Punching Skirt or no skirt?

[MDbassin]

A lot of the mats around me are starting to get thick. And I know that they are holding fish cause when they were thinner I would throw a frog over them and they would hammer almost every other cast.

 

so I was looking to get some stuff for punching ( big weights, straight shank flipping hooks, etc.) but I keep seeing and reading about punch skirts and I'm confused I thought the purpose of punching was to keep as compact of profile as possible to slip through cover wouldn't a skirt just make it bulkier and snag up?

 

also what Baits do you recommend for punching? I have sweet beavers and d bombs and brush hogs. Was think of picking up some strike king rage bugs or structure bugs whatever they call them now

 

thanks for the help

[Angry John]

I love brush hogs but I use the super hog for punching because it has less appendages and goes threw easier.  I also like the mustad grip pin hooks in 4/0 for this bait.  If your trying to use a bait with more things hanging off then the skirt will help, but I just use the weight and hog and get through most stuff.  I also use the strike king rage craw in black blue for the same areas.

[Deleted account]

No skirt, as far as lures, something without limbs sticking out or too much action.

[corn-on-the-rob]

For punching, skirts provide two distinct purposes for me:

 

1. Larger profile for when I am targeting bigger fish.

 

2. Larger surface area to provide a slower fall once under the mat, and also that surface area allows the bait to better rest on top of any weeds below the surface, that your bait would otherwise just penetrate and get buried in once through the mat.

[Catt]

No the addition of a skirt doesn't effect the punch rug coming cleanly through grass, I punch with a jig-n-craw quite often.

 

If you decide to add a skirt do yourself a favor & buy some weights that allow you to add a skirt without using additional parts (pictured below).

 

Hooks; Owner 4X Jungle Flipping Hook, high carbon steel wires means smaller diameters with increased strength.

 

Lures; one can punch with any lure ya want. Your sweet beavers & d bombs would be excellent.

[fissure_man]

With a separate skirt hub vs. a skirted weight you can actually get by with fewer components, in a way.  Buy one skirted hub and you can pair it with any of the plain bullet weights you already have, rather than needing to carry duplicate plain and skirted weights in all sizes.  And it compounds if you want to carry different skirt colors in each weight size.

 

With a hub (vs. skirted weight) you have the option to peg the skirt and let the weight slide free.  You can use the skirt weightless or with a very light weight (e.g. in front of a swimbait).  You can throw the unweighted skirt on a Carolina rig for a different look….

 

I tend to use the skirt hubs more often when I’m not punching.  Putting a skirt hub on a light T-Rig adds bulk and slows the fall, deadly for me in shallow, muddy water.  For punching/flipping, skirt or no skirt for me is a matter of profile and ROF, and I tend toward bulkier profile/slower fall in murkier water as a starting point.

 

Bait selection is endless; to penetrate matted weeds, anything that is compact without too many curly appendages is fine (plain craw = good, 8” lizard = bad).  Beaver style baits including the pit boss fit the bill for me.  Having something with enough meat to securely hold a beefy hook is a benefit.  Weight size and bait choice will affect how easily the rig slips through mats more than skirt/no skirt.  If you’re having issues maybe removing the skirt will help a bit, but more likely you’ll just have to bump up your weight.

[Montanaro]

Start no skirt...if you are catching a lot of dinks then add the skirt to draw bigger bites potentially.

[Catt]

You can get skirted weights in 1/4-2 oz.

 

You will save money by buying less parts

 

I've thrown em since the early 70s, we call em Texas Rigged Jigs!

 

During winter throw a 1/4 or 3/8 oz with a big craw worm

[fissure_man]

2 hours ago, Catt said:

 

You will save money by buying less parts

 

 

Hmm not really – if you make or buy a few different punch skirts (no weight) then you can just mix and match with the bullet weights you already have and save a lot of space + $$.  

 

For instance, I can pair a single 1 oz tungsten bullet ($$$) with any color punch skirt I have on hand.   Or I can carry that same plain bullet, plus one with a black skirt, plus one with a brown skirt, plus one with a blue skirt.....($$$$$$$$$).  Multiply that by all the different weights you may want to carry (which can use the same skirts I matched with my 1 oz'er)...

 

I make punch hubs out of sturdy plastic stir sticks (small section, melted on both ends with a lighter) for nearly negligible cost.  You can use small rubber grommets too.

 

And keeping the skirt/weight separate gives you the additional options I mentioned in my previous post.

 

Obviously the combo skirts/weights work fine, but using the hubs keeps my terminal box lighter and my wallet heavier. 

[Catt]

1 hour ago, fissure_man said:

 

Hmm not really – if you make or buy a few different punch skirts (no weight) then you can just mix and match with the bullet weights you already have and save a lot of space + $$.  

 

For instance, I can pair a single 1 oz tungsten bullet ($$$) with any color punch skirt I have on hand.   Or I can carry that same plain bullet, plus one with a black skirt, plus one with a brown skirt, plus one with a blue skirt.....($$$$$$$$$).  Multiply that by all the different weights you may want to carry (which can use the same skirts I matched with my 1 oz'er)...

 

I make punch hubs out of sturdy plastic stir sticks (small section, melted on both ends with a lighter) for nearly negligible cost.  You can use small rubber grommets too.

 

And keeping the skirt/weight separate gives you the additional options I mentioned in my previous post.

 

Obviously the combo skirts/weights work fine, but using the hubs keeps my terminal box lighter and my wallet heavier. 

 

I already got skirts for jigs, just change the skirt to match conditions.

 

Ain't gotta make nuttin

 

Once ya start using Texas Rigged Jigs ya will have less bullet weight!

[fissure_man]

Fair enough, but if the skirts are tied on properly it’s going to be a hassle to swap them out…  And you still need to carry collared weights in all the sizes you already have with “normal” weights.

 

Either way works of course.  But collared weights instead of hubs means you need to carry more 'stuff' to have the same options.  It’s like buying pants with a belt a sewn in... Why not get a few belts you like and mix/match with all the pants you already have?

 

 

[Catt]

@fissure_man it's like this, I'm a Texas Rig & Jig freak so most of my tackle storage is for those two techniques!

[sully420]

Im with catt i buy all my jigs, skirts, punch weights, separately i love the weights with the skirt keeper molded in them much more than the skirt hanger. Either option works and i guess im biased because I always use a skirt get much bigger fish and if you want to target dinks why punch in the first place.