Drop Shot Into Suspended Bait Balls

[epchaz]

I have read a lot about drop shot fishing for bass in and around suspended bait balls, like shad.  I am going to try this on Lake Ouachita in Ark. starting in January for the first time.  I have seen balls of bait at 20 to 30 feet over total water depth of 75 feet and am wondering what bait would be good and how you would rig the drop shot setup.  Any comments and advice would be really helpful

[Senko lover]

Wow, that's a loooong leader!

[cbass12]

Wow, that's a loooong leader!

Just because the fish are suspended that high doesn't mean your weight has to be on the bottom. We catch fish at TR in the summer with nothing more than 18" of leader. You basically pitch the rig out and let it swing back to the boat.

[roadwarrior]

Drop shot is not the ticket for the situation you describe. Better alternatives are flutter spoons for vertical jigging,

deep diving crankbaits and the Alabama Rig. There is a VERY good chance you may find stripers hunting those

shad. In January of 2008 (?) I caught my PB striper on Beaver Lake. 

 

 

 

 

[cbass12]

I have read a lot about drop shot fishing for bass in and around suspended bait balls, like shad.  I am going to try this on Lake Ouachita in Ark. starting in January for the first time.  I have seen balls of bait at 20 to 30 feet over total water depth of 75 feet and am wondering what bait would be good and how you would rig the drop shot setup.  Any comments and advice would be really helpful

Berkley twitchtail minnows work well or a 3" power minnow.

[Montanaro]

There are better options. But counting the bait down and swinging it back to boat woukd work

[IneedAnewScreenName-33442]

The pegelium drop shot is a great teqnique to use with suspending fish. But many prefer vertical fishing the fish with their graph. This seems to pinpoint the school a little better.  Use the drop shot with a Robo worm in various colors but don't rule out the morning dawn color it has worked everywhere. Also Yamamoto cut tail worm and the Shad shape worm are also killers.  Hope this helps. You can find them on our site SFTtackle.com 

[WRB]

Soft plastics;

1/8 oz Darthead jig with 4 1/2 to 6" finesse worms in Shad colors. GYC California Roll 5" worm is the current hot bait. Cast count down and retreive.

stacking 2 drop shot worms about 8" apart with 3/16 oz weight about 6" below the lower hook works for suspended bass. Vertical drop.

A-rigs with 3 1/2 to 4 1/2" swimmers. Cast and retreive.

Hard lures;

Structure spoons, 1/2 to 1 oz in chrome or Shad colors. Vertical drop.

If the bait is up a jerk bait works good. Cast and retreive.

Tom