Succcessful anglers are like hunters in the field. They are constantly looking for a new territory or technique and always on the stalk to capture or harvest their prey.

Chatterbaits aren’t exactly new, but they are a standard for successful pre-spawn bass pros like Kent Brown. Photo by Bill Mays.

Anglers who wait for that 70-degree water in late April and early May have already missed the window of opportunity for catching trophy bass.

Wallhangers in many lakes start their migration from the deeper water and major creek channels to staging areas in February. Professional bass anglers have the knowledge and the baits to target these areas now, and they consistently find success in the pre-spawn.

If you’re going to get in on the pre-spawn action, make note of these effective lures that are making a splash with pros and local anglers this spring.

PUNCHING WEEDS
Because of angling pressure, the larger and wiser bass have found a security blanket, a place hidden from the angler’s sight and have moved up under the grass mats, floating vegetation and debris pockets. Not only is this a great hiding place, the water warms up quicker because the sun beats down on the vegetation and works like a thermal blanket.

It didn’t take long for a few of the successful tournament anglers, like Ish Monroe, to figure out what the bass were doing. The pros started cashing big paychecks and winning national tournaments with a punching technique.

Even with today’s media coverage, punching was not taking the bass fishing by storm. Anglers were frustrated when they tried to get their bait configurations to punch through thick heavy cover and grass mats.

But any angler can master the punching technique with proper instruction and practice.

It’s a lot like the situation with swimbaits: Anglers fish them and might not develop a feel for them. Without immediate success, they give up.

Pro angler and bass-fishing guide Bub Tosh saw the need for better punching tackle. A hook, skirt and sinker he developed will be taking punching to another level in bass fishing this coming year.

“Bass anglers across the country needed the tools that would consistently perform for them with the big-bass jig-type baits and the new technique of punching,” said Tosh.

The problem was anglers needed a way to penetrate the weedbeds and vegetation without getting hung up and disturbing the pre-spawning bass below. Tosh claims his Pay Check Baits deliver, and others are agreeing.

The first thing Tosh did was change the hook. His hooks have a welded closed eye for tying a snell knot so the knot does not slip out of the eye and cut the knot. By tying a snell knot, the hook kicks to the side when it is hit, so hooksets are more often in the side of the mouth.

The next huge improvement was his Gamakatsu hooks have a barb with a heat-shrink tube with an epoxy liner that will keep the bait on the hook as it is pitched high in the air for pounding through the heavy vegetation and weedbeds.

Tosh then came up with the Pay Check Punch Skirt, a skirt that would surround the hook and prevent the hook from hanging up on the cover.

Every bass angler knows how difficult it is to punch or flip a jig through weedbeds. This new skirt allows weedless penetration through thick grassbeds.