Introduction: From our July 25th Clear Lake with Gary Dobyns Article by Zander:"Gary looked back and said 'I’d be surprised if you get them to come all the way up right now.' Cal ignored him and began casting towards the edge of an island, reeling back his full-size surface swimbait. After a few casts Gary turned back again and said 'better get back to that jig Cal….' when suddenly, right in the middle of his sentence a massive blowup on the lure took place, 'get him!' Gary yelled. Cal did get him and Gary and I both stood jaws wide open as we gawked at the nearly 9lb bug eyed bucketmouth Cal had just caught. 'Talk about getting lucky,' Gary said. Within minutes Cal caught another fish, this one six pounds, on the very same lure he was testing, at which point Gary was officially sold."

 
The Field Tests: That day on Clear Lake, California, we were throwing the Lunker Punker on a Dobyns Rods frog stick and though we were having obvious success with the combo, that would not be my first choice in rods with which to toss the Lunker Punker. The tip on that rod is a little too stiff. I like this bait best on a long rod with a relatively soft tip but of course with enough backbone to drive the hooks home.

Remember my efforts to procure a special rod with which to fish the 3:16 Wake Jr.? Well, the baits from Black Dog Bait Company inspired a similar shopping spree and I decided on TWO Evergreen International TMJC-74XXX Balista rods - one for the Lunker Punker, and the other for the ShellCracker. Each is outfitted with a matching Shimano Calais DC7 with an upgraded 90mm Bassart carbon fiber handle. Topwater swimbait madness deserves no boundaries!

Casting: No fancy tails, jointed bodies, moving weight balancer systems or other extraneous features to get in the way of casting. Just rear back and let'er rip and make sure you keep your thumb on that spool! The Lunker Punker flat out flies through the air on each and every cast and is a fantastic bait to get out past your target so you can make a tantalizing retrieve over or past an area you think is holding fish. They do not come any easier to cast than this bait - just make sure you have plenty of line on your reel!

Retrieving: Think giant cigar bait. The Lunker Punker has a very classic, walk-the-dog action - or rather, walk-the-BIG-dog action. By that I mean on your first tug with the rod tip, the Punker will glide a good foot or two to one side. With another tug, it moves off a similar distance to the other side. It creates a pretty large wake in the process.
 

It's a good idea, when you're starting out, to let the bait glide to a full stop before making your follow up tug. It doesn't take much to get the bait moving, but if you pull too hard, the Punker won't swim off to the side, instead it will come right back to you. This is where a rod with a relatively soft tip will help.