Drop Shot Fishing

Tonight’s review is on more than a particular lure but also a specific technique. We have been sticking to our theme here at MVF and looking at those lures that will catch bass in the cold weather.

Another of those tools that you should add to your arsenal for these cold months is drop-shotting. This technique has been around for a while now but as tends to happen with those that actually work, the tools of the trade get more and more specialized as time goes on.

What Is Drop Shot Fishing?

Just for hoots and giggles, and for our newer anglers, let’s take a moment to explain what drop shot fishing is all about. You tie a small octopus style hook up the main line several inches with an over-hand Palomar knot and tie a weight to the end of the main line. You then nose hook a small soft plastic worm or other bait and you have your drop-shot rig.

When drop shot fishing first hit the national scene, it utilized terminal tackle and lures that weren’t necessarily designed for this kind of fishing. I remember the first time I saw this technique used on a televised event. It was by an angler fishing out of the back of the boat who wound up taking first place honors in the non-boater category.

The pro in the front of the boat was amazed that the non-boater could fish behind him and pick up the sacks that he did with this rig. From there it took almost no time for the specifics of the technique to get out and start being used by lots of anglers. Fast forward to today, and you can find all kinds of sinkers, hooks, lures and rods that are designed with this technique in mind.

I know that I have tried drop-shotting for several seasons now and have learned some things that I wish I would have known back when I first started throwing this rig. The first time I tried the drop-shot rig, I tied the hook 30 inches up the line, cast it out, let the sinker hit the bottom and proceeded to leave the lure in place and just gently shake the rod tip. I would do this for up to 30 seconds then drag the whole rig, staying in contact with the bottom, and repeat this procedure all the way back.

If memory serves me right, the lure I used with that first experiment was some kind of plastic craw imitation. And if memory serves me, I didn’t catch anything because I buried the hook in that lure like I was fishing a Texas rig. Lots of days and tackle changes later, I am now fairly proficient at this technique and here is the way I fish it today.

The Drop Shot Set Up

The first thing I do is rig the drop shot on a reel that has 8 pound line or smaller. I prefer the Gamakatsu drop/split shot hook because it’s sharp, easily obtained in a variety of sizes and at about two and a half bucks for six, pretty reasonable. Next, I like a weight that is easy to attach to the end of the line and I prefer tungsten to lead for a couple of reasons.

One, tungsten is between 25% – 50% smaller than lead and environmentally safe. I figure when I can use something other than lead, especially when the odds increase for losing it, I will. Secondly, because they are smaller in size, I believe that you feel more of what’s going on with your lure. Yes, they are more expensive than lead but not that much more and the benefits are worth the extra cost.

Now that I have the hook and sinker ready to go it’s time to choose a lure. What has worked for me are small lures no more than four inches in length and there are several good ones available. I have caught fish on the Berkley Gulp Alive minnow, the Berkley 4 inch power worms, the Jackall Superpin Tail Shad, the Jackall Crosstail Shad, the Roboworm FX Sculpin and several others.

The most important factor in your choice of baits is what is the available forage in the water that you fish. When you have determined that and made your lure selection, nose hook the bait on the hook and be careful to not cover the hook point completely with the bait. I try to make sure that after the lure is hooked, I can see at least 60% of the hook. The other thing I do is make sure that the lure, when in the water, is as close to dead horizontal as I can get it. With these things done, I am now ready to fish.

Here are the things that I do differently now than when I first began to use this technique. Number one, I don’t tie the hook any more than 24 inches up the line and sometimes as little as 6 inches. Secondly, after casting out and letting it settle on the bottom, I not only shake the lure but also hop it in small little increments back to me. I will vary my retrieve speed and how much I shake the bait. Just making these small adjustments have made my catch ratio with this rig exponentially better.

Time To Give Drop Shot Fishing A Try!

The one thing that folks need to understand about fishing with the drop-shot rig is that it takes some adjustment to get used to. I gotta’ tell you, there is nothing better in bass fishing to me than when a fish crushes a moving lure, and this technique isn’t going to get you those kind of results. The vast majority of time, when you get a bite on this rig it is going to be soft.

Sometimes it’s nothing more than extra weight on the line, other days, you may feel a small peck or two and see your line move off and other days you really don’t feel anything at all, you just go to shake the lure and it doesn’t shake cause there’s a fish on it. You just have to remember that this is a finesse technique that will catch some fish when other’s won’t. It is also one of those things that you can do if you get a little bit tired of chunkin’ and windin’.

So go get yourself the proper tools for drop-shotting and give it a go when the weather is cold, the fish are lethargic or you just want to try something new, see ya’ on the water …