As far as punching goes, I see a lot of pros and people just throw a flipping bait on a TK130 and add a 1oz tungsten weight and call it good. But whats the whole punch rig idea? Being the jig skirt added or siebert makes his punch rigs with a weight and skirt together? does the skirt make it harder to penetrate through the cover? 

 

I'm just lost as to whether I should throw a whole "punch rig" (skirt included)  or just throw a pit boss on a Tk130 with a tungsten bullet weight and have at it.. 

 

any advice??

What it is, is that someone upgraded the old slip skirt rig. It came about from guys who like pitching jigs but hated picking weeds. Because of the way it is designed the hook eye and weed guard don't collect or hang on slop or weeds because it don't have one. So in jungle slop your bait reaches the bottom or some open tunnels under the top layer. The skirt adds bulk and displaces water while also adding more action to your offering when the skirt flared when it reached the bottom. Another old rig is shaped the same but it had a hole and hook attached to the head. The idea was to thread the head and tie the end to a split ring. You then took the split ring and put it over the hook then add the trailer. I don't know if it took off or was a great invention or not but it just shows that someone liked the idea enough to make a spin off. To answer the question of use what when it depends on how thick the cover is and what your trying to do. If conditions dictate that I need something big and bulky because of either fishing pressure or water conditions with enough rattles to wake the dead this is a good option. 

I do alot of "punching" this time of year. When the fish are really in the stuff, I have one rod with a skirt one without. I usally start with the skirt because I think it attracts a little bigger bite. If I miss a couple fish or don't seem to be getting the amount of bites I expect, I will pick up the other rod. 1oz to 1.5oz tungsten weight and an Edge Craw, I make my own skirts (alot cheaper). It's an addicting technique, once you get a 4lber to knock the fire out of it in 1 foot of water you will be hooked too.

It's true. Flippin to that super slop, and slamming a big fish in there is a blast! I use the Strike King one, and a Lobster or Space Monkey on a Heavy rod and 65lb braid.

The whole idea is to keep a straight inline set with the hook to give the best possible hook up ratio.

I'm just lost as to whether I should throw a whole "punch rig" (skirt included)  or just throw a pit boss on a Tk130 with a tungsten bullet weight and have at it.. 

 

any advice??

Try both.  But from my experience in punching heavy milfoil mats in Wisconsin you're going to collect more weeds using a punch skirt but it provides a bigger profile bait. If the weeds have a mixture of algae/slime with them, I prefer to not use a skirt rig. The unskirted set up is a lot more weedless and almost always comes out clean. I tend to use this if I'm punching at a faster pace and or around docks covered with slop.  I think you need to test both set ups and see what works better for you. If I start with one and don't get bit, I switch.  I'm also stepping away from the Trokar flipping hooks now. They just shred plastics way to darn fast for me.  There was another topic recently about this but I'm going to be using the Mustad flipping hooks now to help preserve my plastics better.

 

Lastly, get your punch skirts from Siebert Outdoors. They're top notch, awesome colors, and much more affordable than what you'll pick up on the shelves. 

I'm starting to move back to EWG Superline Gammys. If you have a stout enough bait it is just as weedless and I think it just has a better hook-up percentage. Not totaly sold on it because straight shanks are awsome. Pays to live on the lake when I can expierement alot.

Fogot to mention, Mark is dead on. If there is alot of alge and slime, skip the skirt. It causes more problems than it's worth. You spend more time pickin slime off and not yo yo ing under matts.

i dont know about ewgs. i prefer offset or straight shank. hard enough getting the bass out, dont want to worry about hookset.

I'm starting to move back to EWG Superline Gammys. If you have a stout enough bait it is just as weedless and I think it just has a better hook-up percentage. Not totaly sold on it because straight shanks are awsome. Pays to live on the lake when I can expierement alot.

I don't believe these have a closed eyelet (please correct me if i'm wrong) so snelling is out of the question and for me, snelling a punch rig is the only way to go. Just my .02 on that.

Yeah there is no snelling the offset hook. It's just something I have tried.

I'm a Texas Rig Freak

Punching is just another way to present a T-Rig to bass in heavy vegetation. When I approach a grass flat/mat I'll start at the outer most grass line with a 3/16-1/4 oz bullet weight fan casting ahead of the boat. As I get closer and the vegetation gets thicker I switch to pitching a heavier T-Rig or Jig (3/8-5/8 oz). Then it's on to the matted vegetation

where I start Flippin and Punching.

As for a skirt I've been using a "Texas Rigged Jig" since the mid-70s, which started by stuffing a bullet weight into a rubber skirt. Now I use "Big Red's Flying Jig" (obsolete), you also have Evolution Tungsten One-Two Punch Weight, Boss Weed Eater, Strikrzone Grass Buster, and V&M Slip N Jig.

The "Texas Rigged Jig " in lighter weights coupled with a craw worm is extremely deadly during winter!