Punching for Bass EPIC Techniques and Tricks
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- Punching Lake Okeechobee for bass is always epic and one of the most techniques when fishing for trophy largemouth bass. With Florida spring coming it's time to brush up on our punching skills and lay out some of the inside details from fishing rods and reels, baits, terminal tackle, and fishing tips for where - when - and how to target bass in heavy vegetation.
On Lake Okeechobee the best time of year to use this fishing technique is from October to April - basically what most people call winter is an elongated spring pre-spawn period for fish. This means waves of bass staging and spawning throughout these months and punching is a great way to target them. in the vid we highlight how to fish for bass in emergent vegetation like cattails, bully whips, and lily pads, as well as mats like hydrilla, penny wort, and hyacinth. If you want to learn how to punch for bass it's all right here.
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What's the gear in the video? You can find it all below
Reel Shimano Curado www.tacklewareh...
Camera - GoPro Hero 5 Black www.tacklewareh...
Reins Tungsten www.tacklewareh...
Dobyns Champion Extreme MH 795 www.tacklewareh...
Power Pro Slick 65lbs Braid www.tacklewareh...
Gambler Megadaddy www.tacklewareh...
Gambler Crawdaddy www.tacklewareh...
Hack Attack Flipping Hook www.tacklewareh...
Gambler BB Cricket www.tacklewareh...
Gambler Burner Craw www.tacklewareh...
Gambler Why Not
www.tacklewareh...
6th Sense Bobber Stoppers www.tacklewareh...
Double Weedguard Jig www.tacklewareh...
I could watch you do this all day man!!!
now it's time to punch!
Ey Lojo in the house!
Going through the ole Mikey vids again.never gets old bro.keep those new vids coming
More to come! Thanks for the support bud!
Funny listening you speak from florida about punching when the water is cooler. Over here in New York punching season isnt untill the heart of summer time post spawn when the vegetation surfaces together. Love your channel dude, keep it up!
yeah i hear that a lot man. even in north florida they catch them in the mats in the summer. down here it's all cold and pre spawn!
Man I could listen to this all day. I wish I could be doing some punching where I'm at. But we're getting into that fall bite finally so topwater is getting hot, weird weather though. Been.down as low as 36 and today was 75 so things are dragging and fish have been in and out or in between. Most of the vegetation hasn't started dying yet. Once it does I'm gunna pull my frogs and big weights out and get to work!! I like these kind of videos.
that sounds like fun. we got a bunch of small shad running around too, makes for some schoolie fun!
IMHO: One of the best descriptions explaining the variety of vegetation and punching. The descriptions of targeted points in various mat covers very good.
Thanks man!
Central Florida everything u said is spot on. It's takes as much time to learn to punch successfully as it does to learn any other techniques. I just take 3 rods and only punch all day. U have to accept that the bite is slow but generally big like over 5 big around here.
Great video. Like the way you explain punching. Gives me a whole way to fish. Thanks.
Great vid man. Just moved to Florida, never flipped before. This video is probably the most informative and interesting one I've seen. Can't wait to try it out soon
Very informative. Its so nice that you share your techniques not like many who dont. Thanks Mike
thanks sunny, wanted to get in depth and do a brush up. glad you enjoyed it!
This really helps Mike...I live in Florida with lots of heavy mats. I am learning so much from your videos.
Mikey, I’ve been watching you for years and every year, your videos get better and better man!!! Thank you so much for your advice and keep up the great work! Going to put these techniques and tips soon! Tight lines my friend!!!
really appreciate the nice words and you always watching man! glad things have developed, means i'm not getting stagnant!
Awesome! Glad to see people are finally catching on, congrats on 20k! Probably TH-cam's most underrated fishing channel great vid we appreciate you sharing your knowledge!
thanks man! vids will keep spilling out tilli get bored. stay tuned got an 11+ coming up!
Learning a lot from this video. Thanks for all the good tips. I needed these tips.
Great video as always and thanks for the tips and tricks
hope they help!
Awesome video! I punch the delta in California so this is a lot different than I’m used to. We have to use flouro leader because of crystal clear water and extremely pressured fish and sometimes we use a 3 ounce because the mats are so thick here. Interesting to see how you guys do it over there, it seems way easier than here.
Love junk mats! And hvy pad fields! Ive blown a few out at pressured spots around my home.tried the d&m Matt rats,and t- rigged tungsten .had 1 on the t rig.also blow holes in grass pockets. Drop the jig in there,and pow! Action trailer on the fall worked good!
i had a good time watching the way you explain. great info great video.
Mike you are the best man ! Great video as always.
thanks bud!
Great vid as always man. Thanks for the plethora of knowledge you just dropped on us.
glad you enjoyed it man! was a good review for me too to get those ideas framed up!
DOPNESS AS ALWAYS!!!💯💪👊LET'S GO!!! Stay on top!
thanks man you're always supporting!
A ton of great info man. Awesome.
hope it helped man!
Great info mikey! Awesome vid as always bud
glad you liked it!
I like punching with the googan trench hawg it's got the longer pincers but very compact
Super educational vid man. Keep em coming.
appreciate it bud!
Thanks for the fast reply! Helpful
Like the Okeechobee craw color
Wow Amazing info man!
thanks man! glad you liked it!
Thanks Mike--appreciate the info!! Really appreciate your vids!
appreciate you watching bro!
Damn I love it when you go back to the heavy cover vids bruh! And I'm jealous of your Dobyns extreme too! I haven't quite talked myself into that line yet.
dude sick rod!!! wish they still made my powell endurance 795 but all good things must come to an end.
mikeybalzz fishing I want an extreme 795 so bad! I use the champion XP line right now. The 805 is a beast!
have you tried the fury 805 flipping? i just got the 7' heavy and it's a sick rod for the price point!
mikeybalzz fishing I haven't, but I do have the Fury 806 swimbait. I can't believe how nice it is for the price. I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on the 795 extreme and a Fury 7' mh during the holiday sales.
Awesome Vid Mikey! Keep it up.
come back to FL joe!!!!!
I learned a lot, thanks Mike! Great video
glad to hear it man!
Awesome info. Appreciate the tips
glad it helped!
Great info. Keep it up
thanks man!
awesome video dude
thanks man!
Quit giving away all our secrets. lol. That was probably the best flipping video I've ever seen. Have you ever broken any sticks flipping because the weight comes back & hits it? I've broke two now. Wish I could get that on video in slow motion.
thanks man! i haven't broken any like that but i've hit the run a whole bunch. know exactly what you're talking about
"Open dome, house bass." Classic!
"get in da house"!!!!
Thank you! Go 70k!
Excellent
thanks man!
Coming down to Okeechobee for the first time next Fri-Sun! Thanks for the tips. Hopefully our guides don't force us to fish live shiners the whole time.
do a bit of both man you'll have a good time. shiner fishing takes a lot of skill man i suck at it!
mikeybalzz fishing had almost no luck on artificial, but lucked into an 8lb12oz on a wild shiner.
hell yeah! PB?
mikeybalzz fishing For sure. By almost 4 lbs.
sweet!
Got me pumped to punch here in East TX for some hydrilla gorillas. Thanks Mike.
that sounds like some fun!!!
HOT TIPS" MONEY EVEN IN 2024!!! B LIKE MIKEY" THANX from Idaho!
Appreciate that man
Great info
thanks man!
Awesome brother well said thats how we do florida bass 👊👊 ....lol I member them D&M vids my favorite one was the newt vid.. Classic. Bro we gotta fish together I got a spot called Jurassic Park! But thats old school bank fishin 👊👊
as long as they're thunk donkeys catchem any way any how!
Love your vids and this technique. I'd love to see what the difference would be for me up here in Ontario, Canada
Great video man
thanks bud!
Thanks This 2 year old video helped me immensely the lake i fish is super summer matted everything has grown and covered from the shore line out i bankfish and was going bonkers over how i kept running into those mats i did pop on top of them and had success but i punched for the first time and pulled a 4lb larry thanks for info i used the creature bait hook up with a 1oz slip an bob stops got from dicks i couldn't wait for no online orders i had to see the next morning and you were right the bigguns are under there.
that is awesome!!! congrats man i bet you're hooked now!
@@mikeybalzz out here right now on my Birthday looking to top that
awesome intro an info i def could improve on this an need to do it more i never see anyone doin it on the upper bay up here potomac yes everyones flippin the edge ima get up in it fr see whats up
I miss the true turn worm hooks I just wish I could still find them or better yet a true turn ewg I loved those hooks but can't find them here in Oklahoma anymore if anyone knows where to get them especially the ewg hooks pls let me know
Dude these Gambler plastics look great
You do any guiding in okeechobee ?
Hey Mickey,can you recommend a punching rod or rods in the seven foot six or less range that can handle a 2oz weight or less that won't break the bank.I am a devoted subscriber and I DIG the content. Where has our favorite bog buddy been lately. Hope he is doing great as well as you
Check this one out in 7 6 xh bit.ly/2ZJMLtP I use the H for my lighter punching and dig it. Been to hot for Bogs but he'll be back soon
Them endurance rods are good👍
Mike, Can I snell knot a straight shank hook with fluorocarbon? I was wondering if this could be a break-off problem.
you can but it's not the easiest knot to tie with flouro
Have you ever fished the Black Warrior river in Bama?
no, heard it's pretty cool
Have you ever used the ugly otter as a trailer?? Used it for the first time in one of my recent videos and man the bass killed it!
used to use the little otter on my finesse jigs and i'd also cut the tail sometimes so it kicks like a swimming worm. in general though the mega daddy is my go to for pitching heavy cover.
mikeybalzz fishing congrats on winning that boat man! I just picked up some little otters never used gamblers as trailers before but man the bass love here in california.
What about the Missile d bomb soft bait?
Awesome Video! What is the opening song, it's sick!
been awhile since i edited this man but i think it's a track called hwn - vice? i found it in creative commons on soundcloud.
Thank you for your video. Hoping you can help me. I grew up on c-14 canal was born into a camp in the glades fished holiday park sawgrass Loxahatchee Holy lands Canal all my life but I recently moved 2hrs north I’ve found an awesome looking lake it ranges from 10 to 15 feet deep and is 8 to 10 feet deep right off the bank the entire shoreline is all Sawgrass Lillypad and other shrubs I’ve been flipped I just started flipping it with an ounce and a half tungstenI’m thinking the wait is too heavy because the water under the mud Island and Sawgrass drop straight down to 8 to 10 feet what are your thoughts on weight size. Thanks.
if it were me i would go with something a little bit lighter. I'd probably have a 3/4oz for some of the thicker stuff and then a 3/8oz or 1/2oz for pitching to corners or holes in the cover on the bank.
mikeybalzz fishing just saw your reply thank you. That’s exactly what I did. I’ve Ben mostly night fishing this summer trying to figure out how to take a video at night ben catching a ton of bass.
Punching new to me here in Florida. Thanks Like being in college again. Not too early now?
should be just starting now. that's why i figured it'd be a good time to post a brush up.
INCOMING! :)
Why do you use Reins weights instead of others and why the Hack Attack hooks as well
i like the reins or the hawg techs because they're a little more compact and the weight is set back a little so it seems to punch trhu better. hack attacks is totally my preference - the tips rarely roll, i've never opened one up and the keepers are solid plastic and don't slip.
Still a great intro three years later
👊
I am taking aweek off in 2018 to fish Florida. can we hoo up for a few days? Let me know? You are a florida phenom.
hey thanks for the nice words bud! i don't do any guiding but if you want to have a blast on lake okeechobee check out my boy joey berg at dream big guided tours.
Awesome tip video. You ever flip at night at all Mike? And if so do you like it
never tried it. you?
mikeybalzz fishing not yet. Tonight they're supposed to feed around midnight-2am. I'll let you know. Day bite flip bite was great. Went and grabbed some of your mentioned baits today and caught a 4.5 and missed a 6+.
that's awesome!!! let me know how it goes. don't know how i'll film at night but we'll make it happen!
mikeybalzz fishing I figure filming at night will suck but Ive been killing it night fishing. Just never tried flipping. I don't have a boat so I'm just pond fishing an area with a lot of top lettuce. Would love to do some deep off shore fishing like you do. Never tried it but I see you catching whales doing it lol
mikeybalzz fishing night fishing was a bit of a bust. I'll have to try again another day. If you get a chance stop by Bass pro or Walmart and grab the net bait Pak a craw. Caught 6lber today on it. Just a recommendation since you help us all out. Tight lines man
Great stuff! I have a question for you. I fish a 1000 acre resevoir in SC that is mostly 4 to 5 feet deep and creek channel is about 8 ft. Tons of shoreline mat. Where should bass be in heat of summer?
i'd look for an edge, like the hardest edge you can find where the grass "rolls over". little turns and points are usually key then otherwise if the mats are more scattered look for solid isolated targets. i have a few mat fishing vids i just put out i'd recommend you give them a watch there's some examples.
Do you hold back on your hook set at all to avoid blowing the fish's mouth open with the weight? Or do you just hammer em?
interesting question. i'm not someone that loads up on them. i hit them when i feel them most of the time and let the rod tip do the work. i think i have pretty quick hands so that ends making up for not dropping reeling and hitting them.
When you use a mega daddy as a jig trailer are you biting any of it off or just using the plastic whole?
dude great catch i can't believe i forgot to mention this. definitely biting it off lie 2 rights after it starts widening out.
Mikey. You should write a book...
Thanks for the great info!vi really learned alot especially since I just moved to Florida in Dec 2019. Stuggling to find these bass. Might be the lakes I'm hitting. When the summer gets hot will mats be good because of shade or will pads be better? BTW...just hit that sub button!Thanks. God Bless and Fish On🎣🎣🐟🐟
i've found in south and central florida for the most part during the summer there really isn't a mat bite but as you start getting into north central florida and north florida there defninitely is. good luck in FL man, it's a crazy place to fish, can be super tough but also extremely rewarding!!!
@@mikeybalzz thanks man for the info. I really appreciate it!
Man I hope you see this comment. I have been going back through your old stuff doing some research. I have been punching with a 3/8 tungsten bc of the black muck that is on the bottom of my lake. The 1oz just disappears in it. My question is am I missing out on the speed of fall reactio bite from the heavy weight by going with the lighter weight? If the lighter weight is getting through the Hydrilla..is it wrong?
Frankly man I don't think there's really a wrong way to do it as long as you're catching fish it's working. Often times I am using the heavier weight not only to get through the cover but it is also triggering a reaction by because in most cases it never truly reaches the bottom they headed before that.
AAAHHHHHHH I would love to see the fish you were catching. The clips were cutting out too early. That beast you caught @ 19:36; how big was that pig.
5+
Say Dawg, Which Shimano REEL(s) would you recommend for *Heavy Flipping/Pitching/Punching Grass applications in Florida,(on a Budget)?* Also I Want To Pair It with *The Dobyn's CHAMPION EXTREME Series DX 795FLIP ,* Is This a Good Choice? Thanks.
sounds like a sweet setup. i would check out the new curado here it is at TW bit.ly/3e2z9Oy
@@mikeybalzz OK Thanks!!
I know I’m a bit late to the party but do you have any tips for punching coontail and is it even possible?
i used to do it in WI all the time man. first off don't need as much weight can usually use 1oz or less. i tried to target the domes or near the edges of coontail you could see a few feet down matted underwater. was a great way to catch them this time of year.
mikeybalzz fishing thanks man and btw keep the good work up love your vids
Do you ever use scents for punching? I wonder if i am wasting my time doing it...
Thanks for your Time dude
Danny Lalumiere I would guess I'd doesn't hurt especially if they're acting hook shy
What Powell rod the you used I see 2 of them ??
that was an old endurance 795 and 775
@@mikeybalzz thanks bro
If you did a podcast, I'd listen to it.
interesting idea. i think i'd rather do a youtube live thing - would you be interested?
mikeybalzz fishing I would certainly tune in anytime I could.
cool man thanks for the insight!
Text book as usual. When you going to make it back up to Rodman or lochloosa? You know you want to.
you know i want too! there's a chance i may be moving back up that way, not sure till next summer. how's it fishing?
Man I haven’t been in so long I couldn’t tell yeah. I will be going soon though and will let you know. Everything I have read and heard says that lochloosa looks the best it has in years. Rodman is topped out right now and if you can get out of kenwood with all the blown in water lettuce from the hurricane it’s said to be on fire. A lot of guys are coming through the lock from the river and flipping bite is suppose to be getting good.
that sounds like way too much fun!
Indeed
What brand of fishing gloves do you use?
these are columbia. they've held up the best out of all the ones i've tried. only part i don't like is wrist cover is too short and fingers are too short. but the others i've tried only last like 2-3 monthswww.tacklewarehouse.com/Columbia_Freezer_Zero_Fingerless_Gloves/descpage-CFGL.html?from=mkfish
Do you prefer punching weights with inserts?
started without inserts but i've been converted, love them with inserts now!
Where can I buy an old Powell endurance 795?
i don't know but when you find out let me know!
I’ve been wanted to do this but we don’t have many mats in Ohio
gonna have to take a trip!
I liked the part where he caught the bass
New subscriber here think this is the 3rd video I watched and man I like your style! I love hearing that line cry when your pitching into some heavy cover. I havnt had the pleasure of punching any real " THICK" stuff here in the central valley of california but man I love get that reaction bite! Keep up the videos check me out sometime new TH-camr here!
who mixn them jamz
Heavy weed cover ?