What's This New Rig Called The Drop Shot?

[Todd2]

Ok, I haven't been asleep for the last decade...but I've never really thrown one. Maybe a time or two but I know I've never caught a fish on one. So I've been reading up the last few weeks and since I'm looking at almost a foot of fresh snow on my deck I thought I'd ask. What weights, leader length, and most importantly retrieves work best for you guys when fishing in horizontally? Thanks...

[Fishes in trees]

In the articles section, there are several that describe a drop shot set-up.  No need to re-write the stuff, just go there and read that stuff for background information.  Be mindful that drop shot is just another presentation and can be used with nearly any rod & reel combo.  You get to choose if what you got will work for you or if you need to bust out some cash for another rig.

 

Me, I keep a couple rigged and ready every time I go out.  There is the "bubba" set up, with a flipping stick, bait casting reel and 20 lb line that I use when I'm fishing around gnarly cover (wood, thick vegetation, sunken thorn bushes, etc)  I generally use half ounce weights for this rig, mostly because that is what is readily available where I live.  If 3/4 oz drop shot weights were readily available, I'd use those.

 

I always have a somewhat lighter spinning rig ready to go.   Currently it is a 7' Medium/tending toward MH rod with an extra fast tip.  Other guys like a more flexible tip for drop shot fishing.  You got to experiment to figure out what you like.   I generally use a 10 lb braid/fluorocarbon leader set up.  More often than not, I will use lighter weights, mostly dependent on how deep i want to fish and how much wind there is that day.

[A-Jay]

Once you learn how to do it , and it's actually a fairly short learning curve, you'll be adding a technique that can save your day more than once.

 

I've had days smallmouth fishing when using a drop shot was like using Live Bait.

 

I don't fish it every trip, but during day time trips in summer especially, I almost always have one rigged up.

 

A-Jay

[eyedabassman]

The nice thing about the drop shot is it can be fished all year!

[Sam]

Todd, welcome to the world of finesse fishing with the drop shot.

You will learn to love it.

 

Check out the BassResource videos on YouTube plus anything on the drop shot.

 

Just remember the secrets of fishing a drop shot:

1  It is a finesse bait. Best thrown on spinning rigs.

2. Use the lightest line you can, with the understanding that the line will twist and you may have to change out spools or reels while fishing.

3. Let the current move the bait. You just hold the rig in your hand, moving it so slightly very few times, making sure the bait is off the bottom.

4. Robo Worms. Check out Robo Worms. Great drop shot baits but any plastic will work.

5. Drop the rig straight down or cast it out. Use it to keep bait off sloppy bottom. Throw it into structure or open water.

6. Secret to a drop shot is patience. Be patient. None of this "cast and move fast" stuff with a drop shot.

7. When setting the hook, just lift the rod tip.

 

Now the guys will go into rods, reels, line, weights and baits. All of the info is critical to learn and understand. So read all the posts; search "drop shot" in the upper right hand corner of the Forum page; search out the YouTube productions; and sooner or later you will be a master drop shotter.

 

Good luck and have some fun this summer with the drop shot.

[ColdSVT]

Learn it, love it, become it!

While it isnt mt favorite way to fish it is very productive and it has saved me more than a few times

[gunsmoke]

It's really nothing new. People have been fishing for Fluke that way for the last 30 years or so it just took awhile for some of the freshwater bass fishermen to hone in on it. It's all in the marketing friends.

[Penguino]

Don't you need a boat to fish a dropshot? Because its a vertical presentation?

[ib_of_the_damned]

Don't you need a boat to fish a dropshot? Because its a vertical presentation?

Not at all. I bank fish city park lakes and the drop shot is a very effective presentation for the high pressured city park lakes.

[thomas15]

Todd2

 

This winter I decided to find out about methods that I don't really know and drop shot is one of them. I did exactly what others here said, read articles on this forum and watched youtube vids. I intend to drop shot this year. I have the specialized hooks and sinkers in my box and I think it will be easy to implement. Can't wait to try it actually.

[RB 77]

In my opinion, it is the most productive technique out here in the clear western reservoirs. I became so reliant upon it I sold the reel off my drop shot rod to stop using it as a crutch! Haha. I still kept the rod; it was to sweet too get rid of! I still do drop shot, just not quite as much which is good and bad. The drop shot does catch big fish. It can also lose them as well on that light line. It will definitely put some numbers in the boat and get a skunk off the boat. Sam posted quite a bit of good info and like others said it's not just a vertical presentation, it's just my favorite vertical presentation.

 

As far as weights go I like the ball and pencil style. 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 oz.  are all I use. Anything lighter or heavier usually calls for a different technique. Leader length varies between 6" to about 18" give or take. It varies mostly due to bottom composition. As far as the retrieve goes, less is more for me. In all seriousness this technique might be the biggest test of patience for me in all of bass fishing. I will literally sit there and test myself on just how long I can go without moving it! Believe me, everything going on underneath in the lake is more than enough to impart action on a bait.

[ccummins]

Nothing really new about it.  Kind of like a rig that is used a lot for walleyes.  I like to use it to get in real close to banks in canals here in south Florida.

[ccummins]

Not at all. I bank fish city park lakes and the drop shot is a very effective presentation for the high pressured city park lakes.

 I like to use it to get in real close to banks in canals here in south Florida.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Not at all. I bank fish city park lakes and the drop shot is a very effective presentation for the high pressured city park lakes.

Just lengthen the leader to account for the angle of the line and keep the bait up off the bottom. 

[WIGuide]

Don't you need a boat to fish a dropshot? Because its a vertical presentation?

Not at all. I actually cast it about 90% of the time I fish it.

 

As far as weights go, generally I'll use anything from 1/4 to 1/2. Leader length will depend on time of the year and or fish position. If you know they are suspended a few feet off the bottom, I'll opt for a longer leader to keep the bait at or above the level of the fish. If they're right on the bottom, I'll use a shorter leader. The most productive retrieve for me is very slowly. A lot of times I'll cast it out, let it sink, and tighten the slack up a bit until I can just barely feel the weight. I'll shake it subtly. If I don't get bit, I'll slowly drag it a little bit and repeat. You can also give it some slack to let the bait fall back down towards the bottom. Once you get the hang of it, you'll soon find out how productive it can be!  

[Todd2]

A lot of good stuff. Thanks...can't wait to get out and try it.

[ib_of_the_damned]

A lot of good stuff. Thanks...can't wait to get out and try it.

Go grab some Roboworms and have at it!

[Master Bait'r]

Go grab some Roboworms and have at it!

Don't forget the bento minnows and hudd bugs! Seriously. Mix it up. Have some fun. They're down there, man. I swear.

[Bass2124]

I started drop shotting a year ago and it quickly became my favorite go to method when the fishing got tough and eventually became my favorite method all together.  I always caught fish when nothing else worked.  My most effective setup was a 3' 8lb Red Label flouro leader with a VMC spin shot and a 3/16 oz VMC tungsten cylinder drop shot weight.  I'd tie on about a 16" leader from the spin shot to the drop shot weight.  The spin shots are absolutely awesome as you will have no line twist and they are very sharp hooks.  They do dull quickly but they are inexpensive so I changed them virtually after every trip.  For bait nothing worked better for me than 4 1/2-6"zoom trick worms in green pumpkin.  They worked everywhere I fished.   If you ever watch Aaron Martens he always is drop shotting or reverts back to it in every bass fishing episode you see him on.  It just flat out works all year long!

[Todd2]

Ok, finally got the boat out this evening and only had about 2 hours after work. I went to a little trolling motor only lake close to my house. My goal...catch my first drop shot fish. I went to the dam area where I usually do good on other stuff. I tried to force feed them a drop shot worm for about an hour and half before I gave up and picked up my jig rod. It took all of one cast to hook up with a nice one and backed it up with two more smaller ones. This is in the same spot I had wore out with the drop shot. So...either I don't know how to fish a drop shot (very likely) or you can't force feed bass something they don't want even if it is a drop shot. Looking forward to getting back out and trying again.

[Felix77]

Those two videos helped me begin my quest with the drop shot.  In practice however you need to make sure you have solid contact with the bottom IMO.  Aaron talks about using a 1/8oz weight.  For me and my setup I find that I barely feel a thing using 1/8oz unless I am very shallow.  For that I use something like a mojo rig or wacky senko.  

 

Last year was a solid breakthrough for me when I began adding more weight more often.  Once I could truly feel bottom the game changed for me.  It's one of my favorites now.

[The Fisher]

I fish from the bank and never fished drop shot before now. Thanks to some good advice from a thread I posted recently I caught my first bass on a drop shot with a roboworm. Caught a trolling male off a spawn bed yesterday too. Drop shot has been added to my arsenal.

[J Francho]

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/dropshot-bedding-bass.html

[96ecss]

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/dropshot-bedding-bass.html

Great article.

 

Say, who is this John Franchot guy? lol

 

Dave

[reason162]

I'll be trying out some saltwater dropshotting this season, and I'm wondering if weight really matters. One of the advantages of a DS rig, imo, is that you can present a finesse bait regardless of how heavy your weight is. You could tie a dumbbell to the end of your line and that 4" shad is going to twitch just the same.  

 

Am I wrong in my assumption?