Drop Shot Bait

[OroBass]

I'd like to start learning this technique. My question is what requirements should a good drop shot bait have? Should the bait be small, float, or have a strait tail?

[Raul]

I'd like to start learning this technique. My question is what requirements should a good drop shot bait have? Should the bait be small, float, or have a strait tail?

None of them, I dropshot wacky rigged stickbaits ( senkos ) maybe half of the times.

[OroBass]

And the other half?

[Raul]

And the other half?

7.5 inch ribbontail worms, 6 inch curly tail worms, 8 inch Mann's Augertail worms.

[Jrob78]

The bait should match the situation.  If you are needing a finesse approach then the bait should be small and subtle.  I like Roboworms, Shad Shape Worms, Finesse Worms, Zoom Meatheads, Alive Shad...etc.  

You can also use full size craw baits, large worms, Brush Hogs, Magnum Flukes, large wacky rigged Senkos, Beavers, pretty much any soft plastic can work.  

Real Prey Swimbaits even makes a 7.5" 2.75 oz carp swimbait that is meant to be drop shot, (shotted?)   My point is that you don't have to limit yourself to only drop shotting finesse baits.

[OroBass]

Great! So the bait doest need to float up above the weight?

[Jrob78]

The bait doesn't have to float because it's suspended above the weight on the hook.  When you move your rod it will move the bait and give it action.  You will have to adjust the weight based on the line size and the bait size but the same principle applies when you use bigger baits.

[kickerfish1]

The bait does not have to have any floating characteristics. The way a drop shot rig is set up will allow any bait to appear to suspend in the water column.

 

I prefer baits that are finesse oriented that have life like movement when worked slow or even at rest. My top producers after trying dozens of baits are the following:

 

Jackal I Shad

Jackal cross tail shad

Roboworm FX sculpin

Roboworm 6 inch and 4 inch straight tail worm

Keitech Sexy Impact

Jackall Flick Shake rigged wacky style

Strike King Dream Shot

[Bluebasser86]

I like the Zoom Meathead for dropshotting. 

[gobig]

I think your the only person in Oroville that doesn't throw a dropshot.   You can dropshot anything from swimbaits to plastics. 

[BuckMaxx]

Don't discount the small "crappie size" shad or minnow baits in the heat of the summer.  Its a finesse tactic for me so I typically run small baits. Wih the exception of senkos. Which I also do a lot of.

[Zach Dunham]

I love drop shotting flukes of all sizes. And dreamshots!

[Felix77]

Check out Flukemstrs videos on the subject. As for baits to start keep it simple and pick one shad shaped and one finesse worm in green pumpkin and go nuts. I am partial to the Shad Shaped worm and Zoom finesse.

[Comfortably Numb]

3" Havoc sick Fish

[Raul]

Great! So the bait doest need to float up above the weight?

 

Nope.

 

Dropshot is the dropshot RIG, one of the many ways a bait can be rigged to present it in a certain manner, that´s it, nowhere says it should be done with this gear or that gear, this bait or that bait, this line or that line.

 

In my everyday lake it would be stupid to dropshot with less than 10 lb test, with less than MH rods and with an exposed teeny tiny hook.

[MikeinFresno]

Ive dropped live crawdads too, they work great

[BiteFiend]

In actuality I suppose just about any soft plastic could be used on a drop shot but if I am going to fish a drop shot, then I am doing so for the finesse qualities of the rig which for me mean light line, light weight, small hooks, small bait. If I am fishing a DS, it's because the bigger baits haven't worked or because conditions warranted it.

Straight tail Roboworms are tough to beat on a DS IMHO, both in 4.5 and 6 inch. They have a somewhat unique quiver to them and dead stick really well. The Dreamshot and Zoom finesse worm are good too. The Zoom worm has a lot of salt though, so I usually work it more than the others so it doesn't hang down on the hook.

[hatrix]

3" Havoc sick Fish

So good. I don't know about on a dropshot but just as a swimbait. They are super cheap also.

[gulfcaptain]

I think your the only person in Oroville that doesn't throw a dropshot.   You can dropshot anything from swimbaits to plastics. 

I thought that's how everyone fished Oroville that way too.

[Hattrick7]

I'd start off with some straight tailed Roboworms. But really it's like what plastics can you not rig on a trig kinda question. Possibilities are limited to your imagination.