary to pull big fish out of thick cover, and the sharp point makes it easy to penetrate the fish’s mouth.

For punching, a longer (7’6” and up) Heavy to X-Heavy, Moderate-Fast to Fast-action rod is used to create powerful hooksets and pull fish out of thick vegetation. Look for a weight rating that covers the size of the weight that you are using.