®
Fall 2023
page 40
vegetation or see one in your livewell that is always a plus and gives you a hint at what the bass are eating.”
“El diablo and PB&J are really great colors. I like PB&J and Candy Grass when the crawdads are more bluegill colored. At home on the Delta, there is a newer color that I’ve been using – Delta Red. It is exclusively available at Fisherman’s Warehouse. If I am looking for a bit darker shade, I’ve been using Rotten Tomato.”
NOTE: Since it was added, Rotten Tomato has been low key tied on at the Dirty D. It has limited availability but can be purchased at FishermansWarehouse. com.
WORK IT: Of course, there are always variables in the action and retrieves that a bass is going to strike. “Sometimes they will want it as soon as it goes through the mat and BAM, they eat it,” he shared. “That means you don’t have to work it all and you just want to get your D Bomb through the mat as many times as you possibly can. That is when you can cover water fast.”
HOOK ‘EM: It really doesn’t matter if you tempt a strike if you can’t hook ‘em. Monroe doesn’t like to chance that and can be seen doing what the late, legendary, Hall of Fame bass angler Dee Thomas called the “Heels Up Hookset”, but not for all bites. Monroe explained. “When your D Bomb goes through the mat and the bass hammers it, you want a bit of a lighter hookset,” he stated. “When you get the subtle, softer bite, you have to hammer it.” Remember his rule of
Photo: BASS
thumb – the harder
the bite, the softer the hookset. Either you or the bass hammer it, but never both!
WHY?
Why punch as
opposed to another
technique? Simple, it
targets the bass that
are less disturbed.
“The fish under the mat
are just messed with
less – they are happy in
the mats,” he described.
“Less people target
mats, so the fish are
comfortable and don’t
get spooked easy and
your bait is like their pizza delivery. So, when you drop that pizza, they have been waiting for on their head, they just see that bait and react.”
WHEN?
When is the right time to punch? The right time is all the time. Monroe will punch year-round. “I will punch any time of year,” he said. “The wintertime is a slower time, but I will still do it. Normally, it really starts to pick
up in February
and that’s when I really get excited
about it. March and April it gets
fired up even more and from May
through the end of summer, I can’t
NOT punch.”
GEAR
You would have to expect that someone who punches all year is going to have the best punch gear possible and that is what Monroe uses. In fact, to
make sure it was the best, he
designed his own signature
series rod for the technique. “I
always say, if you don’t have
the right equipment, you’re
taking a knife to a gunfight,”
he explained. Here are his
must-haves and why he uses
them:
https://www.fishermanswarehouse.com/product/missile-baits-d-bomb-25pk/153640