Drop Shot Rigs

[Moose1am]

I am not sure if the rod lenght makes much difference with drop shootings. I guess that's a personal preference. It may depend on your boat's size and where you sit in the boat. I thought that when drop shotting you fished straight down below the boat? Do you all cast the drop shot baits? I would think you want to maintain good tight lines to the bait so that you can feel the bite in deep water. Deep water is 25 ft or deeper to me. If you have a lot of slack in the line between you and the bait it would be harder to detect the thump. That's why I like to fish with a tight line. If casting I like to cast out the back of the boat with the wind. I keep the line straight in line with the wind so that I don't get a bow in my line. Casting across the wind direction can put huge bows in the line an cause you to loose contact with even a heavy bait like a 1/4 oz jig. I prefer to use heavy jigs when fishing deep and when the winds blowing hard.

I was talking about two different methods of fishing. Drop shot and Float and Fly. I use the 12ft long rod for slow trolling and at one time tried to use it for float and fly. A long rod works good for sling the float and fly baits out. If you fix the float you can leave out 12 ft of line and have the bobber fixed at the 12 ft level and still be able to sling the cast out away from the boat.

I prefer a rod that has a large opening in the last guide on the rod which allows a thrill type bobber stop (String Type) to pass though the rod's guide without hanging up. If the bobbers stop is set for only 6 ft deep the stop can be wound up on the reel and sometimes hang up in the line on the reel or the guides and either stop the cast from going out or move the bobber stop to a DEEP position on the line. These thrill type bobber stops have a hard time getting tight on a thin diameter fishing line. You basically have a yard type cotton wrapped around mono slipper fishing line. You have to really tighten the bobber stop down on the fishing line to get it to stay in one place. That can make it harder to change depths later too. Also some mono lines have variarying diameters as you go along the fishing line. So the bobber stop can get tight at one spot on the line and three feet away it can be loose.


Regards,

Moose1am

[Fishhead]

I actually use a rig both ways. I cast it and work it down steep slopes and points, across humps, along weedlines, nearly anywhere you have an edge. You let it hit bottom, take most of the slack out and lightly "pop" or twitch the line, just ever so lightly taking the slack out and letting it back in. This makes the plastic bait dance on the line. Most of the time thhe fish seem to want it with as little movement as possible, sometimes just the bobbing of the boat. After a few moments in one spot I drag it toward me a few feet and repeat. I use weights from an 1/8th to a 1/2oz routinely.

Now if you find a brushpile, rock pile or standing timber and can see the fish suspended on you LCR you lower it down to them and shake it vertically. They were doing this method this weekend at the BASS T.

Most of the time the bite is just a heavyness on the end of the line, almost like it picked up a piece of grass or weed. Other times they will swim off with it or there is a little "tick". Every once in while they are really aggressive and whack it! If you keep it tight all the time you can take away a lot of the action of the plastic bait.

The rod length can make a difference when you work it this way. And no matter where you sit in a boat you still have that 12ft rod in your hand. I have friends that are FNF finatics and they all tell me that fighting a fish and netting a fish on that 12ft rod is a challenge. As is casting that FNF rig. I have a 19ft boat and a 12ft rod is almost 2/3rds of the length of the boat. As far as sensitivity, rod length really doesn't make that big a difference until you go over a certain point. After that point you will lose alot of sensitivity in a rod of that length. After all, isn't that one of the reasons to use a float? To suspend the fly and indicate a bite, right?(I'm asking, I have not done the FNF rig, hope to try it this winter if my health allows.)

To me deep water is a relative term. On some lakes deep can be as little as 6ft. I'm originally from New England and I'm not a stranger to deep water fishing. I've caught bass in 60ft of water and as shallow as 5ft of water with a jiggin spoon. Smallmouth on Winni and Lake Champlain would often be in 35-40ft of water, we

[FISHN_MAGICIAN]

Thanks for the good info. I didn't realize all the technique involved...I guess you would have to use one of those 3-way swivels to rig this thing huh? I appreciate you guys taking the time to post this infi it will really help.

[Fishhead]

You dont need a 3 way swivel. You tie a drop shot hook (Octopus hooks) to the line using a Palomar knot and leave the tag end of the line about 1-2ft long. Then tie a weight to the tag end the length you need. Be sure to use an overhand knot to the weight so it breaks off easily if snagged, that way you don't lose your whole set up.

It really sounds more complicated than it is. Actually its quite simple once you see it and easy one you've used it. Check out that web page, there lots of info and suggestions there.

[stratosjoe]

I have been using the dropshot quite a lot this year and it seems I have had better luck dropping it off a ledge really slow and then barely move the line causing the bait to move without dropping further off the ledge then just cause it to drop to the next ledge and repeat. 4" straight worm in garlic man makes me nervous just thinking about it:-) :-)