Braid On Dropshot

[dreamertino]

Does anyone do it? I kno a dropshot is a finesse technique will the braid affect the presentation. I was thinking of using a leader mabey 5 or 6' or longer if need be. My reason for this is I keep losing fish and I was thinking the braid will help my hookup to land ratio

[BenB54]

I haven't had any problems getting bit using braid with a fluoro leader.

[Felix77]

I dabbled with both braid/fluoro last year and straight FC.

 

I found that I felt more with the braid/fluoro leader.  That probably resulted in a better feel and thus catches.

 

IMO it doesn't impact the presentation at all unless your leader is too short.  I put a leader on the length of the rod and then tie my drop shot at the end of the FC leader.

 

My base setup is 3/16oz weight 7 inches below the #1 VMC spinshot.

 

Leader tied with a double uni.

[dreamertino]

Felix how long was your leader

[Smallmouth Hunter]

Use a 6' or 7' leader. I like my leader to be in between the last and the second to last guides (when in use, so when there is a foot or so hanging of the rod tip). If it is past (reel side of) the last guide (guide closest to reel), I find that the leader knot hits the guide and that takes away from the distance a bit.

[dreamertino]

And im tying the rig with my leader line right

[Felix77]

Felix how long was your leader

 

Basically the same that aprw1 just said.  

 

For consistency I tie the leader on and reel the uni-uni knot to the end of the tip (top guide).  I cut the line between the last guide and the reel.  Then I tie my drop shot.

[Felix77]

And im tying the rig with my leader line right

 

Absolutely.

[Loop_Dad]

Does anyone do it? I kno a dropshot is a finesse technique will the braid affect the presentation. I was thinking of using a leader mabey 5 or 6' or longer if need be. My reason for this is I keep losing fish and I was thinking the braid will help my hookup to land ratio

 

How are you loosing fish?

[dreamertino]

Im losing them during the fight

[Felix77]

What kind of hook and lure are you using?

[RandySBreth]

They way lots of guys on Table Rock here do it is the thinnest braid (or fused like NanoFil) you feel comfortable with, then a small swivel, then your fluoro leader. Tie the hook about 3 or 4 feet below the swivel so you can reel it up to the tip-top guide and still land fish.

[Loop_Dad]

Im losing them during the fight

 

Ok, so you are not going after the braid's sensitivity of the strikes then.

 

Do they just come off from the hook, or your line break? Maybe you need different hook than line.

[dreamertino]

I thought I was getting a positive hooksest. The hooks I am using are owner mosquito hooks. The reason I thought I needed braid was the lack of stretch. Both fish bit at the end of a long cast in deep water. I was also looking for the sensitivity, the one I lost today was a nothing bite. I mean the first time I have ever had a bite that light. I felt the weight and said its either a bush or a fish, what the heck. Stet the hook and felt the head shake was on for 5-10 seconds then gone.

[bflp3]

How are you setting the hook? I know a lot of people recommend just lifting the rod and reeling with the circle hooks, but I found with that technique I lost a lot of fish as you describe. I get great hookups with a short, quick, sharp hookset. Almost like a little pop on the line.

[dreamertino]

I drop through rod tip mabey 6" then I lift and step backwards all in one motion and start reeling

[bflp3]

I drop through rod tip mabey 6" then I lift and step backwards all in one motion and start reeling

Yeah, maybe try giving it a little more pop. 

 

I was having the exact same issue you describe when I was first learning dropshotting, and I believe two things helped a lot. First, as I described, giving it a little harder hook set. Don't give it a full texas rig or jig style hook set, but a good flick of the wrist to give the hook a good pop. I found the lift method just didn't get as solid of a hookup as I wanted.

 

The other issue I found was reel speed. When I first started, I was using a 6X35 sized Pflueger President. This reel takes in about 25" per turn, and has a fairly long handle. I found a lot of times, when I would get a bite in deeper water(For me, deeper is 10'-15'), the fish would often immediately charge to the surface for a jump. At those depths, I had some trouble occasionally reeling fast enough to keep up with the charging fish. This would leave some slack in the line and the hook was prone to fall out. I switched to a 2500 sized Shimano Symetre, which has a shorter handle and pulls in 35" per turn, and pretty much eliminated that problem.

[Felix77]

I use one of 2 hooks ... the VMC Spinshot size #1 or the Gamakatsu split shot/drop shot hook.  Same size.

 

Never had problems with those.

 

Maybe consider trying those along with the suggestions bflp3 mentioned.  

[flyfisher]

are you tying the hook so the orientation is upwards?  I am by no means a drop shot expert but i know this made a difference for me.  I will also echo that with braid a big hook set isn't necessary and a wrist pop usually does the trick assuming you reeled in the slack.

[dreamertino]

Yes I tie it so its facing upwards it may be the hookset ill try it out.

[BasstotheBone]

They way lots of guys on Table Rock here do it is the thinnest braid (or fused like NanoFil) you feel comfortable with, then a small swivel, then your fluoro leader. Tie the hook about 3 or 4 feet below the swivel so you can reel it up to the tip-top guide and still land fish.

Be careful if you use a swivel…..many anglers I know who use this set up end up nocking the ceramics out of their top guide.  I would suggest tying the double uni to tie braid to fluorocarbon leader.

[Bk4]

I use braid with a leader to drop shot and it never failed me. Also I do feel more bites and the bottom more using braid and leader compare to using straight fluro.

[lmbfisherman]

It sounds like the hook set, by no means though am I "an expert".  I usually just do a quick lift/pop, from what I'm understanding on how you are setting the hook.  (I drop through rod tip maybe 6")  Maybe this is too much slack when you do the hook set?  I usually don't drop the tip, when I feel something I just lift/pop. 

[Felix77]

Be careful if you use a swivel…..many anglers I know who use this set up end up nocking the ceramics out of their top guide.  I would suggest tying the double uni to tie braid to fluorocarbon leader.

 

This happened to a friend of mine.  I switched to a Double Uni knot for the leader as a result.

[ww2farmer]

I use braid as my main line for dropshotting 100% of the time............BUT, I also use a fluorocarbon leader mated to the braid with the Alberto knot 100% of the time as well. No problems/issues for me. When I first started using the leaders, it was not because of line visability, it was because of how limp the braid was, and the stiffer fluoro made the hook "stand out/up" better. IDK if it matters, but it mattered to me, so that's why I did/do it.