In 2005 I fished my first B.A.S.S. Open tournament. The last tournament of the year was held on Lake Kissimmee in Florida. I had never fished in Florida and once I got on the lake I was overwhelmed by all of the grass. Of course I threw a grass frog but the bites were few and far between. While I was down there I learned about a technique that I had never heard of before. It is called punching. Since then I took that knowledge and started to apply it to the lakes here at home. When the grass mats up during the summer most fishermen simply fish the edges or throw some sort of weedless frog over the top of it.That is fine but what if they aren’t biting. This is where punching a mat comes into play. For anyone who likes to flip, you will love it. Punching is when you flip a bait into the grass mat and let it “punch” through the mat. As the bait falls fast to the bottom, the bass will either get out of the way or strike the lure with a vengeance. This technique has been around for years but only recently here in the heartland anglers are learning that they can catch some giant bass doing it. In the heat of the summer and continuing in the early fall, punching mats is the way to go. Bass tend to hold in the thickest parts of the grass. There are two reasons that bass like to hang out in the heavy grass. One is the shade it provides and the other is it creates cover for them and makes it easy to ambush their prey. Now not all mats are created equal. Grass mats that have stumps below them or that are slightly deeper may hold more fish. The key is to locate the grass mat that is holding fish. Start by going down the mat flipping as many times as you can. You may have to fish several hundred yards of grass without a bite but once you do get a bite, then stay in that area because most of the time there are more. Punching mats is a close quarters type of fishing. You need the right equipment to get the job done because if you do not, it will only result in several lost fish. Let’s start with the line. There is only one to use and that is braided line. Braided line will cut the grass like a knife and has the strength to pull the fish out of the mat. I use Vicious 65lb. Braid. Nothing less. It has all of the strength I need. Next is the weight. Obviously you have to have a weight heavy enough to get the bait through the grass. A one ounce to one and a half ounce tungsten weight will get the job done. Next is the hook. I use a heavy gauge Mustad Denny Brauer flipping hook. The hook has to be strong enough not to give when you set the hook. You need a fast reel. I use an Ardent XS1000 reel with a 6.3:1 gear ratio. A lot of times the bass will hit the bait on the fall so you need to be able to reel the slack out of your line as quickly as you can. There is no question that a heavy flipping rod is key. A seven foot, six inch rod or longer is a must. Another key is a bobber stop. I place it on the line before I put the weight on to keep the weight close to the hook when I flip the bait. As far as bait selection goes I use something small and compact so it can go through the grass. A Strike King Rage Tail Craw or the Space Monkey are perfect punching baits. The way to do it is easy. Simply flip the bait into the grass and shake it so that it falls through the mat. Let the bait fall fast to the bottom. Be ready for the strike immediately . If you do not get a strike on the initial fall just shake it a couple of times, then reel up and do it again. Once you do get a strike, set the hook and pull the fish to the top of the mat so the fish is pinned right underneath the mat. He will stop fighting and you can troll in after him. This is hard core power fishing at its best. Punching mats. What a great technique to do to catch some giant bass.