Dropshot problems

[GTN-NY]

I have very little experience with dropshot and only caught a couple fish and I think it was more by accident.today while my wife and I are out paddling kayaks I stopped off a point with some nice weeds and a drop off. I cast the drop shot rig out and as I went to reel in the slack it tightened up and I gave it a little hook set and up came a little 8 inch bass. Next cast same thing except this time I remembered you are supposed to just reel in to set the hook. This fish was probably closer to 2 pounds but when he got to the surface the hook came flying back at me. Next few casts I had 2 more hits and I reeled in to tighten and  on the way in they came unhooked. So 4 out of 5 I lost. 
The 6th hit I got this big rudd in the boat. 

 

tackle I’m using is 7’ medium action extra fast tip  

8lb mono

size #1 Owner mosquito hook

 

Please tell me what am I doing wrong?

[WRB]

Hook sets vary with drop shot. 

Using size 1 Mosquito hook nose hooked worm a firm rod lift but not a hard fast snap hook set. You can set the drag 2 to 2 1/2 lbs and trust it. 

Try wacky hooking the worm.

Tom

[TOXIC]

For the most part, a hookset on a dropshot is just a sweep to the side.  The reel only hookset is for circle hooks.  I will snap the hookset a little harder if I am fishing it deeper than 20 feet.

[Darth-Baiter]

i dont think you're doing anything wrong.

 

i do use braid to flouro leader tho on my dropshot rig.  i dont like to fish it vertically, and i like you cast it out.  

[GTN-NY]

Guess I’ve watched to many technique videos that I lumped a bunch of stuff together. 
The sweep/rod lift set makes sense because that’s kinda what I did on the first fish and that was the only one I landed. 
 

I do have some 1/0 mosquito hooks. Would I be better off with those?

[GTN-NY]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

Try wacky hooking the worm.

Tom

Just curious Tom. What would wacky hooking it do?

[WRB]

Easier for the bass to get the worm and hook in it’s mouth.

I wacky hook 6” hand poured and Roboworms about 90% of the time flat side up.

Started wacky hooking during the 90’s with Flick Shake worms, improved my catch rate

Tom

[RDB]

You may be over thinking it a bit.  Drop shot hooks are typically lighter wire, so penetration shouldn’t be a problem.  There is no need to set hard but it’s not going to kill you if you can’t break the habit as lighter action rods plus working with the bait tip up is not going to produce a lot of force.  Your slack should be controlled slack (bowed line), so there is no need to lower the tip to reel slack.  Just a controlled set straight up while reeling.

[padon]

i usually reel in any slack and the just smoothly sweep to the side or over my head and reel. its a hook set but not a sharp snap like a jig or big texas rig. your just basically taking out the slack and moving the hook.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

I'm not sure that any 2 people set the hook exactly the same, especially when it comes to DS.  The #1 mosquito is stronger then it looks.  I really doubt you'll have to worry about bending it out with 8lb mono.  Reel in the slack and give the rod a swift set.  

If you were using braid you could get away with a reel set.  You might lose some fish at first which is frustrating, but you'll figure it out.

[WRB]

9 hours ago, GTN-NY said:

Guess I’ve watched to many technique videos that I lumped a bunch of stuff together. 
The sweep/rod lift set makes sense because that’s kinda what I did on the first fish and that was the only one I landed. 
 

I do have some 1/0 mosquito hooks. Would I be better off with those?

Perfect hook!

Tom

[GTN-NY]

7 hours ago, WRB said:

Perfect hook!

Tom

The 1 or 1/0 is perfect?

[J Francho]

I use a fast wrist snap set. It's not very hard, but lightning fast. For hooks it's whatever size fits the bait you're using. So that could mean as small as a #4 or as large as a 2/0. Most often I use #2 Owner Mosquito. 

[Glenn]

 

[Boomstick]

It's possible you have a little too much rod. The fish pretty much hook themselves on a. There are basically two kinds of medium power spinning rods, the finesse style which is pretty ideal for drop shots and the heavier style which are more in tune with the typical medium power casting rod. I typically use 12# braid on a ML/XF or finesse style M/F rod with Owner Mosquito hooks and rarely have this problem. 

 

Your strategy is pretty much spot on though. I usually anchor my kayak at a point facing away from the land and cast around the point. Once you catch a fish take note because there is usually a sweet spot.

[GTN-NY]

37 minutes ago, Boomstick said:

It's possible you have a little too much rod. The fish pretty much hook themselves on a. There are basically two kinds of medium power spinning rods, the finesse style which is pretty ideal for drop shots and the heavier style which are more in tune with the typical medium power casting rod. I typically use 12# braid on a ML/XF or finesse style M/F rod with Owner Mosquito hooks and rarely have this problem. 

 

Your strategy is pretty much spot on though. I usually anchor my kayak at a point facing away from the land and cast around the point. Once you catch a fish take note because there is usually a sweet spot.

I do also have a St. Croix Triumph Spinning Rod 7' Med Lt Rob that I can use. It’s being used for my wacky worm rod right now

[J Francho]

12 minutes ago, GTN-NY said:

It’s being used for my wacky worm rod right now

These two deals are usually on the same rods.  I run MLXF and MXF power based on weight.  You should be good.

[GTN-NY]

2 hours ago, Glenn said:

 

Yep that’s one of the videos I watched that said to just reel up

[WRB]

My hook size is determined by worm diameter regardless of how it’s rigged.

Drop Shot I use 3 hook types Gamakatsu Drop Shot hook and Owner Mosquito and Down Shot. No preference between Gamakatsu and Owner for nose exposed hooping worms.

Owner Down Shot #5133 is preferred for weedless Texas rigged worms.

Size 2 drop shot nose hook with finesse worms 4 1/2” to 5 1/2” and size 1 for 6” using 5 lb Maxima UG or 7 lb Sniper FC in 7’ MF spinning rod.

Slip Shot and weedless drop shot Owner #5133 size 1/0 with 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 worms, size 2/0 for 6” worms. Same rod and 5# Maxima UG, not 7 lb FC because FC sinks and snags more often.

If drop shooting 0r weightless 5” Senko or fat worm wacky hooked I use Owner weedless Jungle wacky hook size 1. Same rod with 7 lb Sniper FC.

I use the same reel and lift hook set for all finesse soft plastics. Try to keep hook set the same. Only adjustment I make is hook size and firmer rod sweep set with heavier wire hook like jigs, larger T-rigged soft plastics. 

When LMB are over 3 1/2 lbs their lips are thicker, wider and harder, you need set the hook firm enough to penetrate lip tissue. If you reel set only using MLXF rod the bass may shake the hook out. 

I can’t remember bending a drop shot hook in a hook set, bent them removing the hook.

Tom

[Glenn]

6 hours ago, GTN-NY said:

Yep that’s one of the videos I watched that said to just reel up

 

Well, not quite. The video shows 2 different hooksets, depending on whether you have an open hook or Texas-rigged bait.

 

From the video

 

Quote

Now, I like to fish drop shot baits where I've Texas rigged the bait onto the hook. So it's actually...the hook is actually buried in the bait a little bit. That requires a little bit different of a hook set... 

 

[Boomstick]

On 7/27/2022 at 4:54 PM, GTN-NY said:

I do have some 1/0 mosquito hooks. Would I be better off with those?

I usually use the 1/0 or sometimes 2/0 size when wacky rigging soft plastics myself. I use the #2 and occasionally #1 when nose hooking. So I would give it a shot. 

 

I don't normally T-Rig my dropshots, but when I do I use the larger sized hooks. But when the hook is going through the plastic, you want to give it a normal hookset. With a nose hook or wacky rig on a mosquito hook, the fish almost hook themselves so reel down and lift.

[GTN-NY]

I went back out tonight after switching to a ML rod and up to the 1/0 hook. 
1st cast I felt the hit right away, did a nice sweep set. Put a nice little 14” smallmouth in the kayak and the hook fell out. 
Never had another hit to try out the changes again

[Darth-Baiter]

8 minutes ago, GTN-NY said:

I went back out tonight after switching to a ML rod and up to the 1/0 hook. 
1st cast I felt the hit right away, did a nice sweep set. Put a nice little 14” smallmouth in the kayak and the hook fell out. 
Never had another hit to try out the changes again

is your hook oriented properly.  hook point facing up, hook laying out horizontal to the main line?

[GTN-NY]

13 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

is your hook oriented properly.  hook point facing up, hook laying out horizontal to the main line?

Yes

[Fishin' Fool]

On 7/27/2022 at 2:23 PM, GTN-NY said:

I have very little experience with dropshot and only caught a couple fish and I think it was more by accident.today while my wife and I are out paddling kayaks I stopped off a point with some nice weeds and a drop off. I cast the drop shot rig out and as I went to reel in the slack it tightened up and I gave it a little hook set and up came a little 8 inch bass. Next cast same thing except this time I remembered you are supposed to just reel in to set the hook. This fish was probably closer to 2 pounds but when he got to the surface the hook came flying back at me. Next few casts I had 2 more hits and I reeled in to tighten and  on the way in they came unhooked. So 4 out of 5 I lost. 
The 6th hit I got this big rudd in the boat. 

 

tackle I’m using is 7’ medium action extra fast tip  

8lb mono

size #1 Owner mosquito hook

 

Please tell me what am I doing wrong?

 

I drop shot alot. Pretty much this entire fishing season I've only thrown a drop shot. My suggestions are switch over to 12 or 15 pound braid (I use 12) with a 7-8' fluorocarbon leader. I use 7 pound Sunline Sniper but 8 pound fluorocarbon is okay too. I'd switch your hook to a #1 Gamakatsu split shot/drop shot hook.