Drop shotting without a fish/depth finder

[Geebo]

Hi all,

I'm new to the drop shot technique and am doing the necessary research to become more familiar in advance of a late August fishing trip. It seems that (almost) everyone uses a depth/fish finder when drop shotting for largemouth, which makes sense to me.  I don't have a depth/fish finder and will be fishing on a 200 acre lake in Connecticut with clear to stained water color quality (no gas powered engines are allowed) and about 80% of water is between 5-8 feet deep, but there's a 3 acre section of the lake that's 20 feet deep. 

Is it worth drop shot fishing without the depth/fish finder? And if so, what do I need to do to be successful?

Thanks!

[PourMyOwn]

Drop shotting can actually tell you quite a bit about the depth/bottom of the lake. I'd go for it. 

 

 

[J Francho]

Absolutely it is.

[Airman4754]

I almost never vertical drop shot so my depth finder is kind of useless. If you're casting then it's a lot like a C-rig. 

[WRB]

Drop shot isn't a good choice to cover unknown water when you don't know what depth to target. I would use a split shot / finesse C-rig, 1/8 oz T-rig and add the drop shot rig if you locate specific spots.

Deep water is relative to the surrounding water depth. If this small lake has a few points or any islands start there.

Tom

 

[Glenn]

I use my depthfinder to locate areas to dropshot in deeper water (15+ feed).  If I'm fishing the bank, then I don't.
Congrats on learning a new technique!  This should help accelerate your learning curve:

 

[J Francho]

6 minutes ago, WRB said:

Drop shot isn't a good choice to cover unknown water when you don't know what depth to target.

Not sure I agree with this statement.  What makes you think it isn't a good choice?  I can't tell you how many nice kicker fish I've caught off the back of the boat in team tournaments dragging this around while the front man was concentrating on some small area..

[WRB]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

Not sure I agree with this statement.  What makes you think it isn't a good choice?  I can't tell you how many nice kicker fish I've caught off the back of the boat in team tournaments dragging this around while the front man was concentrating on some small area..

Try doing that fishing blind without sonar on a lake you never fished. John if you drag a split shot rig you could possibly catch more bass. If a double rig is allowed adding a dropper above the weight on a split shot rig works when dragging.

No reason to agree, bass fishing is more about trial and error than a science.

Tom

 

[J Francho]

10 minutes ago, WRB said:

 John if you drag a split shot rig you could possibly catch more bass.

 

All I'll do on my lakes is catch zebra mussels, and fray the line.  Really, you're just tossing out deeper than guy fishing the shore.  You can feel what is down there pretty well.  I guess maybe my perspective is a little different, since I've been using what we now call a drop shot since I was a kid.  We called the rig "off the bottom."  A split shot rig was called "on the bottom."  Sounds backwards, but we meant where the bait was.  These aren't any kind of official terms, either.  Just how kids talked before the internet was there to show us all this stuff.

[Fish4bigfish]

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Try doing that fishing blind without sonar on a lake you never fished. John if you drag a split shot rig you could possibly catch more bass. If a double rig is allowed adding a dropper above the weight on a split shot rig works when dragging.

No reason to agree, bass fishing is more about trial and error than a science.

Tom

 

I'm so going to do this!!!! A light split shot rig with a drop shot tied 14 inches up. Love it.

[chadmack282]

go for it since the lake isnt very big.  get lake map so u have an idea of where channel intersections & steep drops r then use a little on the hvy side DS weight & go feel those areas out. 

[J Francho]

19 hours ago, WRB said:

No reason to agree, bass fishing is more about trial and error than a science.

BTW, I only point out our disagreement over this, simply out of the respect myself and many have for you.  You're right, not a wrong/right, but maybe/maybe not.  Thanks for understanding.

[WRB]

Quagga or Zebra mussels are a game changer, we currently have very few lakes/rivers with them.

I use mono line when split shot or slip shot rigging as the doesn't drag the bottom like FC does.

Drop shot would be the way to go with mussels that cut the line.

Tom

[blckshirt98]

On 8/2/2016 at 4:04 PM, WRB said:

Quagga or Zebra mussels are a game changer, we currently have very few lakes/rivers with them.

As much as I know how much people hate water vessel inspections out here in Cali I'm pretty thankful for them being so strict., I hope I'm not around the day those things get into our waters.

[NYBasser]

I usually do pretty well dropshotting a 4 inch Jackall Crosstail Shad or Reins Bubbling Shaker around rockpiles and weed edges. If you are fishing in somewhat clear water, it shouldn't be too hard to locate the weed edges. 

[Sam]

I fish banks, wood, brush, trees, pilings, docks, piers, boathouses and shallow water without my electronics on.

I believe the fish can feel the pinging from the side and down scan unit.

So I throw the drop shot without any electronics and have not encountered any problems nor lost confidence in this method.