Tying a standalone drop shot rig

[RipHair]

I generally use a palomar knot to hook 2-3' up my line then use one of those dropshot weights that attach to the end of the line. The problem I have with this is when I switch this out from pickerel fishing or drop shotting I'm losing 2-3' of line. My main line is 6-12lb FC and I have a spool of 20lb FC sitting around so I thought about making a rig:

 

Cut off 3-4' of it, tie a bowline to make a loop at one end (not sure how a bowline will hold up on fishing line). Then for tying the hook, I could do a palomar knot again but was curious if maybe having the hook come off the main line a bit more would give it more action and better hookups. My idea is to tie an alpine butterfly knot at one or 2 spots in this rig which I could then tie on hooks with 6"-12" line segments so they trail off the main line.

 

I'm fairly new to this type of rigging so apologies if I'm way off the mark here. Quite interested in hearing what you folks think might work best without eating up my main line.

 

I plan to use this for walleye and bass fishing with keitech, small worms hanging off it.

[Team9nine]

Holy cow, that’s a lot of extra work, and might even be illegal in some states. What about changing your main line to braid on this outfit and just running a spool of leader line for whatever application you need? Or keep it fluoro and just use an appropriate strength leader and connecting knot and use much less line per retie/conversion?

[Choporoz]

(If legal) Try it and let us know.  I've wondered aloud how a bottom bounce would work for bass, but never tried it.  I actually like the idea of a single drop shot rig at multiple depths.  The trailing aspect could be huge in some current or drift situations.

  @Team9nineis right, though...if the only issue is line for single ds hook, just terminate your main line at the hook and tie a leader for your weight

[TOXIC]

For a while, I substituted a finesse jig place of the dropshot weight.  I did catch a few fish on it but the loss rate of the more expensive jigs was too much.  

[WRB]

1st things 1st.

Learn to tie loop knots for fishing. The 3 basics are the “Perfection Loop”, the Surgeon knot and Lefty Kreh knot or non-Slip knot. Surgeon is the easiest.

What I believe you are trying to do is create a dropper loop rig, commonly used for deep rock cod fishing.

If you make up 4” long leader with a loop on one and the drop shot hook on the other end to attached simple put the loop to loop ends together. Put one loop over the other, the hook through the first loop and pull. To take apart push the apart and reverse the hook end.

The issue is most states have fresh water regulations limiting the number of hooks you can use.

Leader knots are another choice; Double Uni knot, Blood knot, Lefty Kreh leader knot and Alberto knot. Blood knot is the easiest.

Go online and look at videos on tying the above suggested knots.

Tom

 

[Tennessee Boy]

It does seem like a lot of work.   In Tennessee we are limited to 3 hooks.   I can’t imagine anyone having less than that but you should always check.

[TOXIC]

16 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

It does seem like a lot of work.   In Tennessee we are limited to 3 hooks.   I can’t imagine anyone having less than that but you should always check.

At one point in time, a dropshot single hook was illegal on St Clair.  You could not have any weight below your bait.  Constituted snagging.  

[WRB]

When the Drop shot rig 1st introduced in SoCal it was called Down Shot when using a single hook and stacking using 2 or 3 hooks. The hook was tied directly on the line, not on short dropper leaders. 

My belief is the OP wants to use short leader to reduce toothy fish biting off line.

Tom

[casts_by_fly]

you're basically doing what saltwater guys do all the time.  Its a dropper rig, a bottom rig, a fluke rig, etc.  No reason why it wouldn't work.  At that point you would just tie your braid main line to the swivel at the top and clip on your dropshot weight.  When I'm fishing the surf for little fish, I just tie up (basically) a dropshot rig with figure 8 knots instead of beads and crimps and pass the loop through the hook eye and pull the hook back through it to be a square knot to the hook (more or less).

 

I will say that the rigs are a pain to keep untangled and I wouldn't trust to not get kinks and knots in typical bass fishing line weights.  When you make one of these from 50 lb mono, you don't mind if you loose a little strength to a kink when the fish are <10 lb.  

 

[RipHair]

Sorry for the delay to reply, have been out fishing the past few days day and night with limited connectivity.

 

Apologies if my post created confusion - I won't be going the multiple hook route as it'll probably just get tangled and I don't really want to pour in the time to research if it's legal in this province or not. The comment about it being illegal to have weights below the hook got my attention though and I'll need to double check that here for Ontario.

 

I only use braid on my frog stick, rest is FC. Some great replies on rigs that I'll be using to make some more drop shot rigs (leaders if you want to call it that) and indeed this is for walleye which are a bit toothy compared to bass. My initial post was to see if I could build such a rig using just leader line without any extra hardware (especially hw I don't have on hand).

[MickD]

You can buy swivels that are "paired" that make this very easy to do.  Or buy swivels with open loops and pair your own.  A friend likes this for smallies on Lake St Clair, and with only 4-6 inches of line to the hook it doesn't tangle much.  

 

However, I have tried it and have not found it more effective than the traditional drop shot.  Recent tournament reports from St Clair indicate the fish (SMB) were hitting drop shot on the fall and with no added action.  So the action increase that comes with this approach may in some cases be counterproductive, with the lure just sitting mostly immobile being a more effective presentation. 

[RipHair]

14 hours ago, MickD said:

You can buy swivels that are "paired" that make this very easy to do.  Or buy swivels with open loops and pair your own.  A friend likes this for smallies on Lake St Clair, and with only 4-6 inches of line to the hook it doesn't tangle much.  

 

However, I have tried it and have not found it more effective than the traditional drop shot.  Recent tournament reports from St Clair indicate the fish (SMB) were hitting drop shot on the fall and with no added action.  So the action increase that comes with this approach may in some cases be counterproductive, with the lure just sitting mostly immobile being a more effective presentation. 

 

I only started drop shot fishing where you tie a palomar to the hook from main line then that sinching drop shot weight below it last year but I don't think I had any luck. I was curious if it was the palomar to hook cuz it seems a bit close to the main line and unsure if the bait is really doing its justice rigged that way.

 

I'm on Day 7 of 12 of straight fishing and I think I'll make it a point of trying drop shop mainly tomorrow whether for smallies or walleye. Been having lots of luck on everything and will be a good opportunity to learn this technique.

[MickD]

9 hours ago, RipHair said:

 

I only started drop shot fishing where you tie a palomar to the hook from main line then that sinching drop shot weight below it last year but I don't think I had any luck. I was curious if it was the palomar to hook cuz it seems a bit close to the main line and unsure if the bait is really doing its justice rigged that way.

 

I'm on Day 7 of 12 of straight fishing and I think I'll make it a point of trying drop shop mainly tomorrow whether for smallies or walleye. Been having lots of luck on everything and will be a good opportunity to learn this technique.

My preference is the VMC Spin Shot drop shot hooks.  I have trouble with the palomar, getting the hook positioned properly, and with the VMC's it's a piece of cake.  I like the long, slender, cylindrically shaped weights since they get snagged less often.  I tie them on, not relying on their feature that is supposed to grab onto the line and secure them.  The fact that the hook is "close to the line" has no detrimental effect on their effectiveness, and in fact I think it makes them more effective since it keeps the attitude of the lure better controlled than using a dropper does.  But both can work based on my observations and experience.

 

A tip  if you're using Z-man Elaztec lures, especially the samll Z-Too's, just barely hook them; don;t put the hook way into the lure.  I think by barely hooking them it allows them to pivot/float up away from the hook to a head down position, possibly imitating a feeding minnow.    Seems more effective that way.  They are tough enough so they don't easily come off even when hooked this way.

[MN Fisher]

14 minutes ago, MickD said:

My preference is the VMC Spin Shot drop shot hooks.

These or the Gamakatsu Swivel Shots - same idea.

[RipHair]

Thanks the store had the VMC drop shot hooks and I picked up a pack. I didn't know these existed and totally make sense. I guess I was trying to use my hammock line tying knots to rig something up but in the end it's indeed simpler to buy specialized hardware for the job. I also got some strong plastics that I can indeed hook though the mouth like you would a minnow. Will give this a go for the next few days and hopefully get some big smallies and walleye.