Keys:
• Big females move up earlier than the smaller fish.
• dead mats attract baitfish and provide cover for feeding giants.
• a jig has a higher hookup percentage than plastics.
• stay focused. subtle bites are commonplace.
Rig Specifics:
mah uses a G. loomis GlX 954c 7-foot, 11-inch Xh flipping stick paired with a
shimano chronarch (7.6:1 gear ratio). he spools the reel with 60-pound-test
sunline FX2 braid. his punching setup is a black and blue 1-ounce medlock
double Guard Flipping Jig with lead nail weights added alongside the hook
shank and tied in place with thread, then secured with glue. total weight ends
up at about 1 1/4 ounce. mah adds a black and blue reaction innovations
smallie Beaver as a trailer.
2. Ritter’s
Summertime
Slop Changeup
Where: upper
mississippi river in
Wisconsin, minnesota
and iowa
When: June and July
hook setting 101
Mah says that, as hook-
sets go, there are two styles
of punchers: the “lifters”
and the “crackers.” He’s def-
initely one of the latter.
“You’re dropping that jig
into an elephant’s house.
When they come and get
it, you’ve got to hit them as
hard as you can and as
quickly as you can. Once a
big fish gets turned away
from the hole, you’re as
good as done. Pay atten-
tion to your line, and if you
see anything weird, give it
all you’ve got.”
Background
When thinking about punching heavy cover, most anglers probably don’t conjure
images of river systems, much less those that occur in the northern tier of the country.
yet costa FlW series stalwart Jeff ritter has proven that anywhere heavy vegetation
occurs, there’s always a punching bite.
“up on here on the upper mississippi, frogging is an art form,” ritter says. “But what
most guys miss is that there’s also an unbelievable punching bite, and there are only a
few of us that actually do it.”
once bass are done spawning they want to pull up in heavy cover and feed. on the
upper mississippi, this happens under matted milfoil, eelgrass and lily pads that are
teeming with bluegills, shad and crawfish, creating a perfect scenario for anglers willing
to dig them out.
“once the bass up here get off the beds and into the grass, they are immediately
bombarded by frogs hundreds of times a day all summer long,” ritter says. “i’ve been
relying more and more on punching those grass mats because it’s something they’ll still
bite when they’re not coming up to get a frog.”
Presentation
starting in June, ritter begins focusing on grassy areas that feature a defined edge.
the type of vegetation doesn’t matter as much as there being an edge to it.
“the bass use the vegetation for shade, and they’ll travel along those edges,” ritter
says. “the best punching is when the grass is topped off, but not matted so much that
you have to work hard to get it through. that’s usually June and July up here.”
punching a 100-acre grass bed is a needle-in-a-haystack proposition, so ritter typi-
cally starts out with a frog to locate areas with active bass and then cleans up with his
flipping stick.
“a lot of times they’ll just come up and roll on the frog, or ‘wake’ it a little bit, but not
eat it,” ritter says. “that’s when you need to pick up the punching rod. after i get a few
blow-ups in a small area, i’ll pick it apart by flipping.”
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