Drop shot...........

[Basshound]

I have a confession! I Have never caught a bass on a drop shot wacky rig... Ive never needed it. Or i thought. Well i know some of you are pretty familiar with this rig. Exbassguide,DJD and 1bigfish im pretty sure you guys know a thing or 2 about it. I am sure there are plenty more that know it as well. How about a some tips for me and some others that arent properly educated in this technique. Thanks in advanced. Derek

[ExBassGuide]

My hat is off to “Basshound” for a VERY good question!!!
First lets get into the mechanics of fishing wacky rigs, drop shot or any other rig that uses the wacky style of presenting a bait to Mr. bass. The biggest thing for me is the sound this type of rig creates. You may not think that a plastic bait with out a rattle can make much of a sound under water. But please think again.
The key to fishing a wacky rig is in the shaking you do with your rod tip that is transmitted to the bait. That bait sends out strong pressure waves that I call sound. The pressure waves are strong because the bait is perpendicular to your line, so when you shake it you are pulling sideways thru the water. The pressure waves are easily received on the basses inner ear and the bass’s lateral line. The bass inner ear picks up high frequency sound and the lateral line picks up the low frequency sound. Shaking a wacky rig creates low and high frequency sound. And this will help the bass find your bait and the sound will pull bass to your lure from many feet away if the conditions are right (active bass). The sound mimics a struggling pray like a minnow or invertebrate. This is a dinner bell to the bass!
Okay you now know why the wacky rig is so effective. Now when is the best time to use this rig:
1. Any time you are after small mouth (my number one technique for small mouth).
2. Inactive bass or you are having problems getting the bass to bite. you can keep the bait in the strike zone for an unlimited amount of time. And that ups your odds of the bass hitting your lure. This includes cool or cold water times.
3. Deep water. If the bass are out deeper the drop shot rules! Deep water is relative! For some 10 feet is deep and others 60 feet is deep. If you struggle a bit in deeper water try the drop shot to fill the boat if the bass are out in deeper water.

4. Shore bound fisherman this is a great tool! You can place lots of weight on your drop shot rig, so you can cast long distances and cover more water.
So the only thing you need to think about is what wacky rig would work best for the water you are fishing at the time. In a river the drop shot works great in current with out getting blown down stream by the current. For the normal way of wacky rigs a lake is better suited. But remember thick cover can present problems for an exposed hook. That is the time to switch to a weedless hook .
If you have never fishing this type of rig of have not found it productive YET. Please continue to keep trying and you will be rewarded!
THANKS FOR THE GREAT QUESTION!
Roger

[DJD]

What he said(Roger)! I must confess I have limited experience with a drop shot rig and have never tried the wacky rig on a drop shot! thanks for the nice description EBG- Dan

[BlackBass]

One thing that was not discussed is how to most affectively use the drop shot technique. I start out by using a rod that has a limber tip, with some back bone! Spinning is prefered, but casting rods will work well. I use braided line alot of times when drop shotting and using casting rods!
You want to make long casts to cover water, or short casts to an area that you think holds fish! When casting out a drop shot make your cast, as the bait falls keep your line tight but not so tight that you affect the free fall of the bait "alot of strikes accur on the fall" . Keep in contact with the bait , and use 1 -2" movements with your rod tip, always keeping your line tight while picking up slack with the reel!,, When ds colder water, or fishing for less then active fish, find the bottom with the ds rig, and slow real/crawl the bait, deadsticking at times! When you feel a fish eat the bait more times, then not you will feel the pressure of the fish first, apon lifting of the rod tip . At the time of hook set you DO NOT , want to real down and set back on the rod , as you usualy would say fishing a jig. The best ds hookset would be to real down while swinging your rod tip up , or to one side or the other! If you do not do this, you will rip the small hook out of the fishes mouth! This technique will produce with any number of small plastics, Senkos , flukes , sweet beavers, craw patterns,creature baits, tubes. ect

[BuKuBass]

All of the above is good information. I learned long ago (1990) not to be over zealous in the shaking; just a gentle squeeze of the rod handle is usually sufficient. Hold your lure just under the surface, squeeze the handle and you'll see what I'm talking about. Now there are times when a pronounced movement is more effective. In those instances, other techniques such as hopping a jig along the bottom or swimming a jig or jerkbait thru the school will result in more fish per hour.

[1bigfish]

About the only things I would add to the above(and this goes for any new lure or method)

Fish with someone who has has caught fish on this rig before. Having someone to watch in person is a great way to learn.

Try it on a day that you are already catching fish with rigs you usually use and then change to the new set up. This is a great way to build some confidence for any lure or set up.

Sorry I am not more help but the keyboard is not a great place for show and tell.

Roger do you still have the utube vids on how to dropshot?

[nitrobass]

Spend a day on the umpqua catching smallies on it. You'll get good at tying the rig and nose hooking(or wacky rigging) the bait. Since its shallow and clear you can see how it looks under water when you shake it. There you'll also get to see the fish react on it. After a couple dozen fish you'll be a pro..As for how to fish it dont think about shaking the bait, shake the line thats still above water - thats plenty of action imparted to the bait. There's plenty of die hards that fish it year round but for big fish I like it in the post spawn.

[ExBassGuide]

The only youtube video I have made about the drop shot is on weights.
But I am coming out with more videos this week!

http://www.youtube.com/user/exbassguide

[bad habit]

I have tried ds here and there ,and I know its effective , but I very seldom get fish to grab on . I know i got all the right gear ,i dont know what it is. I have scanned fish, anchored and worked the $%$%^& out of it, and still nothing . 1 time I got some nibbles but couldnt pull'em... I will definately take note of this thread .. start sweeping my rod on the hook set, etc.


HOW BOUT SOME DROP SHOT PB'S ,LARGIE or SMALLIE

me ,my pb.......zero, hopefully this time around it will change

[Basshound]

Wow. Hey guys thanks for the info. I was under the impression it was strictly a deep water tactic. Becuase of that ive only tried it in water around 30ft or so. I will try my efforts in shallow waters and try to get a hang of that before re-visiting the deep. If i cant seem to nail it this spring i'll have to con one of you to come down to the south valley and do a little schooling. Thanks again guys. Hang tight, the days are getting longer. Derek

[jcft2007]

Originally Posted by Basshound

Wow. Hey guys thanks for the info. I was under the impression it was strictly a deep water tactic. Becuase of that ive only tried it in water around 30ft or so. I will try my efforts in shallow waters and try to get a hang of that before re-visiting the deep. If i cant seem to nail it this spring i'll have to con one of you to come down to the south valley and do a little schooling. Thanks again guys. Hang tight, the days are getting longer. Derek

Derek,
If you're into bed fishing for Largies and Smallies, try the dropshot also. Trick is not to have the distance between the sinker and hook more than 6" or so. Depending on how the fish are sitting on the bed, this distance will be determined.
Joel

[ExBassGuide]

I have landed bass out of 60 feet of water and all the way up to less than two feet of water with the drop shot. I do fish the rig much more on the rivers and at Hagg Lake. I do not tend to fish it in weeds much other presentations work better for me there.
I do like the rig around docks that float on the water (the ones you cant get up under).
Roger

p.s. one month till the sportsmans show!

[Bluknight]

Basshound - Thank goodness you admitted to not catching on the dropshot. I thought it was just me! It is my new quest this year - catch something on a dropshot rig!

Thanks all for the input. I'm sure it will help a lot in my route to the holy grail this year.

[arkansasbasser]

I wish I had known of this technique when I lived in Arkansas. It would be so deadly around the cypress trees that we commonly fished in the oxbow lakes down there. To be able to hold a bait in place and give it action among the cypress roots would have been so deadly. But I didn't even know about it until I became an IFish member and heard you all (yall) talking about it. Dang!

[veilside180sx]

I love to use drop shots in less than 15 ft weightless (assuming the wind plays along).

I'll juggle 3 or 4" to stay w/o weight on it because I prefer the action that comes from it that way.

[Basshound]

so what size hook should i use with say a 3,4 and 5 inch senko? Also say in about 6-12 of water what distance should i leave between the weight and bait?

[ExBassGuide]

I use a Gamakatsu size 4 Octopus hook for the 3 inch senko. I like the bait to be about 18 inches above the weight.
Roger

[1bigfish]

Originally Posted by Basshound

so what size hook should i use with say a 3,4 and 5 inch senko? Also say in about 6-12 of water what distance should i leave between the weight and bait?

If you are going to wacky rig it think small like a size 2 or 4.

You can also just nose hook the senko and in that case you will want the same size hook as the wacky rig.

Most of the time I don't fish it wacky, I will just set it weedless like you would with a texas rig and then I use a size 1/0 for a 3inch senko.

All three way of fishing the drop shot will produce fish depending on the action the fish is wanting. Wacky will have the most action by far, then the nose hook and finally the weedless. The fish will tell if they want it wacky, weedless, or nose hooked.

As for distance between the weight and the hook angain the fish and water depth will tell you. I say water depth only because if you are fishing 2 feet of water you would not want to have 36 inches between you hook and weight or you might as well just toss a top water bait.lol If you are using a fish finder and the fish are about 1 foot off the bottom then I would go with 18 inches. If they are 2 feet off the bottom well you might want up to 30 inches. If you don't have a fish finder then I have used anywhere from 6 inches to 36 inches but 12 to 18 inches is your best bet to start with.

My anyhow, I'm sure some will disagree.

[MXRacer105]

Some great advice on here. One thing I could add it in respect to "shaking" the bait, at least the way I was taught, let your weight hit bottom, and then move the bait WITHOUT moving the weight. I noticed if your weight is moving when you shake the bait, it will impede the action of your bait. Give it a try and it will make more sense....

As NitroBass mentioned, spending an afternoon in clear, shallow water (like the Umpqua) will help your drop shot skills immensely. You will really get the idea of what the bait is doing down there..... I was surprised how much the bait moved with the smallest movement of the rod tip.

Also, use a nice sensitive rod, light line, and don't go to big on the bait. Using a 5" senko for drop shotting is pointless (I am sure some will dissagree), this is a finesse technique, use finesse baits. Other than a 3" senko, hand poured worms work great (e.g. Robo worms) and will allow you to use a 5" bait while still maintaining the desired weight.

One last thing, as others have said, just don't set the hook like your jig fishing, typically a reel/lift hook set is all that is needed with a small, exposed, drop shot hook.

Good luck, it really is an easy way to fish once you get the hang of it.

[raptorschild]

Here is a nice 15 minute tuitorial. http://www.bassfishin.com/fishing-vi...-shot-fishing/


Not sure if someone posted this link already, but I looked and couldnt find it.

Hope this video helps.

[built2fish]

The best advice I can offer that I've found in fishing this rig, other than what I can see has already been written (Lots of great stuff!), is in regards to the retrieve.

What I will typically do and have found to be the most effective, when covering water with this rig is necessary, is to PULL the bait towards.

In a lake, I will start by making a cast, usually long if in open water and not casting to a specific target.

I wait until I'm sure it's on the bottom. Once I am confident of this, I will reel up the slack, lift a little with my rod tip, to be sure that the rig hasn't been picked up on the fall or at dead stick and then give her a few shakes focusing on using the rod tip only to shake the bait.

If this doesn't produce a strike the first time around, I will bring the bait towards me by lifting the rod up and back to me, not by reeling. I will then reel my rod tip back to about "2:30", being sure to keep as much slack out of the line as possible. I then shake again and repeat.

In a river my technique is a bit different. I will make, again, a long cast (unless casting to a target). I will wait to be sure it has hit the bottom, reel up the slack and then lift to check for a "on the fall" fish. This time however, I will shake AS I lift and pull towards me, as the current will push the bait back at you. This will help to keep 1) the slack from your line, 2) the weight in effective precise contact with the bottom and 3) your gear from snagging up all over the place!

Once I've reached about "12:30", I will reel my rod tip back down to about "2:30" and repeat.

Hope this helps! Drop shot wacky or however can be absolutely deadly!

[built2fish]

Originally Posted by Basshound

so what size hook should i use with say a 3,4 and 5 inch senko? Also say in about 6-12 of water what distance should i leave between the weight and bait?

As far as the gap between the hook and the weight (the dropper) is concerned, that is something that you should surely vary based on what presentation you discover works the best.

It was said above that water depth and fish holding is of great concern, and I agree completely with 1bigfish on this. Another aspect to consider and one that I feel is the most important of all, is what the forage the bass are targeting is. In other words, I try to "match the hatch" with the length of my dropper.

For instance, in the fall, when the fish are feeding heavily on bait fish, I will typically use a longer dropper (12"-20"), because the bass are more focused on feeding up off of the bottom. In the summer, I will use and 6'-12" dropper, because the bass tend to be focused more on cray fish and other bottom dwelling prey. In the spring, all bets are off, but I typically try to stay between 8" and 14" with my dropper early in the year.

It is also paramount to consider your casting distance when determining the most effective length for your dropper, as long casts result in steep line angles; this puts your bait closer to the bottom, for your set dropper length, than short casts or vertical presentations do!

I read an article a while back in Bass Master where Shaw Grigsby said that he feels most anglers get over zealous with their dropper length for the conditions they're fishing. I tend to agree with him on this. A good rule of thumb, IMHO, is 8"-12" for most given situations.

So, is there a best dropper length? Of course there is......... The one that catches the most fish!!!!!

[Tar Heel]

I don't fish Largies much anymore, but the CR Smallies sure seem to like the DS, sometimes when nothing else seems to work-especially clear water, sunny days. Roger's comments about the lateral line are intersting, and I wonder if a rattle is necessary, coiunterproductive...?
You can DS small plastics effectivly when there are no other effective ways to present, e.g., 4" curly tail Aaron's Magic is one of my favorites. Another tool I like is a jig or T Rigged worm or creature bait w/ a DS about 8-10" from the terminal tied as a dropper. You dead stick the jig or T Rig, and you have the small dropper working the suspended zone above the bottom. June before last I caught 2- 4 lbr's, one cast after the other-- on each of the two baits. The only problem w/ this technique is you don't know which one he's latched onto, so you don't know whether to use the sweeeping hook set or to rip his head off!