I predominantly bank fish and my area has tons and tons of weeded/grassy areas - I've almost eliminated square bill cranks and, even, spinnerbaits from my box. Up until now I felt I could only exclusively fish topwater (whopper plopper, spooks, buzzbait, poppers, and frogs are what I bag) because I haven't been able to teach myself to punch and drop shot "correctly" or "effectively."

 

Even throwing drop shots or punching with weedless rigs I still get snagged on almost every cast and I stopped trying for a little while. But, I will not be defeated so I'd like to ask you guys if anybody can give any advice on drop shotting or punching?

 

For reference - I was using Sasuteki punch weights, EWG hooks, slim cylinder weights, and I have a ton of soft plastics to choose from.

Do you know the type of plant you are dealing with ? 

The key to not getting "snagged" when flipping, pitching, or punching is to keep you presentation a vertical as possible & still be effective.

 

When bank fishing the thickest vegetation is usually at your feet & out a couple yards. This area usually don't hold fish because it's to shallow.

 

You need to have the ability to lift your lure up & over the thick vegetation, a long rod is a definite advantage.

 

Hawg,

 

It's mostly Hydrilla and Elodea-type grass. Long and stringy and stands vertically in the water.

 

There's a few places within driving distance (still 30 minutes or so) where this isn't much of a problem but literally all of my local ponds/lakes have this everywhere. Tue-Sat I can pretty much only fish locally given my school/work schedule so I gotta figure something out to bank fish this grass ?

I know you asked about drop shotting and punching, but I'm going to defer to others for those.  I've never been successful at either from shore.

 

However, a couple of things you might put on your shopping list that make fishing weeds a lot more tolerable:

 

-1/16 oz - Vike Tungsten Carolina Voodoo Weight - tiny (and thin) and will allow you to work trig through weeds much better than other weights

 

-Charlie Brewer Spider Pro Darter Heads 1/16 and 1/8 -- these things come through weeds like magic

 

-Owner Ultrahead Finesse Ball Head - Not quite as clean as Spider heads, but pretty good...and better in rocks, IMO

 

 

 

 

I don't do punching but drop shot quite a bit on weedy area. Just like @Cattmentioned try to work your lure as vertical as possible. If you find a hole or weed line that would be the best spot to work your plastic. I would leave my tag end long enoug that my worm stay on top of weed. I don't drag/work my lure back to me but instead pitch/cast to a hole, work for 10-15 sec move a little bit to feel any weed around. If I feel snag I just lift my rod tip and reel it back. 

In this case the smallest weedless hook is a must, I use #2 Gamakatsu EWG hook or #1 Roboworm rebarb hook. Also I use smallest profile Worm like finesse or trick worm. I use normally 3/16oz pencil weight.

If top of weed is deep enough, I also find wacky weightless small worm yield a pretty good result 3-4" Senko, Roboworm Ned Worm and Finesse worm.

The grass/weeds were crazy at my local ponds this summer. I had good luck rigging 3-4” paddletails weedlessly and fishing them on top of and through the weeds.  When they did start to get hung up I would give them a gentle “pop” to try and free them, moving on to less-gentle pops if needed.  A lot of the time the first pop would trigger a hit, which is the best way to free up a lure

Ultra Vibe Speed Craw 

1/2 tungsten weight

Lew’s Speed Spool LFS SS1HA 6.8:1 

 QuantumVapor 7' 10" Heavy Extra Fast 

 TUF-Line XP Braided Line 65#

 

 

My go to's would be a Yamamoto DShad (or any fluke style bait) or a Senko with a 1/4 oz bullet screw in nose weight.  All rigged Texas style weedless.  

Is it a mat of weeds? Sorry I drop shot a lot and what your describing and I’m picturing screams wrong presentatiob