Perfecting techniques (drop shot) or wasting time

[Rora]

Fellow addicts. As a newly inducted I am trying to really perfect the drop shot before I move on to the next technique. However I wonder if I’m just wasting my time when I could be just throwing what works (if I even knew). Been skunking ALOT, added to the fact that I fish in Southern California city ponds. Should I be saving myself from the frustration and throw something new everyday(Ned, wacky, Texas rig) or is there something to be said about becoming the drop shot master before I move on. 
 

 

[ajschn06]

There is absolutely nothing to be said about being a drop shot “master”.  Move on….

[Jigfishn10]

I for one absolutely love the DS and have had a ton of success with it, especially this year.

 

@Rora, how about starting your out off with getting fish to bite on known techniques and then switching over to the DS? This way you know you're the right location before that skunky odor follows you home.

 

And if you can't get a fish on the DS, try the burgers. They'll taste great. ?

[Rora]

2 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

I for one absolutely love the DS and have had a ton of success with it, especially this year.

 

@Rora, how about starting your out off with getting fish to bite on known techniques and then switching over to the DS? This way you know you're the right location before that skunky odor follows you home.

 

And if you can't get a fish on the DS, try the burgers. They'll taste great. ?

That’s the problem. I’m literally a month into my bass fishing career. So my repertoire of “known” techniques is… ds. ?

[Jigfishn10]

3 minutes ago, Rora said:

That’s the problem. I’m literally a month into my bass fishing career. So my repertoire of “known” techniques is… ds. ?

Ahhhh....I must have mis-read the opening post.

 

I started fishing with a T-Rig. I'm a believer that detecting the bite on a DS take a little more time - for whatever reason, that what happened to me. A T-Rig will help you detect bites and will help you with a DS, Jig, C-Rig or whatever bottom type of fishing you're doing.

 

Just MHO.

[Tatsu Dave]

14 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

I started fishing with a T-Rig. I'm a believer that detecting the bite on a DS take a little more time - for whatever reason, that what happened to me. A T-Rig will help you detect bites and will help you with a DS, Jig, C-Rig or whatever bottom type of fishing you're doing.

That's the answer. Get confidence with a technique and start to catch bass, stay at it and the bass catching will teach you a lot. T-rig will be weedless and will attract attention from feeding fish. Jig fishing is another one that is going to open up a different style fishing even if its just a leadhead and curly tail. Catch fish so you don't loose interest while your learning. A lot of the videos Glenn has done are pretty straight forward and hands on so you can see it working. Good Fishing 

[Fishes in trees]

You're on the water, right?  I've found trying to drop shot from the bank to be challenging and a waste of time.   My personal experiences with drop shot fishing are mixed.   Using either a lighter weight finesse set up or a heavier duty bubba shot rig, I've never had a great day on the drop shot/

(For me a great day is 30 or 40 fish on one rig, dinks & keepers combined).  However, several times a year the drop shot turns a stinking day into an ok day and that's why I generally keep a finesse set up and bubba rig ready to go in the boat.

[scaleface]

There is not much to perfect . I suggest trying to catch bass and not waste time trying to perfect techniques .Figuring out what lures to use is a pretty handy technique . Bass fishing is a lot easier than people try to make it .

[Team9nine]

Throw something new every day to begin with and see which techniques show promise (get bites) for the waters you fish, then focus extra effort on mastering those. Just seems to make the most sense to me in your case.

[Rora]

8 minutes ago, Fishes in trees said:

You're on the water, right?  I've found trying to drop shot from the bank to be challenging and a waste of time.   My personal experiences with drop shot fishing are mixed.   Using either a lighter weight finesse set up or a heavier duty bubba shot rig, I've never had a great day on the drop shot/

(For me a great day is 30 or 40 fish on one rig, dinks & keepers combined).  However, several times a year the drop shot turns a stinking day into an ok day and that's why I generally keep a finesse set up and bubba rig ready to go in the boat.

i think my soul just died a little when i read 30-40. 

 

I'm strictly from the bank. I struggle cause from what i read on here, finesse is the way to go for SUPER pressured waters. 

 

10 minutes ago, Tatsu Dave said:

That's the answer. Get confidence with a technique and start to catch bass, stay at it and the bass catching will teach you a lot. T-rig will be weedless and will attract attention from feeding fish. Jig fishing is another one that is going to open up a different style fishing even if its just a leadhead and curly tail. Catch fish so you don't loose interest while your learning. A lot of the videos Glenn has done are pretty straight forward and hands on so you can see it working. Good Fishing 

Thats good to know cause i go in the early morning and the fish go nuts trying to feed. Its pretty shallow so i can see the churning and swirling. Imagine me just watching that as I get nothing to bite my drop shot roboworm (IN EVERY COLOR!!!).

 

 

[BrianMDTX]

I’ve never had success with a DS from the bank. Zilch. Wacky rig? Texas rig? Different story! 

[Jigfishn10]

4 minutes ago, Rora said:

Imagine me just watching that as I get nothing to bite my drop shot roboworm (IN EVERY COLOR!!!).

Sorry, not laughing at you, just this last sentence...?

[galyonj]

So your thinking isn't bad (seemingly pressured fish > smaller/slower presentation), but I have know what caused you to land on dropshotting, of all things.

 

Try...literally any other presentation and see how that works for you.

 

[nappyboy28]

1 hour ago, Rora said:

Fellow addicts. As a newly inducted I am trying to really perfect the drop shot before I move on to the next technique. However I wonder if I’m just wasting my time when I could be just throwing what works (if I even knew). Been skunking ALOT, added to the fact that I fish in Southern California city ponds. Should I be saving myself from the frustration and throw something new everyday(Ned, wacky, Texas rig) or is there something to be said about becoming the drop shot master before I move on. 
 

 

Rora - where in soCal are you fishing? I have a lot of contacts out there and can help you out. I fished the west coast/southern nevada for the past 3 years and relied heavily on dropshots. If the water has 2 ft of visibility or better I'll use it. I'll use zman trds (slowly drag my rod sideways), baby brush hogs (bounce the rod as I drag sideways), and flukes (bounce it back to me and reel in the slack.)

 

Pressured ponds are odd though. Typically there are one or two things that truly work. Just keeping talking to other fisherman and eventually someone will help you out with some tips. But your ponds don't have a lot of grass to snag on I'd throw a DS with a silver fluke and 1/4oz weight. Then I'd fan cast and hop it back to me. 

[Tennessee Boy]

I have no idea how to catch fish from the bank in a So Cal pond.   I do like that you are focusing on mastering technique instead of throwing everything in the tackle store at them.  Good luck and stick with it.  The fish will come eventually.

[QED]

I bank fish (no watercraft allowed) a heavily pressured lake (nominally - actually more like a large pond) and the shore-fishable waters can have grass at the bottom. A DS rig with a 4" senko or TRD with a 1/16 oz pencil weight is pretty snag free and works much better than a t-rig because the drop shot rig keeps the bait above the grass.  A wacky rigged weedless hook using a 4" senko also works well.  The TRDs are more buoyant than the senkos, so TRD for a finess drop shot rig is a good combo.  Definitely senkos for weightless wacky rigs.

[Darth-Baiter]

Rora 
 

I love the drop shot. It’s my undisputed champion technique when it comes to putting a bass in my lap. I’m a kayak fisherman so I’m not fishing from shore. 
 

from shore i Texas rig a weedless finesse bait.  Zman craw or TRD.  I peg the weight to mimic a Ned Rig. 
 

I have never fished a DS from the bank because I bought a kayak. 
 

good luck. We don’t all start out great. It’s a fun trip as you get better and put more techniques in your wheelhouse 

[Fishes in trees]

If I had to go back to fishing from the bank, I'd lay off the drop shot notion.  Instead, I'd take a page out of my old meat fishing bush hippie days and go finesse jigging.

Get the best quality Medium or ML spinning rig you can.   Get a decent reel that balances well.   Use a thin line like 20 lb or less braid - or 14 lb Fireline.    Probably don't need a leader but you could go with a thin fluorocarbon leader if you wanted to.   Back in the day I threw alot of 6 lb mono.

 

Now buy a large supply of Brewer Slider Heads.  I like the Spider Slider Heads the regular ones - not the "pro "ones that have slightly heavier hooks.   Get 20 or more of 1/4 oz & 3/16 oz & 1/8 oz.  Buy 3 or 4 colors of the 4" slider worms.  Color don't really matter so just get several that you like.    Me - I threw the quarter ounces 90% of the time, but there were times when the slightly slower drop of the lighter jig heads seemed to matter.   I used the heavier jig heads because I could throw them farther and I think that makes a difference from the bank.   Then just cast out, let it drop and polish the bottom.   By this I mean, you only want to be touching the bottom every so often, the idea is to slowly, gently swim the worm and stay within a foot of the bottom.   It is hard for a while and then it becomes second nature.   If you're doing this and not getting bit - find another pond.

 

 

[QED]

8 minutes ago, Fishes in trees said:

If I had to go back to fishing from the bank, I'd lay off the drop shot notion. [stuff deleted]

 

Why - it's just an additional technique that is very productive in the specific use case I described above?  The more techniques you master, the better your fishing results in varied environments.

[Tatsu Dave]

1 hour ago, Rora said:

i think my soul just died a little when i read 30-40. 

 

I'm strictly from the bank. I struggle cause from what i read on here, finesse is the way to go for SUPER pressured waters. 

 

Thats good to know cause i go in the early morning and the fish go nuts trying to feed. Its pretty shallow so i can see the churning and swirling. Imagine me just watching that as I get nothing to bite my drop shot roboworm (IN EVERY COLOR!!!).

OK now when you go have a stickbait tied on T-rig and throw it out where fish are swirling. Have some different basic fish catching colors (green pumpkin-junebug-watermelon gold flk.-pb&j) switch colors till something hits. Learn when to set hook by trial and error. 

 

 

Sorry got my reply in the quote, remember if you keep lures simple and inexpensive you won't lose much if you get hung-up. A boat or kayak will make those 30-40 fish days easier. A cheap 12' alum. boat with a battery and trolling motor was how I got my start.  

[Skunkmaster-k]

Try a popper . It’s fun.  

2 hours ago, Rora said:

Thats good to know cause i go in the early morning and the fish go nuts trying to feed. Its pretty shallow so i can see the churning and swirling.

 

[JustJames]

Don’t beat yourself up when fishing in SoCal city pond, and don’t compare with others. You are in a tougher place to begin with.

Dropshot try lightest weight you can 1/16-1/8oz, small 4” worm and drag slowly with pause and a little bit of slack line in between. If that doesn’t work then go weightless finesse worm, 4” Senko or even slim Senko. Ned rig might work but there will be too much algae on bottom. Small top water 1/4oz popper might be good early morning or evening.
SoCal City pond is structure less, shallow with little to no fish but tons of fisherman legal and illegal.

[Rora]

3 hours ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

Don’t beat yourself up when fishing in SoCal city pond, and don’t compare with others. You are in a tougher place to begin with.

Dropshot try lightest weight you can 1/16-1/8oz, small 4” worm and drag slowly with pause and a little bit of slack line in between. If that doesn’t work then go weightless finesse worm, 4” Senko or even slim Senko. Ned rig might work but there will be too much algae on bottom. Small top water 1/4oz popper might be good early morning or evening.
SoCal City pond is structure less, shallow with little to no fish but tons of fisherman legal and illegal.

I appreciate that. After seeing all the information about SoCal I kind of knew going in it would be hard. Will try to take your advice. 
 

Might stick with the drop shot a little longer but won’t be afraid to toss out a weightless Texas rig before I leave. 
 

 

[WRB]

Outside of bed fishing spawning bass from the shoreline the drop shot rig has little use.

The drop shot rig is a vertices soft plastic presentation not designed for casting vertically and retrieving along the bottom. Can you do it? sure you can do whatever you like. 

My advice is use the slip shot rig or some call the finesse C-rig. The slip shot rig is similar to a split shot it Mojo rig, the difference is the weight slides on the line.

Fished from shore this rig will catch bass everywhere including highly pressures SoCal lakes and ponds.

My version is made up using very specific components based on decades of use in SoCal lakes.

1. Spinning tackle medium fast rod with Copolymer line Maxima 5 o 6 lb Ultra Green.

2. Components; Owner #5133 size 1/0 hook. 1/8 oz Mojo Jo or Pro Jo cylinder weight. 8 mm glass faceted bead. Carolina plastic Keeper. 4 1/2” to 6” Roboworm.

The cylinder weight goes on the line 1 st followed by the bead   , then the Carolina Keeper and hook on the main line.

The distance between the weight and hook is between 18” to 36” and easily adjusted without reason tying.

Rig the worm weedless and straight so it doesn’t spin. Skin hook the worm.

Roboworm colors that work in SoCal are Oxblood light red flake and MM111.

Cast and slowly drag the rig back along the bottom.

Tom

 

[QED]

Forget the orthodoxy and dogma and use common sense.  A tokyo rig can be (and is) usefully deployed for horizontal presentations, e.g., swim baits.  The force vectors on the hook and sinker attachment points are pretty much the same in a drop shot rig with a short sinker line and a tokyo rig and both are commonly used with pencil sinkers.  While fishing isn't rocket science, you can use rocket science to show that the two methods are substantially similar in their bait presentation, particularly in the finesse context.