Drop shotting Walleye

Does anybody do this? If it works for Bass I have to believe dangling a minnow 8″ off the bottom would work on Walleye. Isn’t this really like bobber fishing only with the weight below the bait?

Its kind of a reverse concept to the float. The weight sits on the bottom and the hook holds the bait at a prescribed depth above the bottom much like a float holds it. Waves and wind can affect the depth beneath a float and if the bottom changes depth you can be too shallow or too deep while under a float.

Below that Alma dam while drifting the channel I’ll Dropshot walleye/sauger with a do-nothing plastic. The weight will let you know when you need to make a depth adjustment.

The drop-shot is also a great crappie approach.

The outdoor radio guys were discussing this at some point, and the one guy was concerned on how walleyes bite, that the angle of the hook would not allow for a very good hookup %.

Obviously if they are smashing it it won’t matter. But if in a neutral to negative mood them nipping it will leave much to be desired.

I’m curious as well, good question.

Do a 3 way with a very short snell.

Dusty Gesinger wrote:

Do a 3 way with a very short snell.

How and why would that differ from a drop shot?

I believe with the drop shot, you tie the hook directly to the line with a special knot. With the drop shot I could see there could be more tension on the line for a soft biting walleye. When using a three way with a short snell, that allows the walleye to suck in that live bait or plastic easier,a with less resistance. If you think about it, would you rather have a walleye try to inhale a hook with one line tied to it or 2? Also, I feel like you can get away with more weight on a three way for better bottom contact on the river.

Someone was worried about a walleye being able to get the bait on a tight leash, any idea why a couple inches of play would help or hurt? Pretty much what Jeff said, just an idea, didn’t mean to offend any connoisseurs of the drip shot.

Nobody’s offended. I just didn’t know what the difference would be. Now I do. Thanks for the info.

The drop-shot will offer a whole lot more sensitivity on the hit. You’re less likely to get deep hooks either so its a better thing for releasing fish.

Drop-shotting is just another option for presenting a fish a bait. Drop-shotting sunfish on wind dams can be a hot way to catch them but its not an option that suits all anglers.

Jeff mattingly wrote:

When using a three way with a short snell, that allows the walleye to suck in that live bait or plastic easier,

I’d be concerned with the lack of movement. Maybe if you went with a thicker lead line as to be more rigid to the bait perhaps, but still, skeptical.

Saw this guys video last winter and never got around to trying out this method, but it does look appealing.

There are some old threads on this over the last few years. That’s my favorite presentation when walleyes move into deep dense sand grass to avoid muskies. Also a great spring -post spawn technique for working holes in dense weeds

Doesn’t work, never try it.

I use a Blakes stand out hook. Just adjust the distance of the bottom. Usually two on a line.

When I was a kid, an old-timer on the Mississippi showed me how to drop shot after I kept getting frustrated by having to retie my lines. It works GREAT…if the weight gets hung up, just pull the weight off and add a new one.

And you don’t need those fancy drop shot weights all the bass guys like to use. An old-fashioned split shot works just fine.

I almost always use a 3-way.
I change the weight according to the current and
how the walleyes are taking the bait.
Sometimes when they are just mouthing the bait,
I counter-intuitively increase the weight
to tie the bait down tighter which increases the hookups
by reducing the slack.

That being said, there have been situations where
my fishing buddy, who likes to use drop shots,
has had even better success.