Ever hear of it?
I was browsing around YouTube and came across some great videos on the Rock River. They were using a method they call drop shotting and they were catching GIANT Flatties. They are great videos that obviously were promoting a site so I won’t link it, but if you look around YouTube for Giant Rock River Flatheads you should be able to find the 4 videos. 
They are really good….especially #4.
Gets the blood going!
Don’t let on that we are using Bass techniques (sp) to go out and catch flatties. I would imagine the water levels are a bit deeper than around here. But I am not the one to disagree with the currenrt flathead champion, which is in deep jepordy come this spring……..thank you very much 
Yeah, I really could’t outright admit that I knew what drop shotting was 
But yes, I do know about the “traditional dropper rigs” but after watching the vids I’m a bit confused. They were set up near 12ft of water and dragging their baits on bottom and bouncing the sinker off the structure.
Sounds like a Carolina Rig to me.
Did I just say that 
Watch the vids you won’t be disappointed!
Haven’t you guys ever Texas Rigged your bullies when fishing heavy cover?
That video got the blood going. I especially like how the guy lands them by the jaw with his 8′ rod. You think he was another former bass guy 
How about this Dtro?
If you guys promise not to all sign up for the other site and leave me here (alone) with pug…you can post it??
Deal?
As long as it’s not a copy right infrigement and is of interest to our members…go for it dude.
That got the blood going! Maybe I can turn my luck around this year…
I havent searched for the videos yet… But are we talking about basic 3 way rigging, or the same concept?
Did they actually show any of the drop shotting techniques in those videos? They were talking about it alot but….. Thier rigs werent set up as drop shots.
I have a IN-fisherman segment on drop shotting. Although used for bass, I see that it could easily be applied to catfishing. The key that Mr.Doug Stange mentioned is that you need to use a polemer knot on the hook to get it to stand out away from the line.
Dave, In-fisherman explains it as tying a wieght at the end of your line. With the hook tied(using a polimar) I think a snell would work as well, anywhere 6-24 inches above your wieght.
I think it could be very effective if your right ontop of heavy cover and want to keep control of your bait so as not to get tangled or snagged.
I’m pretty sure the reason they referred to it as drop shotting is because they were banging the structure with their weights. I’m guessing this is to draw attention to the bait. This is similar to a carolina rig with a glass bead and dragging the weight on the bottom as the bait is suspended.
In this case they were using gills that were probably struggling as they were dragging the weight across the bottom.
With a subject like this you guys had me excited. I was thinking feline and my imagination was starting to run wild. 
We can’t use real cat’s for bait in MN. 
I’ve tried that on the St Croix a few times, it worked better with cut bait for channels…and it was in the mid summer months.
I wonder how it would work this time of years…well once the temps above freezing.
Watching the rod stuck in Tim’s gut and seeing that rod bend made me want to run down to Moores just to rub my hands on some 4 oz lead. 
I wish they showed what exactly they were doing. Its fun to watch cats caught none the less. I wont tie a polamer knot and tie anything else off the tag end(weight in this rig). Tieing snells in the past, almost every knot would get weak with significant pressure pulling on the tag end because the knot would over tighten and crimp the line within the lead knot.. In other words, if your weight gets hung up, its going to weaken the hook knot. A snell knot was the best for retaining strength, but I sure wouldnt want a bait pegged directly to the line with a weight below.
The theory is nearly the same with a 3 way rig, and much stronger. A lighter line can be tied to the *drop weight* which will allow less lost rigs, improved bite detection to the rod tip, and wont weaken the hook knot.
Improved bite detection is because there is no resistence from the weight when the fish hits, it is a direct link between your rod and the hook.
Dave
I have to say that I pretty much agree with your statement above. That there are other ways to achieve the same result. I do think that this technique could be effective if your dropping a line strait down into thick cover, and want complete control of the bait and line. That’s about the only application I could see using it in.
I dont see why a 3 way rig would be any less effective than the common slip rigs we already use?
I dont know if they would be better, or worse around cover, I think it will vary on the cover like any other rig out there. I can easily see both the drop and hook line getting rapped up in a snag, and I can also see the weight getting hooked up and not the bait in rocks which would save some rigs, and probably catch a few more fish too. Drifting a bait, or fishing vertical, I dont think a 3 way rig can be beat.
Its really a rig worth testing regardless. I am very particular about my bait not being able to move very far, a short hook line might be better than a short leader in most cases. The question is would it reduce hook up’s, or even bites. I think the actual statistics would vary greatly in different fishing situations with live bait, but I am certain the results would be good with cut bait under most all situations.
I guess all we can do is tie a rig on and see what happens? I wouldnt mind testing it soon if this *global warming* allows me to
I wish I could somehow send you the Infisherman episode segment that has this drop shot rig on it so you could see it in action. I might have to play with the DVR and VCR to make a copy and let you see it first hand.
As far as 3ways. they are effective. I just dont like tying up that much tackle. especially when its sun down. If I could fish a couple lines at the same time I might be tempted, but I know that if my lines not in the water, I’m not catching fish. And I would rather sit and watch my line than spending time tying rigs.
What’s the differance between the dropshotting and using a 3/4 oz jig head with a bully on it?
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What’s the differance between the dropshotting and using a 3/4 oz jig head with a bully on it?
Drop-shotting (well, in the bass sense, at least) would keep your bait suspended off of the bottom. I like to think of a drop-shot rig as a reverse-bobber rig–a bobber keeps your bait a set distance from the surface and a drop-shot keeps it a set distance from the bottom.
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I just dont like tying u
That’s why I was thinking about just going out and buying tackle early and doing some pre-rigging. The trick there is to keep them from tangling in the tacklebox, which I think I can figure something out, kind of like those cylinders that walleye anglers use for their rigs. I want to try the 3 way swivel this year, especially on the occasion I fish a rocky bottom. But I think with sunken timber it might just be another thing to get hung up. I like having the weight in-line in those instances so I can walk the wait over the timber or if it gets caught in a fork of a branch, the weight can give me an opportunity to plow through or break through, leading the way for the hook.
Hey Darren – I read the article and what I understood from the information was that he was not “drop shotting” like a bass angler. From the title of the article we assume he is doing the classic bass drop shotting technique. He was more doing what we would call “dinking and dunking”. He positions his boat very close to the cover he wants to fish (within a rod distance). It sounds like almost a flipping type approach and he drops his bait working it very close to the cover. The rig is bell sinker then a bead and then a 6/0 Kahle hook. He doesn’t jig the bait as much as he drags it in the close vicinity of the piece of cover. The cover he uses for an example is a big root ball or tree trunk. Depending on the current flow around the cover he usually starts at the front, then works the side and finally the back. He recommends spending 10 – 15 minutes and moving on.
After reading the article and analyzing what he said, I’m thinking of getting some of the bigger weedless bass jigs and hanging a nice big junk of cut bait on it and pitching to cover working the same approach he does but with a heavy weedless jig.
He does say that it gets pretty exciting when a hog grabs that hook on a short 6′ to 8′ line. You have to haul the fish out of that cover pretty quick.
It was an interesting piece and worth the effort to give it a try.
Sounds like what we do here to catch flatties during the day by fishing directly in the wood. Bring lots of extra jigs Steve. The worst part about it is, you will be hard pressed to get a large fish out of wood. This would be better used around boulders like they have all over the rock.
Pug,
I did a bunch of pre tying last year. I used the holders that your talking about. Those worked okay.
What I found to work the best is little tiny Zip lock bags.
If I recall correctly I got them from Michaels Crafts store.
they come in a 2X 3@3/4 coil your leader and it will hold up to a 10/0 gamugatsu octopus. I’ll be doing some more tying when I get my order in from Moores tackle.
So we are talking sans-swivels here and just a weight, bead and hook. That’d be great when you are vertical or close to vertically fishing. I’d still almost rather do the 3 way swivel with real short drop line and leader, just in case the weight went in somewhere a hook couldn’t get out or a place your bully could feel safe and secure not doing any work. I want to experiment a little more this year with rigs that will hold the bullhead off the bottom. Not much more than a foot, but off the bottom enough to make the bully panic more. That and I also want to start using beads, not to protect the line, but to cause a little extra noise.
Thanks for the tip Larry. I had to read it twice to understand what you were talking about, but that sounds like a great idea.
Steve, I have fished that way extensively in the past on the Minnesota river. I often wouldnt spend 5 minutes in each spot. It can be very productive, but its a very different type of fishing. I dont recommend trying it at night becuse its a great way to get your boat hung on a snag.
I used cut bait, not live bait. its best to hold your rod. If you feel anything, you need to rip the fish out of the snag immediately.. shorter, very heavy rods and tight lining. In lower current areas, I held boat position with my trolling motor. Anchoring with a long rope works better with the assistance of the trolling motor(if needed) to keep the boat out of the snag. If there are mutiple snags, you can let out rope to get from snag to snag.
It can be a very effective way to fish, but its equally as frustrating. It is close quarter combat. When you get a bite, you have to pull that fish out, if the fish bend the rod over before the hookset, its usually gone(back into the snag)
Pug, I did some pre-rigging last year, too. Swivel-bead, hook. The only problem with the lindy-rig/snell type holders for them is that with the size of the hooks we use, you only get a few on each cylinder. Otherwise, it worked well.
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Pug, I did some pre-rigging last year, too. Swivel-bead, hook. The only problem with the lindy-rig/snell type holders for them is that with the size of the hooks we use, you only get a few on each cylinder. Otherwise, it worked well.
Yep!! also the big hooks stick off so far that it can be tricky storing them with out hanging up on stuff.
That’s kind of why I was thinking maybe you could build one maybe with PVC pipe and some foam, but that would just be silly when Larry’s idea would take up so much less space and be easier.
Larry – I pre-tie my leaders and store them both ways – on the round cylinder leader holders and in the small bags. Either way works fine and it is a lot easier than trying to tie a leader up in the dark. They store conveniently in my Cat Box and I haven’t had any trouble with them tangling up.
They sell the small zip lock leader bags at Fleet Farm in with the Lindy rig stuff. They were like 50 or 100 bags for about $5. They work pretty good for the big 10/0 Gamy Octopus hook leaders. Here is a pic of my leader holders:
I do it the same way as Steve Does. .
Great pic Steve!
Nice picts. Looks like I have some work to do.
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