Help with drop shotting

[Paul DeLuca]

So I'm going up to the trailer this week and will be bass fishing. I'm gonna have another go at drop shotting because I hear it's very productive but I've yet to catch anything doing it. Does anyone have any tips? Like for instance what depth I should be at this time of year or what areas of the lake or what should I be looking for on sonar/down imaging?

My lake has a variety of areas like many bays, some weedy some sand bottom, rivers and islands and rock shoals. The depth in the bay's and rivers can be anywhere between 5 feet and 55 feet with the deepest part of the main bay dropping to 115 ft.

Thanks

 

[IR4Jflyfishing]

Are you chasing largemouth or smallmouth? For smallmouth this time of year I would look at main lake points and ledges in depths ranging from 4 feet-20 feet, rock to sand transitions are important. The islands are a great place to target smallmouth as the generally offer a shallow food source with adjacent deep water.

If it is largemouth you are after it is going to depend more on the exacts of your lake, most fish will be in summer transition which means shallow ambush locations. However if you can find brush piles or deeper weed flats (8-10 FoW) you may be able to effectively target them. But you should be scared to throw a drop shot shallow either, some of my best largemouth have come on a 6 inch leashed dropshot.

It is a technique that a lot of people overwork, as someone who does a lot of dropshot fishing I have stuck to 3 ways of fishing the rig.

1. Dropping on em- This is probably the easiest method of catching fish on the drop shot, basically idle around until you have found a fish or school of fish and drop on them, with modern electronics this becomes very easy but the difficulty lays in determining the mood of fish and how they are reacting to that presentation. On some days you will find the fish dont need any movement other then the natural movements of the bait.

2. Target casting- Like the above technique this method is again relatively stationary however works in shallower water. I target lay downs, exposed rock, weedlines, etc with this method. Basically making short casts to this structure where I will pause the bait on a semi slack line or give a few shakes of the rod tip. But remember do not over work the bait. Make a cast, count to 15 and then either change angles or move on to the next bit of structure.

3. Search- This is going to be the hardest technique of the 3 and combines attributes of both but requires a lot of feel. With this technique im going to be going to what I believe are high percentage areas. Maybe you caught a fish on the drop but havent seen any on the graph, there is very few times when a fish will be in a place for no reason (patterning). To execute this method properly you'll want to make short to medium length casts allowing you presentation to fall on a slack line. You will pick up this slack and hold the rig tight without moving it (for curious fish that may have seen the fall) You will then slowly drag your rig until you feel the rod start to load, at which point you have found some sort of underwater structure. You can then shake your bait, pulse it or pause it. Most of your strikes will come soon after hitting the structure.If nothing youll want to "hop" the weight over the structure and begin your drag again. This is where your equipment comes in handy, a good drop shot setup relies heavily on a sensitive rod and quality line. I fish 2 setups, a 6-8lb flouro setup for the bulk of my fishing 0-20feet, when I move above that 20 foot range I switch to a 12-15lb braid setup.

 

[fishfight]

We drop shot at niagara river at times, easier to execute when water current was not as fast, depending on how much the city releases the water during the day. since the boat was already moving with the help of the current of the river, we ensure our lead weight always tick the bottom, line presented. as vertically as possible, to feel the leadweight bottom bouncing, if we felt a tug, it could be a fish or potential hang ups, so we automatically lightly set it. For fishing water under 15 feet, I would suggest using baitcasting reel, then use stiff but light rod, with 1000 size reel spool, for lightweight sensitivity to subtle bite, then 4-6ft flurocarbon leader on braided line. Many subtle tap-tap bite could even be a 4 lb bass. These are the times when bass were not too aggressively feeding, but would take the lures, since it was presentation in front of their view range. Why use baticasting reel? Easier to release the line when water suddenly change to deeper depth, so we watch the fish finder every so often for terrain changes. If the area has big boulders or rocky, creating more potential hang ups, we ensure our line are place as vertically as possible beside the boat,Then we retrieve our line again to shorten it when it gets to shallower depth, ensuring the line is again vertical , or the lead weight will get snag when we least expect it. So constant adjustment of line length, shortening and lengthening, and setting it with a tug is important. lines in an angle harder to unsnag during hang ups. Leadweight size could be from 3/8 to i oz depending on depth.

Another option is to use 1/4, 3/8oz to 1/2 oz jigheads (depending on depth)with grubs, tubes, bucktail jig. or fake minnows, and just bottom bounce your presentation vertically while the boat moves slowly. We used this method if the bottom is rocky and not a lot of weeds. You can cast farther and let your lure sink if the area has less snageable bottom structure, to get potential fish not close to the bottom.

 

[IR4Jflyfishing]

Im going to add one more thing, contrary to popular belief. A 1000 reel is fine for braid drop shotting but a larger reel is nicer for flouro. I fish a 3000 but have considered a 4000. Larger spool diameter = less line twist.

 

[Paul DeLuca]

So I notice different preferences here. Is it better to use a spinning setup or baitcaster? And braid or fluro or braid with fluro leader? I haven't rigged any of my rods with fluro because I found it hard to work with. So is there an advantage to using all fluro? I'll probably be fishing in shallower water <25ft. Thanks.

 

[BERRRG]

Don't do much dropshotting, but in most scenarios, I find braid to offer great sensitivity because it doesn't stretch, and also has less line-memory. To get that invisibility (or nearly) benefit you could just use a fluorocarbon leader, with braid mainline, and get the best of both worlds. Just my two cents.