radiozephyr

It sounds like when you work the bait, you don't do any large lift and drop movements. You basically keep the bait at such a depth where there's one inch of slack in the line and wiggle it around?

I'm definitely going to start keeping tension in the line when the bait is on its initial fall. But, some slack is inevitably going to occur when you drop the rod tip, provided the weight stays on the bottom. I think the main issue is that I'm leaving the slack for too long without feeling for a fish, or leaving too much slack and being unable to feel a fish. Thanks for the reply!

It sounds like you pretty much keep as little slack in the line as possible throughout the whole process. I'll give this a try! Thank you I really like the Gamakatsu drop shot hooks. I don't even really "set" the hook with them, I just kinda sweep the rod to one side when I feel a fish. I think the main issue is that I'm not feeling the fish early enough. Both. But in pretty much all cases, I cast the rig out, typically pretty far. I've never tried vertically jigging right beneath the boat, mainly because I dunno how to efficiently locate deep structure and don't have a fish finder.

I think you may be spot on with this. I typically lift, drop, lift, drop, wait wait wait, repeat. I think I'll try lift, drop, lift, drop, lift and feel on a tight line. Thanks brotha! I just learned about this technique and I've seen a couple videos on how its done. I'll definitely give it a try next time! Are barbless hooks a must for it to work well?

Hello and thanks for clicking on this. I've recently found a post for this very topic (posted back in 2013), but the thread didn't have near the detail I was hoping for. So that's why I'm here. I've gut hooked three of my last five catches, which means I must be doing something wrong. Two of them swallowed the hook point deep and I was not able to remove it. Those fish were bleeding quite a bit ? Based on the aforementioned thread, I'm guessing it's a bite detection issue. On all three of these fish, I didn't realize I had a fish until I started reeling to make my next cast. Here's how I'm working the rig: Cast out, let the weight and worm fall on slack line, close the bail and deadstick for about 15 seconds. Then, after reeling in a tiny bit of slack (if any at all), gently lift the rod tip to remove most of the slack. Set the rod tip back down, gently lift again, down again. I'll keep doing this, periodically deadsticking, until I'm confident there's no fish in that spot. All of this lifting and dropping occurs on a slack or slightly slack line. The first 7 or 8 fish I caught on the drop shot were all perfect hook sets, right in the lip. With those fish, I was lifting the rod tip far enough to remove all of the slack, sometimes even lifting the weight off the bottom just a tad. But, I noticed I was catching more fish by leaving some slack in the line. I think it makes for a more natural presentation. So I guess my question is: How much slack should I be leaving in the line when I'm working this rig?? My setup is: Spinning reel spooled with straight braid on a medium power, fast action rod. Size 1 or 1/0 Gamakatsu drop shot hook. 5" Zoom worm, nose hooked. 1/8 or 1/4 oz cylinder weight. Final note: I've only been fishing for about 4 months. I've tried Texas rigs, Carolina rigs, shaky heads, weightless plastics, pig and jigs, various crank baits, spinner baits, buzz baits, topwaters (frogs, poppers, jointed minnows, etc)... The ONLY rig I've landed fish on is the drop shot. It seems that every beginner has that one rig that works for them, and this one is mine. I really don't want to abandon it. I do however plan on switching to barbless hooks and learning the behind-the-gill hook removal technique. Thank you all for taking the time to read this very long post. Any feedback at all is greatly appreciated!