Where to punch???

[Dens228]

I fish a few lakes that have some large flats of weeds and have good success with a frog.  This year I want to really learn punching.

When using a frog on the flats it's easy to cover water since the frog covers area during the retrieve, my question with punching is, since you're casting to a specific spot and punching through the weed cover and then trying another spot to cast to how do you narrow down your targets?

Next to small openings?   Next to protruding cover such as stumps?   Edges?   All of the above??

[J Francho]

1 hour ago, Dens228 said:

All of the above??

Yes, and the other places as well.

[Dens228]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

Yes, and the other places as well.

Ha, you're killing me here!   Care to expand?  

 

[J Francho]

1 minute ago, Dens228 said:

Care to expand?

Yes, you should expand where ever you think you should punch.  Seriously, find a flat with some slop, and start picking it apart.  The more you do it, the better you'll get.  No one can make generalities about where exactly to punch, because the pattern is different each day.  Add in the slight variations - and I mean slight, like inches - that could constitute ambush points, and it can get more complex.  Consider all things when you get bit.  Things like sin angle, and the shadow you're bait makes; where you in a hole, or straight through the slop; was there a variation, or edge of some sort, like a plant species change, or ledge;  even water coloration can play into it, like when there's a algae slick in late summer.  You basically go in and attack the slop, and decompose the pattern as you catch.

[Dens228]

Thanks, like I said, I fish a few places with vast weed flats.  I'll commit to taking my time and picking it apart.  

 

[J Francho]

If the flat is that big, look at what is close by.  Do some map study.  Where are he fish before the slop sets up?  Where do they spawn.  Where's the deep water close by?  From that, you can slice up that flat into areas you want to dissect.

[Catt]

35 minutes ago, Dens228 said:

Ha, you're killing me here!   Care to expand?

 

Ignore the grass...fish the structure under it ?

 

Structure is what attracts the fish, grass is the icing on it!

[J Francho]

Yeah, yeah....  It can be hard to "fish the structure" below the slop.  I look at the structure around the new slop areas for clues.  Then, I fish it.  @Catt is making an important point, but without years of fishing those flats, it looks like a big mystery.  One more tip, count that jig or punch rig down.  A one half second difference can be a big clue.  I know, I've found little ditches that are pathways under the canopy.  It's a lot more open underneath many times, than you think.

[Catt]

How do we decide where to fish on any lake?

 

Map study

 

Most topographical maps show structure not cover, find the structure, fish the available cover.

[J Francho]

Not all the structure is on the map.  Where have I heard that?

 

Seriously folks, listen to Catt.  Check out the Toledo Bend thread if you want a serious study. 

[Dens228]

I have a new depth finder with mapping and side imaging.  Two of the places I'm thinking of don't have any depth maps.  I'll hit those spots early in my kayak and map them BEFORE it's impossible to get through. I know where the drop offs are but not so much the topography on the flats themselves. 

I've always just used frogs there, dropped t-rigs in the small openings, and ripped swim jigs through the weeds along the edges. 

[J Francho]

4 minutes ago, Dens228 said:

I'll hit those spots early in my kayak and map them BEFORE it's impossible to get through.

YESSSS!

[Catt]

The structure is going to dictate the overall shape, density, & types of vegetation.

 

It doesn't matter if we are fishing grass, standing timber, stumps fields, or brush, we should be looking the structure first. 

[MrPeanut]

I miss warm weather after reading this thread lol

 

 

[Dens228]

38 minutes ago, MrPeanut said:

I miss warm weather after reading this thread lol

 

 

You and me both!

[M Bruns]

If you have good luck with a frog like you say, maybe start with that. Make a pass over an area with the frog, then come back through and punch in areas where you had blow ups. That's just an idea but I like what others have suggested.

[Dens228]

3 minutes ago, Mike Bruns said:

If you have good luck with a frog like you say, maybe start with that. Make a pass over an area with the frog, then come back through and punch in areas where you had blow ups. That's just an idea but I like what others have suggested.

Well I wasn't going to stop using the frog, just add the punch. 

 

[Michigander]

To aid your search, go out early in the year where you expect the mats to be and drop waypoints where you find interesting stuff like rocks, holes, bottom changes, logs, abandoned picnic table, etc. That stuff will still be there when the vegetation takes over and the fish are more likely to hang out next to a log in thick weeds than just thick weeds alone.

 

Also, when the mats return, look for places that a bass could use to ambush food and present your bait so it can be ambushed.