Drop Shot Help

[buzzed bait]

So I'm going to try a drop shot rig for the first time this weekend.  I have absolutely no experience with it whatsoever so I'm looking for some feedback.  I've rigged up a 6'6" medium spinning rod with a swivel shot hook on 10# flouro with about 18inches of line off the bottom connecting the 1/2 oz weight.  For that bottom line connecting to the weight i used 6# flouro in the hopes that if I got hung up it would pop that bottom part off and atleast allow me to get the hook/bait back.  Any advice on this rig and or how to go about fishing it?  I'll be on a very small very old lake with a ton of flooded timber in western north carolina.  what is your preference in terms of worm type, color and method to hook it up (through the nose, wacky, etc.)

thanks for any help you can offer.  i'd like to catch some fish on this drop shot as i hear it can be lethal around this time of year....

[Fishes in trees]

I'm not a big fan of the swivel hooks.  I think that the hook flops around too much and gives you a better chance of getting hook hung on something.  I prefer the Gamakatsu Wicked Wacky hooks.  You tie your standard palomar knot with the long tag end, and then thread the tag end through the tube along the shaft.

It keeps the hook aligned behind the line and with the weed guard on the hook is pretty weedless.  I nose hook baits with this rig.  I generally use a Berkley Crazy Legs chigger craw, but any 4" or so kind of fat craw shape or shad shape bait works for me.

 

While we are on the subject, the rig you got will work.  When I am drop shot fishing around flooded bushes and timber ( which I do ALOT) I will upgrade the gear a little.  I use a 7'5" Kistler heavy flipping/pitching stick, a Curado 50 reel and 20 lb test Seaguar Abrazx line.   I start with a half ounce weight and I'm not afraid to go heavier, just to get down quicker.  The notion with the heavier gear is if I get bit down amongst heavier bushes and timber, my plan is to get that fish up and out of the area asap.  This gear helps me do that.

 

I keep a drop shot rig in my boat that is very similar to what you are using.  I use it more on deeper weed lines and more open, clutter free areas.

 

You can cast or pitch drop shot rigs, just like you would a jig.  In deeper water you can go vertical or semi-vertical.  Don't go crazy trying for casting distance with this rig, you will lose many more rigs if you are consistently throwing more than 30 feet or so.

 

There is a whole lot to drop shot fishing.  To increase the learning curve, commit to it and leave the jigs and Tx rigs at home, or at least in a pile at the back of the boat where it is a pain to get at them.  Good luck.

[ClackerBuzz]

i'd go much lighter on the weight.  1/8 is standard down to 20 ft.  1/4 oz if deeper. i use 1/32 and/or 1/16oz in heavily pressured ponds/lakes. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsTG34mywK0

 

don't over work the bait:

http://www.bassresource.com/mike-iaconelli-fishing/dropshot-tips.html

 

good luck!!!

[Crestliner2008]

What species are you fishing for? Are you fishing in heavy cover or open drop offs & humps? If you are in more open water (like for smallmouths), the rigging you are using will do just fine. However, I'd downsize the main line to 6# or 8# max., myself.....but that's just me.

 

If you are hitting heavy weeds and/or cover, let's say for largemouths, then instead of a regular DS hook, I'd opt for a light wire, regular EWG worm hook and Texpose your plastic on that, as opposed to nose hooking. In this case, I'd probably up-size your line to 20# braid with a 14# test fluoro leader and a 1/2 oz. bottom weight. It's called, "bubba-rigging".

 

You'd do well to look up RichZ's Blog on drop shotting. He's one of the best there is at the game. Good Luck and let us know how you make out.

[buzzed bait]

Thanks for the info guys! 

Crestliner to answer your question i'm targeting largemouths and frankly i do not know the exact depths (rigging up a fishfinder on my kayak at the moment to help with structure/depths) but there is a ton of fallen timber, very old fallen timber and it's very high in elevation in the mountains and i'm certain there's plenty of drop offs

[BobP]

I use 3/16 oz weights, 6 lb test, and  rig the hook 6" above the weight.  The only time I use a longer drop length is over submerged grass beds.  Dropshots are super finessy rigs.  You don't want to add stuff that doesn't have to be there.  Some guys like to add a swivel a couple of feet up the line to prevent line twist.  I don't bother.  You can fish just about anything on a dropshot but the classic is a finesse worm.  I like the 6" Roboworms.

[WRB]

Locate and fish points. Drop shot isn't a search presentation, it's a slow spot technique. Depth the bass are at is essential for a drop shot rig, it determines how deep to fish and how far off the bottom to set the hook from the weight.

You cast and pull the rig along the bottom, however there are better rigging choices if that is your plan The finesse slip shot rig works far better for casting and dragging the weight along the bottom.

Most anglers tend to over fish a drop shot rig; drop the rig to the bottom, take up enough slack so the weight is sitting on the bottom with a few inches of slack line. All you do is lightly bounce the rod tip against the slack line to give the worm a little movement, not a lot of movement.

Nose hook the worm with a swivel type hook or wacky hook the worm is you are missing strikes. Hook setting is a firm rod lift and reel set.

Good luck.

Tom

PS, start with a 3/16 to 1/4 oz weight, little easier to feel with spinning tackle.

[buzzed bait]

One more question, when you're hooking the worms through the nose are you pulling the hook all the way through so that it's fully exposed or do you leave the hook bedded down in the worm?

 

Thanks for the good info guys, sounds like step one may be to downsize my weight.  Step two sounds like get out and try it and adjust from there.  

[J Francho]

I never understood the reason for using light weights.  I use 3/8, 1/2, and 3/4 oz.  This gets the bait down quickly, and keeps it in place.  Lighter weights just bounce around, and if you cast the rig out, it just drifts back at you.

[Mccallister25]

I agree with Francho. I actually prefer a heavier weight when Im drop shotting. No matter how lightly I try to handle my rod with a smaller weight, it just continues to bounce around.

[Felix77]

I went through about 4 different setups before committing to this one.  My setup is a bit different in that I use the braid but avoid the swivel altogether..  I start with 10lb braid.  I add a 8lb test leader using a double uni knot.  From there I add the VMC swivelshot.  about 9 inches below that is the 3/16oz weight up to about 15-18 feet.  After that I go up to 1/4 oz.

 

My new favorite bait is the Yamamoto shad shape worm.  I also love wacky style finesse worms.

 

As someone else mentioned don't over work the bait.  These finesse worms don't need much working on a drop shot.

[Mccallister25]

Anybody hooking their bait wacky style, when using longer worms?

[Felix77]

Anybody hooking their bait wacky style, when using longer worms?

Just posted my comment 2 seconds ago.  I do.  

 

Zoom finesse and trick worms wacky style are deadly.

[WRB]

One more question, when you're hooking the worms through the nose are you pulling the hook all the way through so that it's fully exposed or do you leave the hook bedded down in the worm?

 

Thanks for the good info guys, sounds like step one may be to downsize my weight.  Step two sounds like get out and try it and adjust from there.

Nose hook about 3/16 from the worm nose tip completely through.

Tom

[buzzed bait]

good info guys, i appreciate it

[WRB]

The issue with weights should consider the rod/ reel/ line and size of worm and depth being fished.

3/16 to 1/4 oz works for your tackle and depth you plan to fish. Heavier weight tend to snag easy and deaden any feed back a medium action spinning outfit might offer.

Tom

[J Francho]

Heavier weights do not fall into the cracks and crevices that smaller weights can, and therefore hang up less, in my experience.  Great/Finger Lakes bottom composition probably has more to do with it.  I don't feel any deadening using a 1/2 oz. over a 1/4 oz. weight. Not sure how that would make a difference.  The strength of a drop shot rig is sensitivity, since it's a straight line connection between the hook, and your rod tip - with no weight in between. 

[xbacksideslider]

Also, isn't it similar to why a Texas rig can work better than a jig - the fish doesn't feel it as much at the moment of the bite?