Still don't get this dropshot thing 2025

guest reply :

Ok, I realize that Florida is not the dropshot capital of bassAmerica, but there are situations where I'm pretty sure it would work. I need a little more info please.

1. Is dropshoting basically a vertical presentation?

2. Do you essentially leave the bait in one spot with some shaking etc.?

3. Is their a proven "retrieve style" of dropshotting

4. How compatible is dropshoting to weedy cover conditons.

I understand that versatility and creativity are keys to fishing success, but at this stage I'm looking strictly for the convential wisdom one would give to a beginner.

thank you

avid.

jdw174 reply :

Not necessarily a totally vertical presentation. It can be cast out and retrieved just like a T-rig if you want. That said, a near-vertical presentation is, IMO, optimum for a dropshot rig. I like working them down points or drops, stopping each time I move it to shake it around a bit.

Chris reply :

It is a way to keep the lure off the bottom and suspended. This would be a good way to fish areas that have a thick weed bottom and you want the bait to stay on top. Try a 6" redshad worm rigged Texas style and just drag the worm and let it swim while staying in contact with the weeds. You can also pitch it into small openings in the grass and let the worm free fall then pick it up till you feel the weight and shake it and let it fall back. It also is a jam up way to bed fish or when you want to fish vertical cover like pad stems or cat tails. You can also use it like a Carolina rig. I mainly just pitch it to a spot or cast it, let it fall, pick it up shake it or drag it, then let it fall again. You can also just bring the lure up and just shake it in a spot like in a bush and dance it around waiting for a bass to take it.

RoLo reply :

I wish I could help you Avid, but I live in Florida too.

I always thought that "Drop Shot" was the bartender's cue to cut-me-off

Alpster reply :

Avid,

This is the way we always fished shrimp and cutbait for catfish when I was a kid. It just kept the natural (but dead) bait from getting lost in the silt or grass on the bottom. I started fishing plastic worms this way 25 years ago. I only learned it was called drop shotting a couple of years ago. I's no more than a way to suspend a bait 6", 10", 12" or 18" above the bottom. The action you impart to it (just like any other soft plastic) is up to you. It is my favorite dead sticking technique. I hope this helps.

Ronnie

Catt reply :

No way Ronnie it was recently invented in California for fishing deep water; that would be like me saying I fished Carolina Rigs with live shrimp or live cocaho minnow in salt water when we all known it came from Carolina and was invented for bass fishing.

avid like any technique you can vary the retrieve to suit the water you're fishing, I cast a drop shot and slowly drag it back to the boat while sitting on main lake structure.

Alpster reply :

Quote
No way Ronnie it was recently invented in California for fishing deep water;

Catt,

I wasn't at all trying to take credit for inventing the technique, all I was saying is that I had done something similar more by accident than anything, and only to try to answer Avid's question about what it looks like when I do it. I think your example of live lineing with minnows was a good one as a comparison to what Carolina rigging looks like. Didn't mean to tread on anyone, SORRY.

Ronnie

Catt reply :

what I meant is that the drop shot and Carolina rig are long time salt water techniques 8-)

RoLo reply :

Quote
I wasn't at all trying to take credit for inventing the technique, all I was saying is that I had done something similar more by accident than anything, and only to try to answer Avid's question about what it looks like when I do it. I think your example of live lineing with minnows was a good one as a comparison to what Carolina rigging looks like. Didn't mean to tread on anyone, SORRY

Ronnie, you tread on no one.

The advent of most techniques is nebulous and without any defined line.

We as anglers merely refer to some common "sticky", just so we're both on the same page.

No one really knows when or who invented most of these ancient techniques, and who cares?

In my opinion, drop-shotting is older than me, and IMO I was fishing "swimbaits" long before the sticky.

Roger

guest reply :

When I was a youngster, many years ago, my grandfather and most of the guys on his lake were using drop-shot, they just did'nt know it. Then they simply attached some small aberdeen hooks on a cane pole with a large split shot on the bottom, bait with a minnow or worm and they were ready.

Had they only known they had to have a special drop-shot rod, drop-shot reel, drop-shot sinkers, drop-shot plastics, drop-shot line and of course a drop-shot hat they would have given up fishing entirely.

Any time a major tackle company needs more sales they just have one of their pros introduce a "NEW"

system. Only the tackle is different, the technique is the same.

Alpster reply :

Catt,

Quote
what I meant is that the drop shot and Carolina rig are long time salt water techniques 8-)

That's what I meant also.

Roger,

Yep, it's funny how the circle always seems to wind up where it started.

Quote

Had they only known they had to have a special drop-shot rod, drop-shot reel, drop-shot sinkers, drop-shot plastics, drop-shot line and of course a drop-shot hat they would have given up fishing entirely.

Now I wish I had thought of the "Drop Shot Hat". That would have been a money maker right there. LOL ;D

Ronnie

Tucson reply :

What! No dropshot hat! How did they get by?

Real valid thought though. I sometimes wonder if we put too fine a point on our equipment needs.

By the way, Victoria's Secret now carries a dropshot bra and panty set, just in time for the Christmas season too.

RoLo reply :

Quote
By the way, Victoria's Secret now carries a dropshot bra and panty set, just in time for the Christmas season too.

fishbear reply :

Quote
What! No dropshot hat! How did they get by?
Real valid thought though. I sometimes wonder if we put too fine a point on our equipment needs.

By the way, Victoria's Secret now carries a dropshot bra and panty set, just in time for the Christmas season too.

Bought the leopard print ones for my wife..... ;D

cwen reply :

I learned to fish the d-shot a miriad of ways this year. It is very versitaile. You can fish it vertically, pitch it, skip it under docks. It can be used with light line or on 7 ft. H rods with heavy line.

guest reply :

Well thanks y'all. I'll give it a try once I can back into the canoe.

I saw Shakira in the the Vicotrias Secret ad for drop shot collection.

Unfortunately I shot my drop way short of the honey hole.

FIN-S-R reply :

Quote
Well thanks y'all. I'll give it a try once I can back into the canoe.
I saw Shakira in the the Vicotrias Secret ad for drop shot collection.

Unfortunately I shot my drop way short of the honey hole.

How did you get away with that, they always junk my good posts ;D ;D ;D

Anyway, the Drop Shot:

Cast it, Fishing it vertically is really somthing to do using your electronics after youve buffed up on the "general use" stuff

Fish it with your rod, not your reel.

I have found that I do best on a drop shot when I attempt to "feel" what is on the bottum with it (this bit of wit might make it under the radar ;D)

What I mean by that is try to identify wether your encountering rock, sand, mud, a combo, or grass , or wood, or whatever.

The fish will hook itself so dont hammer back on it.

It can be fished from 1ft to 100ft of H2O

I typically rig skin hooked t-rig style on a 1 owner wide gap for weedlessness (is weedlessness a word)

no matter what type of bottum or cover your fishing, a long skinny weight will keep you snag free the best.

Rattlinrogue reply :

Although I use a vertical presentation in certain situations,I mainly cast and use an ultra slow horizontal retreive.I catch 'em both ways.I never dreamed that I'd use the drop shot way down here in grassy,woody MS,but it is a great technique when they won't touch it anyway else.It's one of my favorite ways to fish.

guest reply :

Thanks for the dropshot tip. As for the "other thing" I find that if I think to myself "How can I word this so if a guy is reading the post with his kid, he can explain it in a kid friendly way " works best for passing the moderator guillotine. Sometimes I too get the axe.

earthworm77 reply :

Avid, I live in Florida and do well with a D/S rig. Do you have a VHS? I can lend you a great video. I also wrote a few D/S articles for the site, one talks specifically about how to make the D/S a horizontal presentation for shallow water. If you can't find it, pm me and I'll email it to you. PM me your address for the video.....then I'll teach you how to float n fly!

guest reply :

Thaks for the offer earthworm. My VHS ate a tape and died a horrible death about 2 years ago. I never bothered to get another one because of DVD.

I will check out those articles though.

My home lake is very weedy with a soft bottom. I think a dropshot could be a real fish catcher.

jomatty reply :

the thing that got me to start catching more fish on a drop shot was when i started to think of it differently than a t-rig or other things that im used to fishing. when i fish it i think of the weight like an anchor and try to keep it in one place while shaking and lowering the worm. then i pick it up and move to new spot let it fall and "anchor" again, rinse and repeat.

i caught some fish dragging it around like a t-rig but for me this was more productive. i like nose hooking small roboworms. although im almost always casting it i have the best success on short to medium length casts from the boat in at least 5-6 ft of water. im certainly not saying that it cant work with long casts in shallow water this is ideal for me because when you make a long cast in shallow water it flattens the presentation out so much that its not as effective imo.

just my opinion on it and im certainly no dropshot expert,

matt

pete s reply :

avid,in fla you have a big problem drop shoting because of the aquatic grass invasion problem in the lakes in fla. check my drop shot idea in tackle section it may help. dosnt seem to hang up as bad as the commerially available weight systems. most items already in your tackle box. but,the better question is are you fishing the carolina rig? tends to catch legal fish better.(especially with a lizard on) but,you probably already know that. the key ingredient in fla is deeper,clearer waters .

guest reply :

I have fished the c-rig and it does work. But I rarely fish it.

I think it's a boring way to fish. If I was going to fish that patiently I would get some shiners. That's why I asked about retrieve methods for the dropshot. If it was a simple vertical presentation method I doubt if I would use it.

I was thinking of using a zoom finesse worm as my starter bait. What would be a good hook design for dropshotting that bait?

thanks

avid.

pete s reply :

avid,in fla you need to bury the hook and skin hook a small light wire ewg type of hook. cant get away with exposed hooks in fla(too much grass). more importantly,this is a light line type of situation(flourocarbon???);and you cant set the hook like you have been doing with this light line. bass here tend to like 8-12 ft comfort zone in our clear lakes with submergence grasses. also,3/16 weight seems to be about right for that depth with a 4 or 5 in worm(8lb line).

guest reply :

Well thank you very much Mr. Pete S. and welcome to the forum. You described my lake perfectly. Have you been spying on me

pete s reply :

AVID no,i live on lake conway in orlando. i have found that most deeper clear water lakes are pretty much the same in fla. have you tried dragging worms during spring,summer,and fall? another tip about the c rig in fla. downsize your weight(1/4oz good place to start). i use 1/4 oz bell sinker with with a zoom lizard and it seems to come thru the grass better. although,it is slower fishing than with heavier weight.

Captain Cali reply :

1. Is dropshoting basically a vertical presentation?

Vertical & Horizontal

2. Do you essentially leave the bait in one spot with some shaking etc.?

Most do. I drag and dead stick more than shaking. Both work.

3. Is their a proven "retrieve style" of dropshotting

I just SLOWLY drag the rig and dead stick. I'll maybe throw in a few shakes here and there. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Until you feel something funny. Always keep bottom contact with the weight.

4. How compatible is dropshoting to weedy cover conditons.

I was fishing a drop shot rig all summer with the weed cover at it's thickest for my home lake. I'm sure your lake is a different animal though. Usually more weeds call for a longer tag end/leader.

There isn't one thing I can pin point it on. It's just something you will get a feel for once you start catching fish. I'm confident that, with your experience and knowledge, you will get into a drop shot groove that you will not be able to break. It's a deadly technique.

One last thing, SHARP HOOKS!!

fourbizz reply :

I think that jomatty's "anchor" analogy is a great one. I shake the crap outta my drop shot rig, until the bite proves to be extremely tough, then I employ more of a anchored-suspended-deadstick-slack maneuver....wheewwwweeee thats alot of hyphens.

BASS fisherman reply :

Sorry to hijack your thread avid, but my questions are along the same lines, and go together with the techniques being discussed.

What type of hook is commonly used for drop shotting? I read that FINN-S-R uses a 1 owner hook.

I started with a 1/0 Gammie hook, but recently picked up a pack of size 1 Drop Shot Gammie hooks. Does it make a difference?

And how do you set the hook when drop shotting?

I have yet to catch any bass with the D/S technique and I think maybe I am setting the hook wrong.

fourbizz reply :

Size 1 Owner Mosquito Hook 90% of the time.

Hookset-REEL,REEL,REEL,REEL,REEL,REEL,REEL,LIFT.

FIN-S-R reply :

I was intro'd to D/S using the nose hook w/ a "dropshot" type hook like the skeeter. I just about quit it due to the constant snagging. Then I had a revelation that a very small EWG type hook might just do the job and stay weedless. Not only did it stay weedless (hook all the way through bait and then skin hooked) but my hook up ratio went up too. i will outcatch my tourney partner 2 or 3 to 1 while he is using the nose hook method. The only time I go to the nose hooking method with an itty bitty D/S type hook is to wacky rig my dinger ;D or senko or worm when Im gettin' lots of nibble and no hook ups- Only happened twice. And lots of folks say to use the lightest weight possible , but i disagree. Ilike to use the HEAVIEST weight possible so as i can maintain good contact and control, and make it sit really still if in the middle of some fish. Also I vary the tag any where from 6-8in up to 5-6ft. A couple of summers ago I found a pattern where the tag had to be at least 4ft, and you had to keep the bait still as a cadaver to get bit. So set up and action will vary, just ask the fish what they want...eventually they will let you know.

Sam reply :

OK, here is my two cents on the subject.

Take some of your hard earned money and invest in the DVD Classic Paterns Master Series' Mike Iaconelli Tactics for Tough Conditions.

Not only will Ike give you some wonderful pointers on how to fish the drop shot, but he also includes other fishing methods such as the shaky worm, split shot, stick baits, and other great "secrets" that you can use to your advantage.

Ike's info on the drop shot rig was more informative than Rich Tauber's Bassmaster University presentation. Rich made the presentation right after he learned the drop shot method from the Japenese bass pros at a California tournament and Rich was telling us how it worked and how great the set-up can be.

So do yourself a favor for Christmas and get the DVD.

But please don't tell anyone else on the forum about it as it will help everyone make the Classic!!!!

Merry Christmas

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Still don't get this dropshot thing 2025

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