Hey guys this is Jason with Wired2fish and one of the questions that we get asked about
a lot is how do I drop shot?
It seems a lot more intimidating I think to guys then it really is.
In essence, itís the hook with a tag end coming off the bottom of the hook and a weight
on the bottom rather than having your hook on the bottom and the weight above it, you've
got the hook up top and the weight down low, ya know on a leader.
Basically, as a Carolina Rig is to horizontal fishing, a drop shot is to vertical fishing.
It gives you a way to suspend the bait up off the bottom and work fish straight up and
down.
As far as the equipment to drop shot, I mean most people that are accomplished drop shot
anglers will tell you itís a spinning rod, light line, finesse approach it.
Itís extremely effective in clear water environments.
But basically the rod and reel that I choose, I've got a 6'-8" St.Croix Legend Extreme rod
here.
Itís a great rod for drop shotting but ya know, whatever youíre favorite rod is.
My recommendation is a tip with a lot of action, you can see this tip here, thatís about a
20% bend and then it goes into the backbone.
And thatís real critical to how I drop shot and you may get a different opinions from
other folks that are accomplished drop shot anglers but for the different places Iíve
fished all over the country, Missouri, Arkansas, here in Kentucky, Florida and out west and
things like that, Iíve just found that the tip with a lot of action that goes into the
backbone pretty quick gives me a lot more hook sets and I feel a lot more bites.
The reason that is, you've got 6lb line, youíre fishing out there in 20-30 feet of water and
youíre kind of working the bait. 9 times out of ten, all the bites going to feel like
is a little extra pressure on the line and I need that sensitive tip to let me know something
is there.
So, when I start to feel that tip just bend in, I feel just a little bit of extra pressure
in there.
I donít want to drop the rod tip and get a hook set.
What I want to do is that pressure thereÖ..because when you do that your weightís here on the
bottom.
So when you drop that slack that weight has a tendency to pull down and that sometimes
can make a fish release the bait.
What I try to do when I feel that little bit of pressure is just keep coming into them
with it.
So I basically, when I feel that pressure and it pulls down, Iím just going to reel
up into them.
Iím going to raise the rod and just reel the rod into them and kind of just stick them
with that constant pressure.
That hooks 99% of the fish for me.
Surprisingly you are using a little number one hook.
This is a VMC Spinshot hook, a little 4 inch worm.
That little hook and just that pressure set with the reel, you hook 99% of the fish and
they donít come off.
Youíll be amazed how well these little hooks stick even big fish.
I mean last year when we were doing this last summer, we were catching 6 pounders on it.
So itís an amazing way and an effective way to hook fish and keep them hooked.
Like we said, 6 lb line, you want a really good drag system, you need it to be really
smoothÖ..making some lunges there at the boat when we are trying to land them.
As far as how to fish it, itís really not that complicated.
Thereís a lot of folks that just straight up vertical fish right below the trolling
motor.
The transducer on the trolling motor and watch their baits on the screen.
Just as effective in the way that we caught a lot of our fish last summer.
It was just making short casts; ya know 20-30 feet out there where we knew a school of fish
was, out in deep water.
Throw it out there and when it gets to the bottom Iím basically going to just work it
with the rod.
Iím just gonna slowly drag it along the bottom until I feel something, until I feel a rock,
a stump, a brush or something.
And when I feel like Iím next to something a fish is going to relate to, thatís when
Iím going to start working my rod to making that bait dance a little bit and let it sink
to the bottom and jump it up a little bit.
If I donít get a bit there then Iím just going to continue to drag it on the next little
piece of cover I feel down there.
And thatís how I catch a lot of fish.
People think that you just throw the drop shot in one little spot and hop it around
and if you donít get bit than reel it up and go to the next one and thatís fine.
Iíve caught a lot of fish in places like Table Rock and Beaver Lake just fishing straight
up and down in vertical cover.
Standing timber in there in a 100 feet of water and tops of trees are in 30 feet of
water and thatís great and I love to fish that way itís a blast to look down and see
them on your screen, drop your bait down there, watch the weight go down and then see the
fish coming up attacking it as it is going down.
That kind of fishing that straight up vertical approach that gets to be more like a cat and
mouse game.
And youíll find that youíll get the bait down there in the strike zone where youíll
see those fish and there kinda dancing in front of them and they donít react to it
and a lot of time I will just kind of raise the rod tip up 5,6,7 feet and see if I can
get a fish to come up and chase it.
If that doesn't happen ya know and I get one chasing it then maybe Iíll lower it down
real quick.
Youíre almost playing keep away from the bait and a lot of times that really is an
effective way to get them in that vertical cover but for the most part, Iím gonna shake
it just try to make it dance and swim there until they just canít stand it anymore.
As far as hooking the fish like we said, itís just constant pressure, up swing, good drag.
Just smooth equipment is the main thing.
You donít want to drag on your reel that kinda just comes out and bursts like that,
you donít want that, thatís when youíre going to loose those fish when you are fighting
them right there at the boat.
As far as baits to fish on drop shot, there seems to be 2 schools of thought there.
Itís usually just a long skinny straight tail worm, 4-6 inches, something to that nature.
There are also folks that like to fish a shorter profile, a small crawfish.
I know like up on Lake Erie those gobee baits are real popular.
Those have a much shorter and thicker profile but for me, 9 times out of 10, Iím gonna
have a 4 inch or a 6 inch, straight tail, skinny worm.
This is a Zoom 4 inch worm here, thatís real hard to beat on these rigs.
Itís a quarter ounce, Eco Pro Tungsten weight here.
You donít need a lot of weight for this.
I actually find the lighter weight you can get by with, thatís what I try to use.
Obviously if youíre fishing in wind, current and things of that nature, you might have
to go up to a little bit heavier weight but for the most part, ya know that quarter ounce
weight gets the job done even in 20 feet of water or more.
Thatís some tips right there for drop shotting and you can see from the video that itís
extremely effective on catching fish.
We caught hundreds of bass all summer last year on drop shots.
I've been catching them for 20 years fishing in places like Table Rock and Beaver.
Ever since the drop shot first came out, when it came out, out west itís been the hot ticket
on those real clear fisheries and just like anything else itís something to experiment
with.
Donít just say well its summer and thatís why Iím going to fish the drop shot.
There have been tons of big catches in the early pre-spawn on drop shots.
People catch them in the fall on the drop shot, I mean in the winter.
It really is a 4 month out of the year application so itís definitely something you should add
to your arsenal.
Get a good 6'6" - 6'8" medium spinning rod with that flexible tip that we talked about,
good backbone, smooth drag on your reel, some 6 lb.
line.
Weíre using 6 lb.
Fluorocarbon here from Seaguar.
Thatís great stuff, you have added sensitivity, and itís invisible to the fish.
It gives you a real finesse presentation in that real ultra clear water.
Places like Table Rock and Beaver and other fisheries like that.
Visibility can be 20 feet at times ya know so you definitely donít want fish that get
to sit there and stare at your bait for 10 minutes to be spooked by your line and things
of that nature.
So get a good quality, good Fluorocarbon light line, good equipment, a handful of different
colors of straight tail worms and go experiment.