As I’ve said many times, Flipping in heavy cover is the hand to hand combat of the fishing world. 

It’s target placing to specific spots when you need more of a silent entry. 

Punching most times is more of pitching technique as sometimes you need the extra height to get the momentum which is needed to get through, and the distance compared to flipping, to cover the most area. 

There are times when you need extreme height to crash through using the rod to get down which you can’t do when flipping 5-20ft from the boat. 
 

Punching through the heaviest, thickest, nastiest cover is absolutely my favorite technique. It’s always what I look for first and foremost 

It’s the ideal condition to bag the biggest fish in the water. 

 

 

Mike

I don't care about reel speed.  For pitching and punching, you don't have much line out.  A lower ratio reel might help with the slop, but it's really the rod that does all of the work.  So long as it has Stout drag, I'm happy.

 

For most presentations, I don't worry about reel speed.  The two situations where it matters to me is buzzbaits and deep diving cranks.  I also have a super slow 3.8:1 reel that I like for poppers and walkers, because it seems to work out that one full rotation on that reel will take up the perfect amount of slack, so I can burn a popper or Spook really easily.  But that's more serendipity of the situation than preferring slow reels in general.

11 hours ago, NoShoes said:

What conditions push you to punch over other techniques?

 

Mid day direct overhead sun, calm water, cold front conditions and any time other techniques don't work.  I rarely flip before 10 AM.  Most of my big fish are caught between 11 AM and 2 PM.  Fishing money tournaments is not like fun fishing as you are only looking for five bites and you need a kicker to win.  In the spring around here you need at least a 25 pound bag to have any chance.  Locals are very tough to beat.

 

Speed in the reel and Power on the rod will horse a good one out of the slop before they have time to wrap around vegetation and pull off.

9 hours ago, Catt said:

I highly suggest learning pitching over flipping, not every target is within flipping distance. 

 

I seldom "flip" anymore, I can short pitch as accurately as any flipper.

 

I’m pretty solid pitching. Flipping is awkward as can be I never feel like I have enough line to reach the bottom. An arms length worth of line ain’t a lot for me, I’m vertically challenged lol ? 

On 8/4/2021 at 3:54 AM, NoShoes said:

 

I’m pretty solid pitching. Flipping is awkward as can be I never feel like I have enough line to reach the bottom. An arms length worth of line ain’t a lot for me, I’m vertically challenged lol ? 

 

Most anglers don't "flip" anymore, instead they use a short "pitch" instead. 

 

Down here we punch year round because the vegetation never completely dies off, it just dies back.

 

 

Most Florida lakes are shallow sinkholes with little or no bottom structure. Ambush predators like bass have no place to set up shop other than weed beds, docks and pads.  We rarely do any vertical fishing in water deeper than six feet.   Hydrilla has changed that somewhat, but you never know what you are going to find due to control efforts.  The electronics on my boat rarely tell me anything I couldn't know with a long stick. ?

54 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

shallow sinkholes with little or no bottom structure.

 

Sinkholes = structure 

 

55 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

weed beds, docks and pads. 

 

Weed beds & pads mean bottom composition changes = structure 

 

Structure is there if one knows what to look for.

4 hours ago, Catt said:

Sinkholes = structure 

 Not when they are three miles wide and totally flat.  Many Northern bass fishermen come to Florida expecting bass to be in the same places they are at home.  They criss cross the lake staring into their fish finders unsuccessfully looking for offshore creek channels, humps, rock piles and whatever other fish holding structure they can find.  Except for offshore shell beds, offshore bass in Florida are so scattered they are difficult to target consistently.  

 

Hydrilla changes this.  Many an old worn out reservoir or lake has been rejuvenated by hydrilla.   Unfortunately, hydrilla in Florida doesn't die back in the winter, so it quickly gets out of control.  One day you are catching bass in eight feet of water and the next weekend the spray boats have taken it all out.  The majority of the larger bass I catch come from shallow Kissimmee grass beds or pads in less than six feet of water. 

Florida is unique nothing like anywhere else regarding bass fishing. Considering how flat it is when the St Johns River flows over 300 miles north! It’s hard to conceive a State without any hills or valleys. 

Hard structure is usually man made outside of shell beds. Very difficult for a western highland reservoir angler like me to adjust to shallow water with miles and miles of aquatic plant growth that looks the same at first.

Tom

1 hour ago, WRB said:

It’s hard to conceive a State without any hills or valleys. 

 

I live in the Florida "Mountains" (joke).  The highest spot in Central Florida is Sugarloaf Mountain, about 10 miles south of my home in Eustis.  It's a massive 312' above sea level.  Lake Okeechobee is 33 miles across. At the present time, it has an average depth of 9'. 

8 gear ratio sv103 on a 7’6 tatula flip.

I like the higher ratio reels to get more drops in.  I use the rod to move the fish, not the reel.  Bluebasser and I use the same reel, Okuma Helios TCS in 8:1.  My punching rod is a 7'11" Okuma TCS Mat Daddy.  Like others have said, it's a near vertical presentation.  When I hammer one, I can usually get the fish all the way to the surface (or really close) without even reeling.  I generally keep my rod around 3 o'clock, so when I set the hook I can move a lot of line, once the fish in on the surface I reel to keep things tight but pull with the rod if I need to keep it coming to me.  I don't lose many punch fish that way.