I haven't done much punching with 1-2oz weights but I'm going to make an honest effort this summer. I had a question about whether the fish is more likely to be able to spit the hook if the weight is securely pegged at the knot or if the weight can move up the line. Does anyone have any experience comparing these two scenarios?

A bass can spit any lure at anytime  ?

 

Ya overthinking it!

1 minute ago, Catt said:

A bass can spit any lure at anytime  ?

 

Ya overthinking it!

Probably so, but I am going to be spending several hours in a CAD program designing something based on my determination and underthinking this seems worse to me.

8 minutes ago, Catt said:

A bass can spit any lure at anytime  ?

 

Ya overthinking it!

What does Catt prefer, pegged or unpegged? If you prefer pegged, do you peg it tight to the hook or further up the line. If you use a bobber stop, how far do you let your weight slide? ?

I don't think I've ever seen anyone punching with an unpegged worm weight; some use the screw type though.  Wouldn't it just be that much harder to get through the mat/likely to get hung?  I do no punching, but I peg when I'm pitching Texas rigs so the bait enters more quietly.  As for the bass throwing the hook, they always get a vote, but you should have a 7 1/2' to 8' broomstick of a rod to help you waterski them to your boat if your have a 1-2 oz tungsten tied on.

Not necessarily unpegged, but some people use more than one stopper to keep the weight secure. Would it be advantageous to have the weight detach and slide up the line after the hookset?

A pegged punch rig isn't any different then using a jig. You want the trailer to follow the weight through the same hole in the vegetation so it doesn't hang up. A soft plastic without a weight is easier to hook set, use a bubba shot rig.

Tom

Ok, we can use that as an example. Do you find that you lose more fish after a positive hookset on the bubba shot or the punch rig?

A punch rig should be one solid unit with no space between the bobber stop to trailer. 
 

An unpegged rig is not considered for punching because your plastic won’t make it through the mat, hense  the description. 
It’s just an unweighted t rig. 

More than one stop is usually used with larger sized weights because the vegetation can separate the weight from the hook easier, which you do not want. 
 

 

 

 

Mike

Always pegged, I'd you don't need to peg it is the cover really thick enough to punch anyways? 

I think I'm failing to communicate my question effectively. If it were possible to have the weight secured to the bait for punching through the cover and then have it detach after the hookset, would that be beneficial or detrimental?

The weight is gonna move up some, even with 2 bobber stoppers, not a problem.

Having a heavy large weight inside the basses mouth is more problematic then just having a hook without weight, the weight whips around with head shakes that can and does with the hook loose. The further the hook point penetrates inside the mouth the better it holds.

Jigs and pegged or drop shot hooks get thrown when the hook point doesn't penetrate.

Bubba shot isn't as popular as a punch rig but the physics favor having no weight inside the basses mouth if the hook is set good and strong enough to control the bass.

Tom

 

2 hours ago, Michigander said:

Would it be advantageous to have the weight detach and slide up the line after the hookset?

I have never punched . I have fished with the sinker pegged with a bobber stop . It doesnt stay pegged . It slides up the line when fighting the fish .

6 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

What does Catt prefer, pegged or unpegged? If you prefer pegged, do you peg it tight to the hook or further up the line. If you use a bobber stop, how far do you let your weight slide? ?

 

Using 1-2 oz weights I prefer at least 2 bobber stops with maybe a 1/4" space between the lure & weight. I don't want it "solid"!

 

6 hours ago, Michigander said:

Probably so, but I am going to be spending several hours in a CAD program designing something based on my determination and underthinking this seems worse to me.

 

Good luck with that  ?

3 hours ago, Michigander said:

I think I'm failing to communicate my question effectively. If it were possible to have the weight secured to the bait for punching through the cover and then have it detach after the hookset, would that be beneficial or detrimental?

Beneficial - you want that weight away from the fish as much as possible when fighting.

Here is what I have found works for me after years of punching and flipping. I use a bobber stop to peg the weight but I leave the stopper 1/8-1/4" up the line so that way on a hook set the momentum of the weight will allow it to push itself further up the line 

12 hours ago, Michigander said:

I think I'm failing to communicate my question effectively. If it were possible to have the weight secured to the bait for punching through the cover and then have it detach after the hookset, would that be beneficial or detrimental?

 

Beneficial  ?

 

Punching is the only time I "peg" a weight, for all other Texas Rigs I prefer unpegged.

 

When we first started punching down here it was done by tossing the rig straight up in the air & as the rig reached its apex we would slam the rod tip down forcing it to hit the mat as hard as possible.

 

The rig was unpegged simply because we didn't know how to peg. Being unpegged created problems which lead to most guys using jigs instead.

 

Of your two scenarios pegging creates less problems ?

37 minutes ago, Catt said:

When we first started punching down here it was done by tossing the rig straight up in the air & as the rig reached its apex we would slam the rod tip down forcing it to hit the mat as hard as possible.

That's interesting.  I've never tried myself, but Ive watched guys on boats do that.  I've only seen 1 do it as you describe, and I assumed he didn't know what he was doing.  Once you punch through, aren't you pretty well fishing just that spot close or close to it?  I would have thought that would scare off everything for 20 feet or so, a pegged tungsten weighted bait screaming to the bottom after a substantial splash.  Most kind of gently pitch it to a spot, and then sort of 'shake' it off the mat.

I started fishing a lake last year that the only technique I have ever seen used is punching.  I use the same gear the local guide showed me.  1/2 to 1,5 oz tungsten weight pegged with two bobber stops, tight to the plastic.  Sometimes I will add a punch skirt most of the time just a plain beaver style bait.   I always land at least 30 fish a day, with very few getting away.  Most of the time the weight has slid up the line a ways before the fish is landed.  The ones that do get away are usually hopelessly wrapped around a stick or net.  Very few shake the hook.  Missing the hook set is a very common problem I'm getting better at.  The bass seem to hang on longer to the lighter weights giving me an extra second to set the hook, but sometimes the heavy weight is needed to penetrate the mat.

If you’re properly punching your weight should be pegged 

7 hours ago, CountryboyinDC said:

That's interesting.  I've never tried myself, but Ive watched guys on boats do that.  I've only seen 1 do it as you describe, and I assumed he didn't know what he was doing.  Once you punch through, aren't you pretty well fishing just that spot close or close to it?  I would have thought that would scare off everything for 20 feet or so, a pegged tungsten weighted bait screaming to the bottom after a substantial splash.  Most kind of gently pitch it to a spot, and then sort of 'shake' it off the mat.

 

Two things I done most of my life...fish grass & night fishing.

 

The early 70s brought a lot of things to the art of bass fishing.

 

Matted hydrilla was one of the most difficult to master simply because the equipment wasn't there. Like the Carolina Rig guys we went to the saltwater aisle & bought egg sinkers. And yes they were unpegged!

 

With any punching you're only fishing a certain diameter around the lure.

 

Throwing em straight up & slamming through the mat kinda blows up the theory of silent entry. We caught tons of bass & big bass.