Summer Punching Patterns & Techniques

As the blistering hot days of summer arrive, bass will look to take cover in the cooler, oxygenated water under matted vegetation. There are not many ways to access these fish, so now is the time to reach for your heavy punching gear and invade these weed-choked hog havens. A Punch Rig, typically composed of a punch stop, a tungsten weight (heavier than your standard flipping setup), a punch skirt, and a heavy-gauge flipping hook, allows you to penetrate and punch through thick summer vegetation to tempt the bass hiding below. You usually need to cover quite a bit of water when punching, so remember, not all mats are created equal. Focus your efforts fishing transitions between different types of aquatic vegetation and mats that have grown over hard bottom or structure you remember finding in other parts of the year.

Rod selection for Punching is dictated by the size of weight you are using and the thickness of the cover that is present. In heavily matted vegetation, you may need to use well over an ounce of weight just to get your plastic through the mat, not to mention you also need enough power to pull and drag the fish out of the mess of vegetation. Look for a heavy action flipping rod that is 7’6” – 8’ in length and has a lure rating that covers the size of weight you need to get your bait in and out of cover. A fast taper rod with a full handle will help you quickly load the rod tip, set your heavy-gauge flipping hook, and grind the fish back to the boat. Some anglers also prefer a moderate taper when punching and flipping. It really comes down to confidence and preference.

Efficiency is key when you are Punching, so most anglers will look for a high-speed gear ratio in the 7:1 – 8:1 range to quickly pick apart a mat and catch up to a fish when they eat instantly. Some believe a casting reel with a 7:1 gear ratio will offer more torque than 8:1 in heavy cover, but typically you will want the fastest gear ratio possible, so you can make more casts over the course of a day and increase your chances of running into fish. Punching is a close-quarters style of fishing, so line capacity is less important. More often than not, you may be within less than 10 yards of the fish when they bite. Look for a high-speed, 100- to 200-size casting reel with a heavy drag system and preferably larger handles.

Heavy tackle coupled with heavy cover means you will need the power and no-stretch responsiveness of heavy braided fishing line. Depending on the size of fish and thickness of cover present, most anglers will look for a braided line in the 50- to 80-lb size range. Braid becomes more and more difficult to manage in the heavier sizes, so 50 lb makes for a good starting point. Some anglers prefer high-vis braided line when punching to help them detect bites on the fall. To retain some invisibility with hi-vis braid, you can use a marker to color the first few feet of line that will be subsurface and leave the rest brightly colored so you can see easily watch a slack line.

The snell knot will help you convert more bites and land more fish when punching heavy cover. When you go to set the hook with a snell knot, your heavy punching weight will help kick the hook point upwards to dramatically increase your hook-up ratios. If the mats you are punching require a weight heavier than one ounce, try using two punch stops to keep your weight pegged firmly in place. A seasoned bass is more likely to drop a Punch Rig with a ton of weight on it, so most anglers will try to use the lightest weight possible that will still punch through the cover that is present. If the bite slows down or you find that the fish are short-striking, downsizing your lure or removing the punch skirt completely can sometimes make all the difference. Check out the video below for details on rigging:

When you get a bite, you want to pay attention to both the location and what you were doing. How long were you shaking it before hitting bottom? Did they bite it immediately on the fall or when you were yo-yoing up and down? If most of your bites are coming on the initial fall, it’s probably best to move quickly, give it one good hop, and reel it up for your next pitch. Slow down and pick the area apart when you finally get bit. Often times they can be wadded up under the mat, much like you would find them on offshore structure. Most braids will fade and turn a lighter color after a couple of uses, so keep a line marker handy so you can blacken the first 4 – 6 ft to keep your line less visible under the mat.

Green pumpkin and black and blue variations provide good contrast under the mat and have always been traditional favorites for punching thick vegetation. All kinds of forage will seek the cooler water under matted vegetation during the hot months of the summer, so keep your eyes peeled while punching to help dial in the best color to match the hatch. If bluegill or shad are present in the cover you are fishing, you can still imitate them using your crawdad or beaver-style baits with the right color. Whites and shad patterns will imitate baitfish, and keeping a little chartreuse dye handy to add to the appendages of your green pumpkin craws can effectively imitate a bluegill.

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