Drop Shot Questions

[garroyo130]

Question 1 - Bait Selection

 

The past few days I have been targeting a deep point with a drop shot. I am not the most experienced drop shotter so I am sure I have missed some strikes and may possibly be misinterpreting some cover as strikes as well. With that said, I have landed only one fish but I believe ive had at least a dozen strikes. So moving on to our question, today after probing the depth, I decided to go shallow to just check the action of the lure. While checking, something interesting happened. A tiny bass (no more than 5") took and immediately spit the bait. Now I'm sure that this happens more frequently than we know (yes ive seen the Glen Lau videos), but I was wondering if a larger bait would make it easier to sense a strike. For example if fishing with say a 6" worm will a fish give it 2 slurps in vs 1? The lure I have been using currently is a 1.5" shad assassin.

 

Anyhow any suggestions are appreciated. 

 

Question 2 - Action/Movement

 

When fishing the drop shot, are you fishing it on a slack line? semi slack? taught? 

[BoatSquirrel]

Usually with a dropshot, when the bait hits the bottom and the line goes slack, I pick up and either feel the weight, or feel the fish.  The initial drop is my bite getter.  I will give the rod a very minimal shake, then pick up and pitch it back out there.  Bait size does not seem to matter.  4.75" finesse worm for the win.

[A-Jay]

The single best piece advice I can offer when it comes to drop shot fishing is . . .

 To present your plastic like it was LIVE BAIT - regardless of which drop-shot plastic you're fishing.  Meaning, one does not generally do much with live bait other than throw it out there and  . . wait.

 So I'm rarely shaking, wiggling or 'working' my drop shot presentations much if at all.  

Clearly, there are times where imparting a 'little action' to the bait is the deal and bass will gobble them up. And I'll do that if & when it works.  However,  I'm usually fishing a drop shot because I believe the fish are either in a neutral or negative mood - meaning they may not chase a moving bait.  So a subtle, do-nothing approach can put a few in the net.  Finally, if I have to turn the drop shot into a moving bait to get bit - I'm probably going to fish something else. 

   My versions  (especially for those 'tough bite days') . . . . . . . 

 Cast it out, let the weight get to & settle on the bottom on a slack line - then softly take up ALMOST ALL the slack so that your bait will be suspended over the bottom cover if there is any. Places where there is little to no bottom weed, or I'm drop shotting a Rage craw - I let the bait sit on the bottom.

 And then just hold it there, on a semi-tight or slack (however you say it) line and commence 'bite detection mode'.  After sitting for some time with no bite, drag it a bit and start the process again.  How far I move it and how long I leave it, is almost always dictated by water clarity & temperature as well as the 'mood' of the fish; unfortunately, it's tough to know 'the mood' until I put a few in the net.  Until I hook a few, I play with the drag length & wait time until the magic happens.   But in general - the clearer & warmer the water, the farther I move it.  Conversely the dirtier and or colder the water - I may not move it more than a foot or two at a time.  How long I let it sit is pretty much guided by the same parameters mentioned above.   I can cover some decent water doing this.

 

More info here ~ 

A-Jay

 

[tkunk]

I've seen what you're talking about in shallow water: The bass mouths the bait and spits it immediately. I don't think bait size will help with this. An aggressive fish will keep the bait in its mouth for a long time, so you need to find aggressive fish.

 

I fish the drop shot like an underwater senko. I start by pitching the bait out. Once the weight hits the bottom, I let the bait fall and lift my rod occasionally to see if there's anything there. If nothing's there, I let the bait fall again. Once my boat gets above the rig, I reel it in and repeat the process. It's rare to feel anything until you lift the rod.

[Tim Kelly]

With a bait that small I'd imagine you'd be getting a lot of pecks from tiny fish, which may lead you to think you're missing bass bites. Put a 3-6" bait on any try again. I have almost ridiculous faith in a 4" Reins bubbling shaker, in scuppernong.

[Jleebesaw]

I fish dropshots all the time. When a bass takes the lure you will know it. I can feel bluegills messing with it and can feel when the weight is in weeds or whatever. But when a bass takes it, in my experiance, there is no doubt. Light line, light weight, light rod, light lure. It all adds up to a 3lb bass feeling like a muskie. 

    Even when bluegills pull on it it sometimes feels like a bigger fish. I could be wrong. Maybe when i think its bluegills its bass spitting it out, but i doubt it.

[skekoam]

I don't fish drop shots often as it is my least favorite way of fishing.  With that said, I've caught fish on it each time I've tried it.  Nothing big though.  I would throw it out, tighten the line and let it sit.  I would get bites as the bait sits, but I'm assuming its just a bluegill.  Each bass was caught when I was retrieving the bait.  Probably goes toward A-Jay's suggestion above about making the worm look like live bait. 

[garroyo130]

I appreciate everyones advice. Ive got a pack of hooks and some drop shot weights coming my way so we can put these suggestions to use. 

 

I really want to make sure im doing everything possible to probe this particular spot before giving up. I just have a feeling there should be fish there (then again it wouldn't be the first time I'm wrong ?).

[dtag31]

Definitely don't be afraid to fish bigger baits. I fish a highly pressured lake and still use a 6inch zoom trick worm as the go-to bait. I catch fish from <1 pound to 5+ on a regular basis with that setup. I generally rig it weedless and cast and drag back to the boat, like a texas rig. Not a ton of action added to the bait other than a very slow drag and pause. 

[WRB]

What do you call deep water? Over 20'

I only use a drop shot rig verticle or no more then 45 degree angle out from my boat.

My drop shot outfit is medium fast spinning with 7 lb Sniper FC or 5 lb Maxima UG mono. Prefer 1/4 oz drop shot weight using size Owner or Gamakstsu drop shot hooks about 12" above the weight with 4 1/2" to 6" Roboworms or Iovino finesse worms.

Use slightly slack line and don't over work it. The rod tip will move without you trying or lightly shake the tip into the slightly slack line. Most strike are solid hits and just lift the rod and reel.

If you cast and drag back use the slip shot rig. 5 lb Max UG mono, #5133 suze 1/0 hook, 1/8 to 3/16 oz mojo weight, glass bead pegged about 30" above the hook. Same soft plastics.

Tom

 

[garroyo130]

22 minutes ago, WRB said:

What do you call deep water? Over 20'

Its a hump that comes up to about 15 - 17' from about 20 - 22'

 

Thanks for the details on your setup.

[Born 2 fish]

My best drop shot bait is a 1/2 of night crawler. You’ll catch everything!

[HHill22]

Z-man Trickshotz have been killer in my area.