Dropshot Vs Tubes

[lmbfisherman]

So I was at a local bass club meeting today and the guest speaker was bashing the drop shot.  He says he can out fish anyone with tubes over DS and that DS is a small fish technique.  I was kind of perplexed by this.  So I am pondering do tubes really get bigger fish than the DS?  or is he just going about his personal comfort level?  What do you all think in general?

 

This guy has a very good resume.  He was pretty adamant when one of the members asked him about the DS. 

[gr8outdoorz]

Different people are confident with different techniques. Im sure Aaron Martins might disagree with him.

[Salamander12]

I just started fishing the drop shot 2 weeks ago and since then i fish it 80% of the time. I'm catching more fish using the drop shot than ever before. I use to bring out 5-6 combos when fishing. Now I only bring 2-3 combos because The drop shot is so effective for me I know I won't bother fishing anything else. I think people think the drropshot is a small fish technique because it's easier to catch smaller fish on it compared to a larger bait. But I've been catching plenty of fish in the 3-5lb range on it.

[Crestliner2008]

Both techniques are effective in their time and place. However, I feel sorry for folks that become "one-method Petes".  Fishing can be whatever you want it to be. Presentation diversity separates the good anglers from the no-so-good.

[tomustang]

With speakers like that I would be concerned of your club.

[smalljaw67]

That sounds like Ken Penrod...LOL!!!   I have to wonder if he was talking in terms of fishing fish or using a bait to find fish because I found I do better with a drop shot when we locate fish, it isn't a good search bait but neither is a tube, in fact a tube would be only slightly better and outfishing someone with a drop shot while he uses a tube, that is to make him feel better. My guess would be he can't use it very well and rather than try to learn it he makes himself feel great by dismissing it as a small fish tool, I'm not sure about his credentials.

[Felix77]

Both have their place ... period.

[WIGuide]

I'm assuming he hasn't had good experiences with the DS. Everyone has their preferences and both techniques have their place.

[NathanW]

You certainly can catch a lot of small fish on a drop shot. But ill tell you right now that my largest smallmouth of the season almost always comes from a DS during mid summer behind 30'+ deep rock piles in the current. A tube drifts to much on the fall, I've tried. I would love to take that guy to one of these spots so he could net all of my fish.

 

But I'll also say that my heaviest smallmouth of all time came on a tube before I knew what the drop shot was...

[Mike L]

One of the many reasons I decided to make the roadtrip this year is an opportunity to catch a smallmouth, which I've never done, and to fish a drop shot, which I've never done.

Here in Fla there isnt much opportunity to do either.

Mike

[Arv]

From my experience

Drop shot - many fish

Tubes - 0

I just don't have confidence in tubes, but this is one of the techniques I plan on getting better at this year.

[gobig]

Ive had 30 pound bags with a dropshot and my largest fish on a dropshot is a 10.2 lbs. Its actually the one in my avatar. You tell me if dropshot only catches small fish. I think that's a bunch of crap. I also do not believe that the dropshot is the end all be all but it definitely has a time and place.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Drop-shot is just a terminal rig that can be a hundred different ways. That's like saying a T-rig is for small fish. For that matter you could nose hook or T rig a tube and fish it above a drop shot weight. Location/Depth/Presentation gets you bit.

[lmbfisherman]

Yeah, I disagree with his opinion and think the same thing regarding his comment, I think it's what he has confidence in.  I just couldn't believe he was pretty blatant about it and basically kind of felt like he "scolding" the guy asking the question.  I also was hoping he would be talking about techniques and tips in how he made it to the level he is.  Instead me and another potential new member were like all he is doing is talking about himself.  I don't want to go into specifics as I'm not trying to out/bash the guy personally.  Just was curious on what everyone else thought. 

 

I have more confidence in drop shot than tubes, but I don't usually do the standard setup for tubes..I like to flip/pitch them on a jig.

[kickerfish1]

I don't know what to say about that speaker. I have caught plenty of 4-6 lb brown and green bass fishing standard sized drop short offerings (3.5-4.5 inch baits).

You can always up your hook size and bait size on a drop shot to 'intimidate' smaller fish. But in all reality 10-12 inch bass will still eat both a tube and larger drop shot bait. Sometimes there isn't much to do about smaller fish other than change location or perhaps change something like a bigger jig or swimbait.

Tubes and drop shots are both great presentations. To say one is more effective or consistently capable of only catching bigger fish is foolish. They have their time and place...

[spartyon8]

I can rock a tube but it is also my confidence plastic. Never really liked throwing other stuff because I keep going back to the tube with success. I am planning on making the drop shot a priority to fish this year. Hopefully, but not confidently, it will produce like my tubes do. If I had to make a wager, I would be like your club partner and say I will slay 'em on a tube.

[wnybassman]

Both have their place ... period.

 

 

I was trying to think what to say and that pretty much sums it up.        I have had I disagree handed to me by both and visa-versa.   

[Lucky Craft Man]

So I was at a local bass club meeting today and the guest speaker was bashing the drop shot.  He says he can out fish anyone with tubes over DS and that DS is a small fish technique.  I was kind of perplexed by this.  So I am pondering do tubes really get bigger fish than the DS?  or is he just going about his personal comfort level?  What do you all think in general?

 

This guy has a very good resume.  He was pretty adamant when one of the members asked him about the DS. 

 

Here is a fish my Buddy caught with me last fall using a drop shot (it went 6 lb. 5 oz.).  I guess if he had been using a tube, this would have been an 8 pounder instead.

 

[flippin and pitchin]

The speaker did no service to your club members. Learning and applying the drop shot technique should be a goal of any bass angler. Case in point: I was fishing off the coast for sea bass and Ling cod thirteen years ago. The snag rate was terrible.

I brought some ball weights and large 4/0 worm hooks as an experiment and outfished my buddies 5 to 1, and that was in 60 feet of water in the ocean. Don't limit yourself.

[bassinKS]

ive caught every size fish on both. I was fishing a tube all day on a local lake and caught a ton of fish from 8-14" and a couple that were 18" and one 20" smallmouth. but i have also caught big fish on a drop shot its one of those things you have to weed through the small ones no matter what bait

[bassinKS]

and hell sometimes i drop shot a tube lol

[Grizzn N Bassin]

I use both and catch fish on both. I do not discriminate techniques. They all have there time and,place

[mjseverson24]

if the primary forage is crawfish use a tube, if the primary forage is some kind of bait fish use a dropshot... this is my general guidline... in MN way more lakes have baitfish than crawfish so i typically throw a DS 90% and a tube 10%... tubes are a good flipping bait for largies though...

 

Mitch

[Raul]

So I was at a local bass club meeting today and the guest speaker was bashing the drop shot.  He says he can out fish anyone with tubes over DS and that DS is a small fish technique.  I was kind of perplexed by this.  So I am pondering do tubes really get bigger fish than the DS?  or is he just going about his personal comfort level?  What do you all think in general?

 

This guy has a very good resume.  He was pretty adamant when one of the members asked him about the DS. 

 

Speaker should not speak at all. What a bunch of nonsense.

[McAlpine]

Yeah, I disagree with his opinion and think the same thing regarding his comment, I think it's what he has confidence in.  I just couldn't believe he was pretty blatant about it and basically kind of felt like he "scolding" the guy asking the question.  I also was hoping he would be talking about techniques and tips in how he made it to the level he is.  Instead me and another potential new member were like all he is doing is talking about himself.  I don't want to go into specifics as I'm not trying to out/bash the guy personally.  Just was curious on what everyone else thought. 

 

I have more confidence in drop shot than tubes, but I don't usually do the standard setup for tubes..I like to flip/pitch them on a jig.

 

 

Maybe he's using the drop shot to win tournaments by bagging a quick limit that can be built upon after finding a group of fish and doesn't want anyone else to understand how effective it can be.

 

???