Donald, yes and the great thing about a drop shot rig like you are suggesting for punching mats and grass is that regardless of the weight of the sinker, since the drop shot hook is above it, you'll feel the fish. If you are a little heavy, it won't matter.

Brad

4/0 Trokar heavy duty flipping hook w/ a snell knot, 1 1/4 ounce tungsten normally, and any creature bait or rodent. I normally use a rage craw or the strike king slither rig is a good set up for bigger fish.

I have 2, 6'10" ET Grass Rakes. Great grass rods and I have been punching the hyacinth on Pines all year with them. These rods are probably close to 20 yrs old and they still put them in the boat, no matter the cover. True broomstick.

Let there be grass

Question: Grass matts and hydrilla, do you punch them the same? I have a couple small private lakes I fish and they are Full of hydrilla. It's growing from 1' of water, out to around 10'. Yeah I can catch them on traditional baits like swim baits, frogs, wacky rigs, and so forth, but, what about when the sun gets high and bright? I know they burry up in that mess and it's just something I've never put my head to and tried. Any suggestions? They water is always super clear.

It doesn't have to be super tall grass to do this. That is what they have to get in so they will be under it when the sun gets high. Start by staying on the outer edges of the wall of grass. This is where they like ambushing from. If there is any contour features this is also where it will be. Big Bass like an irregular feature with grass on top of the slope. Work your way up the edge with the heavy drop shot above. When you catch a fish try to make a small circle around that area. Many times they will group up there and you will catch others. Big Bass will group together in most grass filled lakes and smaller fish will group together. So, keep moving looking for the big bite, then pick it apart.

greatness.

That's what I was thinking Mr Harper, thanks for the response. The few times I have fished it, I look for the edges... I guess my main question is if you can't locate the edge or wall, can you just fan flip in the [censored]? As thick as that stuff gets, it just seems weird and would be hard for them to find your bait unless you just hit em on the head. As of last week, 70% of the hydrilla was almost up to the surface... Are there clearings underneath?
Looks like I've given myself something to do at work today, time to put Google to work lol!

You want to stay as verticle as possible. When you make a pitch out in all directions then you risk loosing a big fish. Although sometime you don't have any choice. Grass that is only 10 ft. tall presents a problem of spooking the fish with too much movement and noise directly over them. A 10 ft. pitch away from the boat is as far as I would go with it. There is a hollow under the grass. These fish are always using ever sense they have to locate crayfish. The will come to your bait. You will learn exactly when you bait is about to touch down. Stop the bait just short of that touch down. When the rig breaks through the surface you are in control of the speed of fall. Make it slow, slow; because they hate anything sneaking in on them. Hold the rigs as still as possible. Most of the time they like it dead still and not hopping around.

These weights are sold at BPS and Cabalas in the salt water section. They will have swivels attached as they are trolling weights. Swivel is not needed take the dikes and cut it off. Use the heavy line 3.0 or 4.0 for the Hoo Daddy. It is made in a watermelon/Red now. Both baits look just alike. You want the Watermelon/Neon. It makes a huge difference.

What kind of a boat are you using? Just the cheapest depth finder is great for reading the edge of the grass. You want to be standing tall and not sitting to fish this technique. It is about hook set and leverage to get them moving vertically once you hook up.

I've used Mr. Harper's technique at Amistad and works very well.

Nice! I'm in a kayak fishing these small private lakes and I do not use a graph. I will deff give this a try, and again, thanks for the input!

This is a good rig.
http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Sizmic_War_Head_Weights_2pk/descpage-SWHW.html

Rig a Paca craw on there backwards.

They call you Mr Grass Master. I'm

I'll admit I was late to the party on punchin'. Biggs turned me onto it in during a trip a few months ago & I'm hooked now. 50lb Power Pro, Owner Jungle hook, any type of slender craw, Cara Amistad, & Chronarch 7:1 does it for me. Weight depends on the grass thickness.