The last bait he chooses is a punching combination: a Delta Lures Punch Skirt over a Missile D-Bomb rigged on an 3/0 Owner Jungle Hook. “You can punch it with any sized weight you want,” he said. “I use the lightest weight I can get away with. If you’re punching something that’s not too thick — maybe some duckseed — you might can go with a 1/2-ounce; with lilies you might get away with a 1-ounce. Just go with the lightest weight you can get by with.”
He pegs his weight to ensure the lure breaks through the salad. “I use two stoppers,” Latuso said. “One peg slips on you, but with two it ain’t going nowhere.”
The punching skirt helps give some heft to the bait profile. “Sometimes they want a bulkier profile, especially earlier in the year around the spawn,” he said. “You get bigger bites. Sometimes they want something big to eat.”