Flippin/punching Bait

[Biggz53]

Hi Folks,

 

First post here, but been a lurker for awhile.  Heading to Champlain next week to fish a tourney on Ti which will be a lot of flipping and punching.

 

I tend to switch my baits from full brush hogs to beaver style to craws to 10in worms while punching.  Wanted to see if anyone has found any sort of pattern of when one work better than the other.

 

My set up will be a bobber stoppers 3/4-1oz weight, 5/0 hook and the bait.  Haven't decided on a punch skirt yet, luckily I get a practice day in to play around with it and the baits, but wanted to see if anyone had come up with any sort of rule of thumb.  

[DTack]

I basically use a RI sweet beaver about 80% of the time.  If I have someone else with me I will sometimes have them throwing a Berkeley Havoc pit boss.  Typically I feel the bait is falling fast enough I'm more concerned on color.  I tend to shy away from baits with too many appendages or legs as they tend to get caught up in heavier cover.  Another bait I really like is a zoom ultravibe speed craw. 
The first thing I figure out is if I want some type of craw or bluegill color.  I really use the same baits regardless, I just want to match up color as I think that's what they identify with.  Most of the time I feel if something falls quickly by the fish and is in the right shades or near the right shades of color, they will eat it.  Around here we have a lot of grass and a lot of fish spitting up craws when we catch fish.  Also, fish will sometimes spit up a bluegill.  Green Pumpkin is always a solid starting point for bluegill imitation (and depending on color of craws a good craw imitation as well.  For the craws I try to get some evidence from a fish or from pulling up grass and finding pinchers to see what color the craws are.  Champlain is a pretty well known lake, you may be able to do some type of search to find out what color craws typically are there during summer. 
Sorry I kind of rambled on, I hope this makes sense.  If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask.

[Siebert Outdoors]

This is what I punch with since this year.  Its a Rage Structure bug and one of my punch rigs along with an Owner CPS Twistlock flipping hook.  Its about the only thing I punch with anymore.  Sometimes I will drop the punch skirt and just use a flipping tungsten weight.  For me I've found shorter baits with sleek profiles punch better then say a real bulky bait or long worms wiith ribbon tails.

[kikstand454]

I'm really enjoying the big bites yo daddy lately. Slips right through cover and the claws go crazy at the lightest movement. Good stuff.

[DILLY07]

Missile Baits DBombs or Havoc Pitboss

[Mike L]

Was RI Sweet Beaver 80% of the time and 20% Baby Brush Hog.

Now it's the Rage Bug 50% and the Sweet Beaver 50% (for now)

Mike

[ww2farmer]

Don't over look a senko type bait for this kind of work. They slip through as good, if not better than anything, often times with less weight than a creature/craw. One thing I found over the years of punching with a senko, the shorter the better. 5" is ok, 4" is fantastic. Not a fan of doing this with 6" versions. I also found that this is the time a more durable bait is optimal too, GYCB senkos tear and rip too easy doing this, and often you'll have to change a bait that has become so trashed just getting it in and out of the cover before a fish even bites it. I have found  Big Bite baits sticks to be the most hearty when it comes to this type of work, and the fish like them too.

[Mike L]

Don't over look a senko type bait for this kind of work. They slip through as good, if not better than anything, often times with less weight than a creature/craw. One thing I found over the years of punching with a senko, the shorter the better. 5" is ok, 4" is fantastic. Not a fan of doing this with 6" versions. I also found that this is the time a more durable bait is optimal too, GYCB senkos tear and rip too easy doing this, and often you'll have to change a bait that has become so trashed just getting it in and out of the cover before a fish even bites it. I have found  Big Bite baits sticks to be the most hearty when it comes to this type of work, and the fish like them too.

Ya know, I thought about useing a stick bait from time to time (Last Sunday) but never did rig one.

Gonna try that Saturday.

Thanks for bringing that up

Mike

Mike

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

My last summer trip to Champ. my partner and I caught'em all day on 6" black twist tail Power Worms.

[Catt]

I flip, pitch, & punch every piece of plastic made!

[river-rat]

I flip, pitch, & punch every piece of plastic made!

 

x2

[JThoms38]

Anyone else like the craw fatty from berkely havoc?

[5fishlimit]

Anyone else like the craw fatty from berkely havoc?

Yes, the black with blue flake, and the green pumpkin are really good. I use mine for skipping under cover like docks. The flat sides really make it skip easy.

One I've been trying lately is the Missile Baits Missile Craw. It's worked really well as a follow up to a missed bite in lily pads while frog fishing.

For straight up punching mats I use a 1/2oz to 1oz punching weight and a Rage Tail lobster. Mmmmmmmm..... That's some fun fishing right there.

[ChrisAW]

Berkley havoc devil spear. My go to, mostly sapphire blue. Never had an issue getting bit if the pattern comes to punching. It's what it was designed for!

[Big-O]

Without question a top choice for each of us at Strike King and RT is the Rage Menace. One of it's primary use criteria during the design phase was flipping and punching behind the SK Slither rig (skirted tungsten). Each of these two items were released at the same time ICAST 2012. The BUG is gaining a lot of steam as we speak.

 

[Biggz53]

Had a lot of success this weekend with a full size brush hog and punch skirt this weekend.  Trial and error I guess.