CLOSE-FIT
APPENDAGES:
Keeping with the bait’s compact
design, the Rage claw
flappers and small tentacles
are positioned tight to the
body to help it slip in and out
of thick cover easily.
A FIRM,
ROUND DOME:
There’s plenty of durable
meat in the rounded head for
holding the aggressive keeper
styles found on many
heavy-wire flipping hooks.
BIG RIBS:
The body ribs displace water
and enhance the bait’s profile
without adding so much extra
meat that the hook can’t penetrate
easily. The body is also
long enough to hold hooks up
to 5/0.
Performance Advice
Break out the heavy artillery. You’ll need it for getting the Rage Punch
Bug to the fish efficiently and for muscling fat takers out of places where
the sun doesn’t shine. That means:
Heavy tungsten — Tungsten bullet weights upward of 1 ounce are
frequently used for crashing through thick canopies. In really thick slop,
some anglers might go as heavy as 2 ounces. Peg the sinker to make
the bait and sinker fall as one, which improves efficiency.
Stiff stick, big line and quality reel — Pair a stout rod with strong
line spooled on a gutsy reel that gathers line fast and you’ll optimize
leverage for turning big fish quickly and horsing them from the muck.
Slick braided line, 65-pound test or larger, is heavily favored in punching
arenas because it has zero stretch and cuts through most greenery like
a knife.
Heavy-duty hook — Punching means close-quarters combat with
large fish in settings clogged with dense cover. A heavy-wire, straightshank
flipping hook is essential to hold up under the shock of a violent
hookset with no-stretch braid and a stiff rod.
Applications
— Punching through dense grass mats
— Pitching around bushes or reeds
— Dragging on a Carolina rig
— As a trailer on various types of jigs
>> ON THE WATER
HITS & MISSES
+ Small and compact
+ Penetrates dense mats and other
heavy cover extremely well
+ Chubby, oval-shaped body that
pairs nicely with 4/0 to 5/0
heavy-wire flipping hooks
+ Built-in Rage Tail action
+ Durable
+ Clam shell packaging to prevent
warping
+ Premium colors
- None
DETAILS
Length: 3 1/2 inches
Colors: 8
Price: $6.99 for seven n
PHOTO BY ROB MATSUURA
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2020 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING.COM | FLWFISHING.COM 75