Punching meat? It worked for Rocky Balboa. With any luck and a bit of patience maybe it will help you bag a ‘heavyweight’. Tenuous links to 80’s boxing films aside, meat punches are all about keeping your bait in shape.
Big fish are not stupid, they learn and adapt. Whilst meat cut into cubes is normally very successful, if a venue is heavily fished you will know that fish will ‘switch off’ when presented with certain baits. Well, just as flavour and colour have a huge influence on the effectiveness of your bait, so too does shape. Cutting luncheon meat into cubes is easy and quick. But a wary Carp will soon make the link between a geometric shaped bait and a big fight, especially if he has seen it before.
Further to this chopping up meat can get a bit messy. The oils that release into the water also like to stick to fingers. Not the most pleasant. In the angling world there is the tendency to come prepared for any scenario, but adding a cutting board and a decent knife to your box can be unnecessary clutter, especially when you can simply have something the size of a pen in your pocket.
Meat punches are a breeze to use. Open the can, push your punch into your bait of choice, and hook it. They are economical too. There is less wastage and you can pick your punch dependent on hook size, meaning less fiddling on the bank and more fishing.
Here are a few of our favourite punches.
Contents
Best Meat Punches
Guru Bait Punches Set
4 punches in one easy to carry set. Although they do the same job as other punches they have an added feature. The plunger makes removing your plug of bait super easy. The size of the diameter is clearly printed on the side of each punch meaning you can pick and get consistent size every time.
Korum Meat Punches
A standard meat punch set. You get four punches with chunky, easy grip handles, useful if you have wet or greasy hands.
Bread & Meat Punch Set by Advanced
With a total of 9 punches in this set. You are not limited to meat. The set also contains 5 bread punches if the fish are having a vegetarian day. The handy wallet is easy to stow in among your tackle.
3PC Small Meat Punch Set by NGT
Good for those on a budget. This meat punch set is the cheapest we could find. Presenting bait in numerous sizes can sometimes make the difference. It is small, compact and easy to carry.
Mike has over 30 years of fishing experience in carp fishing and general coarse fishing. He is always looking for the latest fishing kit to try out and talk about and needs a bigger shed due to all the fishing tackle he owns. You can read more about him here.