Smallmouth dropshot

[WI_Angler1989]

I have no experience with dropshotting. What hooks and baits do you guys like? I fish a LOT of rivers, can it be effective in current? How about shallower water?

I've also seen a lot of the 3 sinker options but no real pros and cons of the shapes. 

[Turkey sandwich]

I picked up the drop shot this past year, and it's grown on me a lot.  It's a great finesse technique on a medium or medium light fast/extra fast action spinning rod.  Here are the basics to rigging:

 

Hooks - anything from a size 2 - 2/O drop shot (VMC makes one built on a swivel to reduce line twist that I like), circle, or octopus hook.  Certain lures work great on a light wire offset worm hook.  The size of the bait, conditions, rigging preferences, and type of cover determine my hook choice.  

 

Weights - I typically use the cylindrical tungsten weights since they tend to be the most snag free in vegetation, rocks, and current.  Because I fish rocky rivers, I tend to prefer the lightest weight I can get away with and rarely go over 1/4 oz.  If I were on the Great Lakes, or fishing deep ledges, that would probably change.  

 

Lures - you can use almost any soft plastic.  I like Robo worms, but craws, paddle tails, flukes/soft plastic swim baits, grubs, floating worms, etc can all be effective.  Some folks on here also swear by Jackal's Ishad.  

 

Line - high vis braid in 10-20lb run to 5-7' flouro leader, with the weight rigged anywhere from 9-18" below on the same light flouro.  For the flourocarbon, I usually run 6-8lb Sniper or InvisX since they're super limp.  The high vis braid makes line watching easy for dead sticking, slow presentations, and for controlling drift in current (think about how bright fly lines are).

 

Rivers - I've grown to really like this rig in current.  On rivers, I'll almost always keep a tube and a drop shot rigged on my spinning gear.  

[BuffaloBass716]

I tend to stick to 1/0 or smaller offset worm hook with my drop-shots because I fish from the bank and weeds on your hook suck.  With that in mind, I fish very clear water in Lake Erie. 

Line- braid to a flouro leader

Lures- Last year and the year prior it was bright colored roboworms (purples and pinks)

Side note, since I fish from the bank, I cast my drop-shot rig quite a ways to get to deeper water where the smallies tend to be in the late spring and summer, so I use a 1/2oz weight and work it like a carolina rig, twitching in the current.

[Jsinkic]

I use a 7'2" Shimano Cumara (now a 7'2" crucial) medium action extra fast tip. I also use a quantum smoke reel with Stren 100% fluoro 8lb. I was using 10lb because I was worried about breaking off but set your drag right and you will be good, I know guys fishing with 4-6lb and you just have to have your drag get right and be patient when reeling them in.

For bait I use strike king perfect plastic in green pumpkin. For weights I used to use tear drop style but have switched to ball weights, They seem to hang up less for me. For hooks i use a red octopus hook from vmc can't remember size though. I use an invisaswivel for line twist which works great!

[Spankey]

Just a tip for river drop shots in high snag areas (most likely fish holding area) use a premium round split shot crimped on the bottom of your line vs. tied on drop shot weights. Cheaper and easier to deal with the sacrificial split shot when you get hung up. Your rig won't get lost or ruined, pinch on a new one.

[Smallieseeker]

On 1/3/2016 at 1:08 PM, Spankey said:

Just a tip for river drop shots in high snag areas (most likely fish holding area) use a premium round split shot crimped on the bottom of your line vs. tied on drop shot weights. Cheaper and easier to deal with the sacrificial split shot when you get hung up. Your rig won't get lost or ruined, pinch on a new one.

Awesome I fish alot of rip rap on my main water hopefully this saves me a little money!

[CarlF]

And just to add on to what spankey said, you can suspend a craw imitation, or even a tube, right over that rip rap and fish it much slower than a crankbait. I rig my dropshot craws on an EWG hook.

[BigSkyBasser]

The Drop Shot is an awesome presentation to pick up.

My usual setup is deadly for any application and is as follows:

Hooks: #2 Lazer Trokar Drop Shot Hook or VMC Sure Shot Hook

Line: 6-8 pound Seaguar Red Label or Berkely Vanish Flourocarbon

Weights Vary depending on application: My favorite when fishing rivers are 3/16 oz and 1-4 oz pencil weights, they seem to be less prone to snagging rocks but will hang in brush and weeds just as easy.

Reels and rods come down much more to preference but usually a 7' Medium-Medium Light spinning rod is recommended with a smaller reel like a Shimano Stradic CI4+ or a Pflueger President (my goto.)

I don't currently fish with braid to flouro leader but you might want to try it when you get more into drop shotting

Baits: Roboworms are a great goto bait for dropshotting. Strike King dream shot is great. Also experiment with 4" senkos and senko like baits hooked wacky rigged. YOU CAN FISH NEARLY ANYTHING ON A DROPSHOT!

I tie my weight 6-8 inches when drop shotting shallow water (drop shotting is great for bed and structure fishing, just more prone to snags.) Then when fishing in 10 ft of water or more I'll tie my weight 10-14 inches below bait for those ultra finesse presentations.

[Crestliner2008]

Please do yourself a big favor and do a "search" on drop shot fishing here. There's a plethora of knowledgeable information from a lot of great drop shotters here for the taking. You'll be well ahead of the game in no time.