Drop Shot hook setup?

[Otter17]

There are the normal drop shot hooks and then i see there are those spinning hooks, sometimes called spin shot hooks or gama's swivel shot.

 

Ive never drop shotted before but want to start. Do you guys feel its much better to go with the swivel type hooks, or not really needed?

 

Thankyou very much and have a good one all!

[Eric~]

All I’ve ever used were the normal drop shot hooks and I’ve always had success. I would say those other kinds aren’t needed.

[MN Fisher]

I use the VMC Spin-shots and Gammy Swivel Shot hooks. Not needed for sure, but I sure like using them.

[ww2farmer]

I used Gamakatsu split shot/drop shot hooks for years. Great hook, no compliants.

 

Then I used the VMC spin shots for a while, several years in fact. They are a neat and good idea, but they just don't hold up well for me on better than average fish. The little wire "swivels" can, will, and do bend or break, often at the most unfortunate of times. And the points on the hooks are very prone to rolling over and getting dull. It seems like when they first came out I had ZERO issues with durability with them, then it was batch after batch after batch of problem hooks. And nothing else in my rotation changed...same line, same rod, same...well, everything (7' ML or M spinning rods, 10lb braid, 6 or 8lb flourocarbon leaders, and a properly set drag).  I catch a lot of 3-5lb fish dropshotting every year, and those hooks after a tussle with anything in that size range were getting mangled. I gave up on them. Which is a shame, as they DO reduce line twist, and they have IMHO the most unobtrusive "swivel" of these style hooks.

 

I'm back to using the Gamakatsu now for the last season and a half, and am just going to keep using them. Line twist issues, for me are not a huge P.I.T.A. with a braid to leader set up to begin with. I don't need to mess around with a hook I lost confidence in. When I do get a little bit of twist, I just cut my old leader off, troll my braid behind the boat for a minute, and re-rig, and it's usually good for several outings before I need to monkey with it again.

[Way north bass guy]

I started out using the spin shot hooks, but found I was getting the dropper line tangled up in the swivel part of the hook quite a bit, especially when I was fighting a smallmouth. I changed to Gamakatsu Split shot/drop shot hooks, which don't have a swivel attached, and I’ve had almost no tangles at all now. They’re great hooks and I don’t lose many smallmouth, from little guys up to 6lbs, they hold well. 

[Michigander]

I like them because of the reduced line twists; I'm not a great drop shot angler though. I think I had better hookups with the Owner Mosquito hook though, which doesn't have a swivel. Guess there's something to be said for having less hardware in front of the fish's face.

[Glenn]

 

[Bluebasser86]

The spin shot hooks a neat concept but a pain to deal with. I've found a much better hookup ratio with the Owner cover shot hooks than any other hook I've tried.

[JustJames]

If you use braid main line, spin shot hook is a NO NO. The soft and floating braid can tangle up swivel part easily. If you don’t fish very deep water and hook plastic straight, I don’t see the need of swivel. I use Gamakatsu Finesse wise gap hook but most of the time Gamakatsu EWG #2 or Roboworm rebarb hook #1.
This from today dropshot with roboworm 6” on Finesse wide gap hook (red).

[camman]

For smaller baits I use the VMC spinshot hooks, they seem to work better on small baits.  For larger baits bigger than 4” I use the Roboworm Rebarb hooks.   Thin wire but surprisingly strong 

[TnRiver46]

I can’t remember what I bought last year when I started drop shotting a lot but it works great. I think it’s an owner #1. I use Palomar Knot with an extra pass through the eye after it’s tied. Leave a long tag end and tie the sinker on last. 

[evilcatfish]

The spin type hooks definitely “caught” me for a little while, but I’ve since abandoned them. I’m pretty faithful to owner mosquitos and cover shots, but similar style hooks from any reputable company would do fine I’m sure 

[FryDog62]

Has anyone used this knot for Mosquito Hooks or similar?  I hear mixed reviews on the long-tag Palomar.  

 

 

 

[JustJames]

1 hour ago, FryDog62 said:

Has anyone used this knot for Mosquito Hooks or similar?  I hear mixed reviews on the long-tag Palomar.  

 

 

 

I use this type knot (dropper loop knot) for mostly on my dropshot plus double rig for my crappie fishing as well. I do use Palomar knot once in awhile but to me this knot is a lot easier. One thing though if tie correctly Palomar knot is stronger and can convert to split shot rig in a flash. This the way I tie it.

 

[kdubracing]

I've liked the Berkeley Fusion dropshot hooks. Simple, inexpensive, good quality and work well.

[MN Fisher]

For smaller baits, I use the VMC Spinshot hooks. Larger baits, especially with bubba-shot I use the VMC Ike Wide Gap Spinshots

[Bird]

I do quite a bit of drop shot and only have used Gamakatsu finesse wide gap with Robo, no issues. 

[Hook2Jaw]

I, on a whim, bought the Lunkerhunt drop shot hooks in size #1 and #2 when I finally decided to truly try the technique on my most pressured body of water.  They are sticky, they're not going to bend on 4-10# line, and they hook fish.

 

They're like $2.49 for a pack of 8 on TW or something silly like that.

[WRB]

The Spin shot style hooks eliminate the problem of the hook standing upright. If you master tying the Palomar knot so the hook stands upright you have more hook style options to use.

How you rig a drop shot soft plastic can reduce the rig spinning, the problem with drop shot rigs. Nose hooking can result in the worm spinning if you don't check it after rigging. Using Aaron Martens nose hook technique works good.

The biggest mistake angler do when starting to drop shot is using too heavy line and over fishing the rig. Drop shot is close to dead sticking p, less action works better.

Do your homework.

Tom

 

[5/0]

13 hours ago, WRB said:

Using Aaron Martens nose hook technique works good.

That’s the one where the hook point comes out through the nose of the bait, right?

[WRB]

Aaron's technique is to insert the hook point into the nose past the barb and stop, don't rotate the hook point through the plastic. The standard nose hook technique is hook the the worm through nose about 1/4" back from the end exposing the hook point.

Tom