drop shotting?

[rob allen]

Drop shotting seems to be gaining in popularity so I have a question do you prefer dragging the bait or shaking the bait or?????

[BuKuBass]

I just quickly squeeze the rod handle. The resulting shimmy depends on which lure is used. A three inch senko-type wacky rigged does the dance of death.
I drag the setup when a more horizontal presentation is deployed; think of it as a carolina rig in reverse. Don't forget to increase the distance between the weight and hook to allow for the angle of the dangle.
I figured out ("discovered" is too vain a term) DSing in the 80's when using two jigs while persuing crappie. The bottom and heavier jig kept hanging up on the bottom, so I substitued a splitshot. And realizing that I had enuf weight, I replaced the smaller jig with a hook.

[rebell]

The biggest mistake I see people make is trying to shake the bait to much. As Buku said, just quikly squeeze the rod handle. When fishing in the river, the current will do most of the work.

I drag a splitshot rig in the river most of the time. Something I do with good success, is to cast down stream and then drag my rig back upstream. I dont know excactly why, but there have been times when presenting the same bait this way I have caught a lot more fish out of the same area:shrug:.

[sbasser]

I agree completely with Rebell. If you are violently shaking the lure, you can't feel the bite. Stop that! Generally, more movement :dance: is worse than none :sleep:. That rule applies to a lot of lure/rigging types, too. Key item is remembering :shrug: what you were doing/not doing, when the first fish bit. :wave: C&R, Steve

[drift fishing fool]

well, others have given some opinions and ill throw mine out too. i dropshot quite a bit, mostly in lakes/reservoirs, not so much the river. anyway. when fishing visible targets like say a large stump in 15ft, i toss a ds on the edge and shake it on a slack line for about 10 shakes. then ill lift the rod timp until its just barely tight and hold it there for a bit while feeling for a fish. ill do this for a few sets and then reel in and make a new presentation. unlike the other guys that seem to prefer a super light action in thier shake, ill usaully move the rod 4-6" every twitch. this seems to work for me even in mid 40 degree water. i just lengthen my pause when the water is cold.
when fishing scattered structure i like to fan cast an area and drag the bait untill i feel rock, weed clup, brush, and then start shaking. ill do this all the way back to the boat stopping when the bait runs into something or until i get a specific piece of cover dailed in and then move over to it. hope that helps

[ExBassGuide]

Drop shotting is one of my top patterns for small mouth on the rivers. I shake lightly for about 6 times. I then drop my rod and reel in any slack line, then repeet. If I fish it vertical I try not to move the wt. except when moving the bait over a bit. I have got s.m. out of 60 feet of water this way. My best lure is (ya you know already) the 3" senko. If the bottom is sandy I will drag a split shot lizard. but I will toss a drop shot before I move to the next spot.
Roger

[grplnxprt]

Last year I started casting out into 6-8 feet of water and reeling slowly back in.

Just dragging the weight on the bottom with the rod tip high.

It works pretty well.

Mostly used 3" Senkos in the Willamette...

[bucketmouth]

Obviously the techniques differ from one angler to another. Dropshotting catches fish. Develop a technique that works for you and BAM, fish on!

This method of fishing has been around for along time actually. Jigging for sea bass in the ocean we used the drop shot system. Only at that time, it was called "jigging for sea bass" not "drop shotting". Seems the Japanese were the first to give the fresh water version of this method of fishing its popularity.