Light Wire Hooks For Dropshot

[LxVE Bassin]

I hooked into a 3.7 pounder while drop shotting and it bent my light wire hook. I was using a roboworm rebarb hook in 1/0. My main line was 15# braid with a 10# flouro so I’m not sure if the line contributed or if it is just common for light wire hooks to bend on a decent fish. Would switching to medium wire hinder the action of the bait or would it work just as well? I hate re-tying contantly and was also wondering if there are any similar straight shank light wire hooks with keepers that have great strength.

[Darren.]

I don't think it's too common unless perhaps the drag

was too tight. I usually go a little lighter for drop shot

line-wise, down to 6# leader on 10 or 15# braid.

 

I like to keep my drag a little loose, too.

 

Caught a 5#er on drop the other week.

 

As for light wire hooks, my fave are Gammy Split shot/drop.

[J Francho]

If you are bending hooks, the drag is set too high for the hooks you used.

 

I used light wire, #4 size Split/Drop Shot hooks from Gamakatsu for this fish:

 

 

 

[SJex]

Casting or spinning gear? Did you boat flip the fish? I also use Gammy hooks (#2) and have caught 30+ fish on the same hook and have not had this happen. Maybe to hard a hookset or not enough drag.

[LxVE Bassin]

3 minutes ago, SJex said:

Casting or spinning gear? Did you boat flip the fish? I also use Gammy hooks (#2) and have caught 30+ fish on the same hook and have not had this happen. Maybe to hard a hookset or not enough drag.

I was using spinning gear. The fish was pulling drag but it def wasn’t loose so maybe I can loosen it up more. I didn’t boat flip it and I did a reel set, when I swing I usually pull the bait out of the fish’s mouth.

[Angry John]

I use the mustdad grip pin edge hooks for weedless dropshot.  Don't know how they compare.

[WRB]

Roboworm rebarb hooks come in 3 Gamakatsu hook types; medium wire O'Shawnesse, light wire O'Shawnesse and light wire Aberdeen. Which rebarb are you using? Did you bend the hook removing it?

I use Owner 5133 size 1/0 light wire hook for weedless drop shot with Roboworms.

Tom

[TOXIC]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

If you are bending hooks, the drag is set too high for the hooks you used.

 

I used light wire, #4 size Split/Drop Shot hooks from Gamakatsu for this fish:

 

 

 

Exactly....It's easy to forget to match your gear settings to the fish.  No different that adjusting your hookset to your gear.  I use a #1 Gamakatsu EWG hook and Texas rig my Dropshot baits.  If I did my normal hookset, I would tear the hook right out of their mouth!!  Here's a 4+ off my dropshot setup and 6lb line.

 

[J Francho]

Beaut!

[TOXIC]

That's from last week on St Clair.  And everybody knows what a big smalljaw does when she sees the boat!!  ?

[Sam]

Go down on line test and don't tighten your drag as tight as you normally do.

 

Have rod with soft tip.

 

I like to use 8 pound Gamma fluorocarbon for drop shotting.

 

I use a 7-foot medium heavy fast action tip spinning rod from G. Loomis.

 

I add a Shimano Sahara 2000 as the spinning reel.

 

I also use the Roboworm 1/0 hooks if not a smaller #1 circle hook.

 

I will also use a weedless 1/0 if there is a lot of grass or pads around.

 

I just lift up the rod when I get bit.

 

So scale down on your line test. Braid is very unforgiving with no stretch and you are bending the hook when you set the hook or get into a good fight.

[LCG]

I usually use 10lb braid to 6-8lb leader and a #1 vmc drop shot hook. Never bent one out yet. Caught bass up to 5lbs no issues. Drag set loose. 

[FishDewd]

Perhaps you got caught momentarily on something that bent the hook? Or I suppose too much drag could also do that as others have suggested.. still, the only time I have ever bent a hook out has been from hooking into a log or some other snag where I had to get rough to dislodge it. For the record, I use spin shot hooks from VMC almost exclusively now for dropshotting. It eliminates the need for a swivel or leader and I find the hook-ups are far better. I slay sunfish on that rig and I've gotten a few bass on it too with a wacky rigged finesse worm.

[OkobojiEagle]

Learn to backreel...

 

oe

[Brad in Texas]

All of the above, solid advice.

 

There is a professional fishing guide, Capt. Chris Myers, who has published a series of videos on proper spinning gear usage. YouTube . . . and really worth the small amount of time it takes to watch them.

 

The main take-away is knowing that a flexed spinning rod with a properly set reel drag fights the fish, the reel just reels down on the line at appropriate times. Well, unless you can master back-reeling where the reel is used more in a game of Chess with the fish.

 

10/8 or 10/6 most often puts one in the proper frame of mind that they simply can't pull too hard on finesse lines and hooks . . . you'll develop a subconscious fear of your line snapping. My PB this past April came on 10/8 and I reeled her in (10.4 lbs.) with another 2 lbs. of "salad." To say I was focused on managing line tension would be an understatement.

 

I've tried all of the drop shot hooks, like many of them. None have been even close to as effective in terms of hook up ratios as the Rebarb hooks. I have an order coming right now where I replenished my stock of the smaller light wire hooks (1/0s and 1s) and I added a few packs of 3/0s and 4/0s with the heavier wire to give them a go for "Bubba shots."

 

Brad

 

 

[Quarry Man]

you are likely reeling too hard/have the drag to tight. you can avoid this by loosening your drag, using 6 lb flora and 10-15 lb braid, and not reeling as hard when you have a fish. just remember to set the drag so that the rod barely loads fully before line comes out. this will ensure that your drag isn't too tight or too loose. also, keep the rod mostly loaded or bent when fighting the fish. don't horse it in because you are using light line. on the other hand, you don't want to keep the drag too loose because the fish will throw the hook. 

 

Everybody has their favorite hook when it comes to drop shooting. i like to use a 1/0 ewg in cover or grass especially when i am fishing a worm. this keeps it from getting snagged. In very clear water, i downsize my hook to make the fish less finicky and more likely to bite. some say that smaller hooks make for better action in the bait. although i don't know this to be 100% true, it seems to make sense. think "use the smallest hook i can get away with without loosing fish. there needs to be enough room for the hook to enter the fish, and big plastics will close the gap of the hook making it harder to hook them. when a fish bites, i just raise the rod even more and start reeling. this will cause the hook to lodge itself in the roof of the bass's mouth and it will hook almost every time. I fish a drop shot in open water by casting as far as i can and letting the bait sink to the bottom. once the tungsten weight hits the ground, i reel straight in until all of the slack in the line is gone. from there is slowly drag the bait towards me in a line by lifting the rod straight up. i do this with out reeling. once i get to the 11/12 o'clock position i reel down until i am at a 30* angle from the water. all the while i keep the line fairly taught. repeat.

[WRB]

If you are casting and dragging a drop shot rig you should try a slip shot rig. 

Tom

[Angry John]

On 6/1/2018 at 1:52 PM, WRB said:

Roboworm rebarb hooks come in 3 Gamakatsu hook types; medium wire O'Shawnesse, light wire O'Shawnesse and light wire Aberdeen. Which rebarb are you using? Did you bend the hook removing it?

I use Owner 5133 size 1/0 light wire hook for weedless drop shot with Roboworms.

Tom

I always appreciate howhat exact your hook choice is.  Keeps the guess work to a minimum