Drop Shottin' For Smallies

[gotarheelz14]

Hey yall,

I will be wading the New River here in NC this weekend for Smallmouth. Something tells me that casting out a drop shot rig, 3/8 oz sinker with a Zoom Fluke will look mighty appetizing running through the fast eddies and currents.

I have three questions for you guys

1.) Would this work? What have been your experiences utilizing this technique?

2.) Do you think 3/8oz with an easy to moderate current will anchor up nicely or do you think it will drift everywhere?

Finally and most importantly!:

3.) What length should my dropshot be from hook to sinker?

Thanks for your input and advice!

Carlos

[roadwarrior]

#1 Yes

#2 Yes, I have caught a few beauties.

#3 1'

8-)

[gotarheelz14]

Thanks RoadWarrior!!! I was hoping you would answer here since I will have you know that part of the reason I keep going back to the New is in hopes of catching Smallies like the ones on your Avatar and others I have seen on this site haha.

I want to ask you though, how should I fish the dropshot in this situation? I will be wading in a current. The river is pretty shallow in most places and not very wide. I would say anywhere from 2-4 ft. It is also not very wide and I will not be in a boat.

Should I throw the dropshot into the beginning of pools/structure/eddies etc, wait for it to anchor down, and then give it some rod-tip-twitches? If nothing, do I continue to drag it back to me through the current?

I have a feeling that will probably be about right. Just wanted to make sure.

Thanks again,

Carlos ;D

[Crestliner2008]

The drop shot? In fast eddies and currents? I find that perplexing. The drop shot needs slack between the bait and sinker in order to do what it does best. How is that possible in current.....unless you drifting with the current? I've done that in a river before, but I believe there are other presentations that work a lot better. What advantages are there in fishing current with a drop shot? Especially with casting a drop shot this way, as the original question suggests. And how much weight would be required in a changing and quickly flowing river would be another issue. Just curious. 

[J Francho]

Crest, your stuck in a vertical, lake fishing paradigm with the drop shot rig.  You can pin a bait in current with a heavy weight, or use just enough weight to allow it to tick along bottom.  I find the skinny pencil weights work best for bouncing.

[Crestliner2008]

Maybe your right! 

[timothy_spain]

Good post.  I'm gonna try this for smallies on a local river.

[culprit71]

You should try this too. I've been fishing a dropshot rigged with 2 medium small split shot and a fluke style bait (2")

And I wade the local rivers or creeks. For the slower areas I'll fish it with a stillwater presentation as Crestliner was referring to. But in riffles and faster water I like to take off the splitshot(I leave on the tag end so that I can switch back to split when needed), cast it upstream and across at 2 o'clock and let my rod tip follow the bait downstream to about 9 o'clock letting the current do all the work. I kid you not I catch 20-30 smallmouth an hour using this technique, most often when I slowly lift the rod from the 9 oclock position. I've caught trout as well this way while fishing for smallies.

However, the smallmouth in these areas I find are not usually more than 1-1.5 lbs and 12 inches or under. No real big ones for me this way(not yet anyway, maybe if I size up my bait hmmmm.) This technique is almost identical to flyfishing a wet fly or highsticking a streamer.

[AFISHN]

Culprit71.

I use exactly your terchnique on thw susky in PA and have vg results

[gradythebassmaster]

i hope to try that in erie this year. saw them doing it on Zona's awesome fishing show 

[TimJ]

Crest, this is a good one for StClair and Detroit rivers. straight up vertical jigging, like spring walleye fishing, is great for smallies and this is just a different step, as well as a c-rig. just gotta keep your line vertical with the electric.

Tim J

ps...forgot to mention for non-locals, the current is 3+mph in both rivers

[Josh Bassman]

The drop shot? In fast eddies and currents? I find that perplexing. The drop shot needs slack between the bait and sinker in order to do what it does best. How is that possible in current.....unless you drifting with the current? I've done that in a river before, but I believe there are other presentations that work a lot better. What advantages are there in fishing current with a drop shot? Especially with casting a drop shot this way, as the original question suggests. And how much weight would be required in a changing and quickly flowing river would be another issue. Just curious.

I use this technique to catch small brook trout... different bait and weight, but it's a killer on the edge of the current.

[islandbass]

I don't see why what you propose won't work so I say go for it.  You could also try reversing it such that your set up would be more in line or closer to a carolina rig.

Many river anglers in my area "drift" their presentations in this manner.

I also agree with JF's suggestion in using pencil lead. There is a special pliers you can buy that can cut pencil lead to the size you choose and poke holes in it. Matter of fact, I can't recall the last time I used a "drop shot" specific weight. Pencil lead for me because it is economical and customizeable on the fly.