I struggle with the dropshot.

[Big Hands]

4 hours ago, GTN said:

I’ve been using the dropshot and octopus hooks and losing fish. 
what size of those wide gap do you recommend?

I like the #4.

[NoShoes]

How deep would y’all say is deep enough to fish it vertically?  Most of the places I fish top out 8-10ftish. When I find fish on my fish finder I never can seem to get them to find them casting back to them. 

[DaubsNU1]

Never tried the drop-shot before...

 

Rigged one up with just the stuff I had in my tackle box...medium light spinning rod with 6lb mono, small hook, did have drop shot weight. Attached an old green FLW 4" french-fry...

 

Threw it out near timber in 9' of water...next to 16' deep channel.  

 

Third cast...BANG! 3.5lb bass.  

 

[roadwarrior]

You may be referring to the same hook, but I'm using the Gamakatsu Octopus Circle Hook #4 & #6.

 

https://www.gamakatsu.com/product/octopus-hooks-circle-offset-point/

[BassinCNY]

3 hours ago, GTN said:

They will be half way to the boat then gone. Hook will be fine

We must be using the same hooks. I avoid the problem by just using the worm hooks I have confidence in and texas rigging the worms or creatures. If I'm fishing a fluke and sometimes with a worm I'll thread them on the shank and expose the hook.

[Bird]

Prefer the #4 octopus hook myself and hook is just inside the nose facing leader. 

Rarely loose a fish even on med light. 

[padon]

On 10/21/2020 at 8:43 PM, WRB said:

If you are not catching bass on the drop shot rig it's becuase you are fishing where the bass are not locate. Like shooting in the dark you can't hit the target. 

Drop shot is a precise finesse presentation, like you did in the bass bed. Put the worm in front of their nose and a high % of the time they strike and hook themselves.

Most anglers new to drop shot over fish it putting too much action into the presetation, "less is better".

I don't get out the drop shot rig unless the bass are there and meter them on sonar 1st.

This way I know where and how deep they located. If bass are suspend more then a few feet off the bottom drop shot isn't a good choice for me. If blind casting a area I use the slip shot rig.

Tom

 

 

like tom said you gotta put it right on them.its not a bait your gonna cover alot of ground with its for when you have fish located and they get tight lipped.and dont over work it. fish iy alomost like live bait, drop it on them and dont move it much. if you take your index finger and tap the rod 4 or 5 times thats all the action you usually need.

[Sissyfishing]

Why not fish a drop shot with something like a Ned rig or shaky head worn instead the weight?

 

or a double drop shot with two worms?

[Finessegenics]

2 minutes ago, Sissyfishing said:

 

Why not fish a drop shot with something like a Ned rig or shaky head worn instead the weight?

 

That’s actually a really good idea. I’ve seen it done but I keep forgetting to try it myself. The only problem I see is that where I fish, the bait that’s gonna be acting as the weight, will get snagged a lot. Usually it’s just an inexpensive lead weight that gets snagged which is no big deal. If we start talking specialized jig heads and plastics then I’m a bit hesitant...

[Sissyfishing]

So use it in open water or rocky areas without a lot of cover 

[Finessegenics]

2 minutes ago, Sissyfishing said:

So use it in open water or rocky areas without a lot of cover 

I like to use my baits where the fish are, regardless of cover. With a dropshot that usually means I’m losing a couple of weights per outing. 

[WRB]

I started with octopus hooks in the the late 80's when drop shot was called stacking with 2.hooks above the wieght. Drop shot became down shot a presentation popular in Japense adopted by western finesse anglers. Sqiude hooks with turned up eyes were the  the choice of hooks. Owner "Down shot"  and " Mosquito" hooks became popular followed by Gamakasu drop shot hooks.  

I started with size 1 and tried size 4 then settled on large sizes 1/0 and 2/0 .

Tom

 

 

 

[islandbass]

21 hours ago, GTN said:

I’ve been using the dropshot and octopus hooks and losing fish. 
what size of those wide gap do you recommend?

If you look close enough at a gammy drop shot/split shot hook and a gammy octopus hook, they are very similar at the hook and bend but different at the eye. 
 

This might be one reason.

 

From my own experience with true DS hooks like the owner mosquitos and the gammy DS, the fish practically set the hook on themselves. 

When I am forced to use other hooks like octos or bait holder hooks (backups, lol) sometimes I might have to set the hook with a mere flick of the wrist, basically it’s enough moving of the line to make it taut. This is not a “cross the ? eyes” hookset.

 

Another possibility is sometimes when the fish takes your bait, they might have the bait in their mouth in such a way that the hook is not yet in their mouth (long robo worm) That is another possible cause for “missed” fish. 
 

I generally use size 2 or 4

 

17 hours ago, DaubsNU1 said:

Never tried the drop-shot before...

 

Rigged one up with just the stuff I had in my tackle box...medium light spinning rod with 6lb mono, small hook, did have drop shot weight. Attached an old green FLW 4" french-fry...

 

Threw it out near timber in 9' of water...next to 16' deep channel.  

 

Third cast...BANG! 3.5lb bass.  

 

You’re hooked now, I bet! Nice hawg!

[Jermination]

16 hours ago, GTN said:

They will be half way to the boat then gone. Hook will be fine

This happens with the DS/SS hooks? Nose hooking your bait? I can see it happening with octopus hooks because the bend in them is different, but if you arent horsing the fish or crossing their eyes setting the hook you shouldnt be losing fish. What rod are you using?

15 hours ago, NoShoes said:

How deep would y’all say is deep enough to fish it vertically?  Most of the places I fish top out 8-10ftish. When I find fish on my fish finder I never can seem to get them to find them casting back to them. 

wherever you see fish buddy, honestly i don't fish it vertically hardly at all in the warmer months. I'll occasionally drop one down but most of the time vertical fishing is reserved for the cold months when smallies are schooled up. I really work my drop shot very similar to a weightless senko in that i almost always fish it on slack line. You want to wiggle your bait without moving the sinker. Sometimes a quick pull up above the fishes head will get them going too if they are just checking our bait out. 

[GTN-NY]

54 minutes ago, Jermination said:

This happens with the DS/SS hooks? Nose hooking your bait? I can see it happening with octopus hooks because the bend in them is different, but if you arent horsing the fish or crossing their eyes setting the hook you shouldnt be losing fish. What rod are you using?

 

Nose hooking but I’ll bet it’s my hookset. I’ve always been fishing jigs in weeds and you set hard to get them up n out of the weeds. I guess that after reading all this info on dropshot hooksets I’m doing it to hard. 
7’ med light rod

54 minutes ago, Jermination said:

 

[Sissyfishing]

Sweep set just lift up your rod keeping a tight line

 

i dont see how you detect strikes on finesse without tight lining it down to the bottom

[Jermination]

6 minutes ago, GTN said:

Nose hooking but I’ll bet it’s my hookset. I’ve always been fishing jigs in weeds and you set hard to get them up n out of the weeds. I guess that after reading all this info on dropshot hooksets I’m doing it to hard. 
7’ med light rod

 

yeah man setting the hook on a DS is a sure fire way to lose fish. Just reel tight and lift, the lightwire hook will button in the top of their mouth. 

 

4 minutes ago, Sissyfishing said:

Sweep set just lift up your rod keeping a tight line

 

i dont see how you detect strikes on finesse without tight lining it down to the bottom

because the pressure changes, if you are shaking on slack line you will notice it. The nice thing about finesse presentations is you don't have to detect the bite immediately, it's not like you are throwing a jig and have to immediately set the hook. Make sure they are there then reel em tight and get ready to do some laps around the boat if it's a big brown fish

[Sissyfishing]

Thanks I’m a line watcher i know that helps 

nothing big and brown in texas

only lmb and spots 

[TnRiver46]

9 minutes ago, Sissyfishing said:

Thanks I’m a line watcher i know that helps 

nothing big and brown in texas

only lmb and spots 

I’ve seen some nice Texas smallmouth before 

[Sissyfishing]

What lakes

 

we have a few lakes but there all pretty small less than 12 inches

[mikey z]

21 hours ago, GTN said:

I’ve been using the dropshot and octopus hooks and losing fish. 
what size of those wide gap do you recommend?

I use Owner mosquito hooks 1/0. I rarely have any hookup issues

[Sissyfishing]

1/0 of s a good size I think some ds hooks are too small 

but I use small hooks on my twitch worms so who knows

[Big Hands]

Octopus hooks and octopus circle hooks are not the same hook.

 

I would put mosquito hooks in the same category as the regular drop shot hooks and octopus (non-circle) hooks, as in if I can get the wide gap finesse hooks, I would much prefer to use them, YMMV.

[A-Jay]

The drop shot is a super important part of my mid & late summer brown bass seeking arsenal.

Can't and won't say it's close to my favorite deal as I will always prefer to be moving something,

but the presentations effectiveness simply can not be ignored or overlooked.

I have to agree with @ww2farmer and others who have noted that

moving the rig / bait too much may reduce potential bites. 

A bit more of what works for me is here ~ 

A-Jay

[Columbia Craw]

Focus on the conditions and scenarios when anglers drop shot.  Focus on the depth, water clarity, bottom composition, cover type.  Drop shot fishing is situational.  It can be versatile but under conditions and in certain situations it is absolutely deadly.