M4TT Posted December 5, 2015 Report Share Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) Hey guys, I'm going fishing tomorrow and wanted to try a punker punker I've had for years but never tried. Been too scared of losing it but my lake is having tons of boils with striper and LMB so I figured what better time than now.. My question is, will a 2015 Shimano Citica with 14lb line handle it well? I know I should go with heavier line but at 14lbs, I'm barely holding 110yds at the most. Punker is the 9" model in wood. Edited December 5, 2015 by M4TT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iay Posted December 5, 2015 Report Share Posted December 5, 2015 What 14lb line are you using? Citica is a 200 sized reel, so the line probably has breaking strength of 20 lbs, which I usually throw the 6 inch punkers with. I would just bump it up to a .405 mm line for heavier model though... You should still be able to get around 90 yards or so on the spool which should be good for one time use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassbass Posted December 5, 2015 Report Share Posted December 5, 2015 14lb for a 8" wood punker seems to small. I use Sunline FX 50 lb blue green braid. Rogervang 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M4TT Posted December 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2015 I haven't bought the line yet. I currently have 10lb line on the reel and was going to put 14lb but figured I'd ask before doing so to save $$. I'm going to be fishing from shore so I'll need all the line I can get. I'll do a little research and see what # line .405 is. Thanks for the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishDr Posted December 5, 2015 Report Share Posted December 5, 2015 Hey guys, I'm going fishing tomorrow and wanted to try a punker punker I've had for years but never tried. Been too scared of losing it but my lake is having tons of boils with striper and LMB so I figured what better time than now.. My question is, will a 2015 Shimano Citica with 14lb line handle it well? I know I should go with heavier line but at 14lbs, I'm barely holding 110yds at the most. Punker is the 9" model in wood. 50-lb braid has about the same diameter as 12-lb mono, and 65-lb braid is about the same as 16-lb mono. You should be able to get a bit more than 110-yd of 50 and perhaps just under 100 yds of 65# on your reel. Spool your reel up with braid and get to it! After all, the Punker was made to be thrown at largemouth and striper - don't be afraid to engage those fish! LUV-2-CATCH'EM, basskickinrednick and JTL750 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reelfish Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 Use braid. Use 14lb if u want to lose it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Volfan Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 9 in Punker in wood is a lot of bait for that set-up. I would be using 14 lb CXX or XT if I had to go that route. Braid is fine, but if you backlash early in a cast, you may lose it. What rod? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Man CP Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 I'm gonna go with Brian & Chris on this,, I throw all my top water on braid, you can pick up the slack fast, and it's mandatory to have as lil of stretch as possible to drive those hooks home quick! Don't worry about getting spooled by the fish, unless maybe fishing from shore I guess,, I've caught 30-50# striper on very light tackle, my ripbait setup is spooled w 12# sunline and does the job no prob. The key benefit to a larger reel is the width helps cast bigger baits more efficiently, but they also tend to have few extra pounds of drag strength, that citica can be torqued down as tight as you need. But more importantly than the reel in my opinion, is your rod. What rod are you planning on throwing that punker with? If you're throwing an 8" wood punker, better have some ass end behind it. I throw my 8" on a Loomis 955, 7'11, 5 power, with a curado 201 dhsv. It's a lil bigger than regular curado/citica 200s, actually same frame as the current 300. It has a 7:1 gear ratio I find to be essential for walking a punk too, spooled with the same sunline as Brian mentioned,, that braid in my opinion is flawlessly made! I commend you for seeking advice, compared to winging it, and possibly blowing loads of $$$ like some of us prob have, to start off on rt foot! Good luck, top water striper fishing is one of the best things going! FishDr, northeast_trev, kayl and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishDr Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 One other thing (in addition to making sure you have enough rod) is to use a short heavy mono leader - I go with about 18-24" of 50-lb mono so that the Punker doesn't overrun the braid and foul the hooks. Magic Man CP 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Man CP Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 Very good point made by Chris,, I forgot to touch on that in my mini-novel... lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Top Ramen Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 Go with braid. I use 30# on my stick bait combo and it works great. I started out with 50# but I spool my Tatula when casting with that line. Thirty gives me the extra capacity and is still plenty strong.Use a mono leader with a Bob Sands or similar knot designed for two different line diameters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigpoppabass Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 I am an east coaster but the west coast fella at swimbait city goes light like you. His stuff at his website, perhaps needing updating or not, is worth printing out and reading, every word, on airplane rides, during snowstorms etc....I am not by any means an expert on this, in fact I have not caught a fish or had a missed strike on this bait......But one thing I can tell you is that the six inch throws no differently than the bigger model imo at least as far as wooden baits go. One great thing about swimbaits is time, most peeps are impatient and never figure it out....This is a proven bait that works but net vids make it seem like cake..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marc626 Posted December 6, 2015 Report Share Posted December 6, 2015 True, this bait requires the up most of patience. I started fast with them like on vids. But finally got them on single twitches. I read about zara spook fishing and just use the punkers that way. I catch several fish on spooks every season. Like I said before. I fish them the exact same way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M4TT Posted December 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 Thanks for all the help guys. I actually went and got 16# flouro but decided not to to toss the LP because I don't have a swimbait setup yet (medium heavy rod w/ my citica) and definitely don't wanna lose my punker. I went out today and threw a few swimbaits, one of which the 6" BBZ-1 trout and it barely managed to get it out 20-30ft.. Birthday is next Monday and Christmas around the corner so I'm hoping for a Calcutta 301d + a Phenix M1 swimbait rod will be within reach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vcsd111 Posted December 7, 2015 Report Share Posted December 7, 2015 Hi Matt, A lot of good advise has already been given. Make sure you have a rod that won't get overloaded when you cast your Punker. It's a lot of bait for anything less than a medium heavy rod can handle. Also, a very important point was made about using a short heavy mono/fluoro leader. I have found this to be really important because if you don't have a stiff enough portion of line close to the front of the bait, the bait's wide side to side walk will carry the bait right over your line if it isn't stiff enough. I personally use 40 lb connected with an alberto / royal polaris knot. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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