Drop shot???

[jl3140]

Okay, I've never fished a drop shot rig before. I bought some sinkers the other day and I plan on using them on Monday. How do you fish a drop shot rig from shore? Do you just cast it out and "jig" the lure a bit with the weight not coming off the bottom? I've tried to find YouTube videos, but pretty much all of them are vertical drop shotting techniques and I don't have access to a boat to use and the pond is pretty small for a good size boat. Thanks in advance.

Josh

[Denny Welch]

Hey Josh,

I think Gamagatsu and Mustad have some pretty nifty drop shot hooks that have line grips on both sides of the hook eye.  Hold hook with point facing up and attach line from rod on top grip.  The leader should be about 15 - 18 inches long. One end of the leader attaches to the remaining grip on the hook and the other on the grip of the drop shot weight.  From shore I'd probably go a little heavier on the weight than I would from the boat...say 1/8 - 1/4 oz.  I'd probably start with a carrot, dragon tail, goby or whatever else looks good to you.  Toss it out there and let it rest for a minute or two and then start slowly dragging it back to you.  Depending where you're fishing you might consider rigging weedless.

You will probably get a few replays with other ways to fish a drop shot and I'll bet they are all good.

Good luck.

[jl3140]

Thanks Denny! When you drag it back, do you twitch it and let it rest frequently?

[Jerry V]

This dude can tell you more about the Drop Shot rig than the rest of this forum combined.   At least I think that to be true and it's not a bad video.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JmDHkzG7aio&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJmDHkzG7aio

[jl3140]

Thanks for the link Jerry, that answered about every question I have about drop shotting.

Josh

[pjmcla]

Thanks Jerry.  Very good video.  A lot of really good information.  I know he says he uses the Gamakatsu drop shot hooks ( sponsor maybe  ).  I fish a drop shot method a good bit, and I personally like the VMC Spin Shot hooks.  Both are good drop shot hooks.  Also; the Do-It drop shot finesse weight mold is a great mold.  Easy to load the line holders and pours excellently.  Mold #  FDS-8-A for 1/32 all the way up to 5/8th;  or Production molds FDS-8--  18, 316, 14, or 38 for 8 cavities  of 1/8, 3/16, 1/4 or 3/8 ounce respectively.  I also make my own drop shot hook rigs for circle hooks with a wire bender ( live or dead bait fishing ).  There are times when the fish are suspended a little where a longer leader drop shot or a floating bait Carolina rig is really effective.       

[ctom]

Andrew turned me on to the VMC drop Shot hooks for what we call "Dubuque" rigging, basically a drop shot rig only using a larger heavier jig as the weight to take thr drop shot bait down. Some people use a minnow on the larger jig, some use plastic, some use hair jigs and work it a bit more aggressively. The drop shot hook almost always gets a plastic or a minnow....I like a Gulp 2" minnow or a two inch plastic with some action to it on the bottom jig when I rig like this for crappies and fish a 1" Gulp on the drop shot hook.  For walleye sauger I fish a hair jig on the bottom or a minnow and a plastic about a foot above the weight jig on the drop shot hook.

Three way rigging is a very similar set-up, equally as effective but affords the use of a longer leader off the drop shot hook. There are times I'll soak a 3/4 ounce Flathead bucktail at the bottom and run a three to four foot leader back with a plain hook and a plastic. Its amazing how many times the long leader with the plastic will get the sauger instead of the big jig at the bottom where the sauger are supposed to be.

[matt]

when i fish drop shot for shore i treat it like a walleye jig just give it a good shake once awhile

[Bass in the hood]

The video Jerry recomends is very good and explains the drop shot well. I have been using the drop for many years now and have had a lot of success on it. I have a web site that explains the drop shot technique. Www.bassinthehood.com under the techniiques tab. Good luck with the drop shot it has worked for me on boat, float tube & shore both salt & fresh water.
Blog.bassinthehood.com

[BassDetective]

Don't limit yourself to these ideas only.  They are all good ideas and have worked.  Consider:

1.  the structure and cover
2.  the mood of the fish
3.  water clarity
4.  depth fish are located at

As an example - I tied a 6" Weedless Huddleston to 65 lb braid using a drop shot rig (weight below).  Now I didn't catch any fish that way but I wanted to keep the bait down a few feet off the bottom in 25 feet of water.    You can vary the hook size, weight, and bait type to suit the conditions you are fishing.

Good luck.

[jl3140]

Awesome information both on the blog and in the video! Thanks for the link! I'm going to try this out again today.

Josh