Dropshot Tips

I have a really hard time throwing the dropshot so if I can catch bass in tough conditions with it anybody can. Here’s a few tips that I’ve found to work along with a video. What kind of tips have you all picked up along the way. I’m certainly not an expert so I’d love to hear what you all have found works also.

1. Don’t overwork it. Many times deadsticking it or letting the natural water motion give it action is enough. This is the one I have the most difficulty with.

2. Use Maxscent flatworms. They attract more fish than anything I’ve found. Only issue is the gills like them too.

3. Use a longer rod for extra leverage.

4. Use a #2 Neko hook instead of a dropshot hook. They are a little stouter and can hold bigger plastics also.

Another fun video.

Your 1st tip is Key.The less you work the bait the better.

As far as baits go, the sky’s the limit. I tend to prefer strait tailed baits. I prefer to nose hook the baits tather than wacky rig them. Just my choice. wack rigging them will work as well. My #1 choice is the Robo worm 6″ fat strait tail worm. # 2 would be a fluke style of bait. The Berkley ones work the best but others seem to last longer.

I still prefer the Dropshot style of Hook. I just feel you get better hookups with them. The longer shaft on the Neko hook can act as a lever when a fish gets out of the water and shakes their head with that drop shot weight on the other end.

one other tip I have is to get away from a normal hookset. More of a upwards sweep or a simple lift and real works the best – For me anyway.

one thing I noticed in your video is that you seem to be fishing your weight drop rather long. Not that there is anything wrong with that. It all depends on the cover you are fishing it in. if in some type of a grass weed I adjust the drop distance to have the bait just above the weed tips. I’d say 90% of the time my drop is in the 12-24″ range.

One last tip is to make sure on the knot to pass that Tag end back through the hook eye after knot. Then pull on the tag end to rotate that knot so it sits in the middle of the Hook eye. This helps the hook stand strait out. you may have to adjust it often while fishing it as it often gets rotated one way or the other.

The Roboworm is bouyant so is more likely to stay perpendicular to your line.
This rig can work well for Walters too I guess.

I do like the roboworm. Haven’t had much success with it although I haven’t been using it when I’ve been dropshotting more often lately. I’ll have to get one on again.

tim hurley wrote:

The Roboworm is bouyant so is more likely to stay perpendicular to your line.
This rig can work well for Walters too I guess.

I catch a fair # of Walters each summer while dropshotting. I caught 2 of them just this last weekend.

mahtofire14 wrote:

I do like the roboworm. Haven’t had much success with it although I haven’t been using it when I’ve been dropshotting more often lately. I’ll have to get one on again.

I have not tried the Berkley flatworm yet. I’m sure like most berkley baits they will be Great. They were really hard to find all of last year and early this year as well. I kind of gave up looking for them. The only thing I don’t like about powerbaits are the cost and how long they last. When the bite is really going it could become a expensive day using those flatworms or any powerbait for that matter.

It’s funny, the dropshot and ned are getting pretty popular with the walter hunters. Guess they’ll be bass fishing whether they want to or not…..

Good stuff Mahto, I’ve been meaning to try it off the dock at the cabin as it’s a softer bottom with 6-12″ sand grass and most stuff (raps/swim baits) gets fouled up.

BigWerm wrote:

Good stuff Mahto, I’ve been meaning to try it off the dock at the cabin as it’s a softer bottom with 6-12″ sand grass and most stuff (raps/swim baits) gets fouled up.

I’ve been seeing a lot of people using it for bluegills with good success also. Might be good for that off the dock as well. Smaller hooks and panfish plastics obviously.

mahtofire14 wrote:

I’ve been seeing a lot of people using it for bluegills with good success also. Might be good for that off the dock as well. Smaller hooks and panfish plastics obviously.

I have had good luck using it for panfish as well. I also have had great success using it on Leech lake each fall for Perch. I use a Berkley gulp panfish size minnow on it. It tends to cut down on the smaller dink perch and often brings in the Biggest perch of the trip. In states where its allowed I’ll fish a Jighead in place of the sinker and fish a minnow on the jighead and a plastic on the dropshot. Its a blast when you have a fish on both hooks at the same time !!!

For anyone that uses the Berkley Flatworm, or any Berkley Maxscent products, I was just at Scheel’s in EP and they still have the $3 off sale in effect. Several colors of the Flatworm in stock, both in the 3.6 and 4.25 inch sizes. The sale has been going on for the past couple of weeks, not sure why they don’t show it on their website though. And it is for all their Maxscent products they carry.

I’m a big smallie guy so I love to drop shot. They are deadly on Mille Lacs. For walleye, I use a drop shot and a leech and I love it works great. When I got bored of fishing docks with senkos this spring I started fishing them with drop shots and it actually worked great The other odd thing I will do is go way up in the reeds on White Bear early season and pitch into the little pockets between the reeds with a paddle tail and drop shot. Loads of bass up in the thickest reeds.

Another tip to add, not sure it was mentioned. On the cast or pitch, try to maintain little or no slack in the line. So often when using the DS the bite will come on the drop or the instant it hits bottom. When making further casts that can be tricky. Then I’m sure to watch the line for any strikes.

I just started using the drop shot last year so all this info is great. I tried a leech with it last spring and caught a few walleyes and some nice sunfish. This was on a lake not known for walleyes or having the nicest sunfish so it was a nice surprise for me. I used a #2VMC spinshot hook and it seemed to work well.

Stanley wrote:

I used a #2VMC spinshot hook and it seemed to work well.

x2 pretty impressed as well

Be careful with those Spinshot hooks. I’ve have many of them break the little rod that the hook spins around while bringing fish in. Not big fish either. I also don’t like them because the spinning action they allow the plastic to have at times. Think spin and ice fishing.

mahtofire14 wrote:

Be careful with those Spinshot hooks. I’ve have many of them break the little rod that the hook spins around while bringing fish in. Not big fish either.

I also tried the spinshot hooks when they 1st came out. I was not a big fan of them. I had a Few of them Break and lost a few fish on them. Ended going back to the Gamakatsu dropshot hook. I am looking forward to trying out the new VMC redline dropshot hook this season. They look nice.

fishthumper wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mahtofire14 wrote:</div>
Be careful with those Spinshot hooks. I’ve have many of them break the little rod that the hook spins around while bringing fish in. Not big fish either.

I also tried the spinshot hooks when they 1st came out. I was not a big fan of them. I had a Few of them Break and lost a few fish on them. Ended going back to the Gamakatsu dropshot hook. I am looking forward to trying out the new VMC redline dropshot hook this season. They look nice.

The finesse hooks (neko, dropshot, wacky) that VMC has come out with are some of the sharpest and stickiest hooks I’ve ever used. Absolutely love em.

Old thread but finally getting out of my power fishing ways. Where are you throwing drop shots? Mainly off shore humps/points? Rocks and weeds?

Youbetcha wrote:

Old thread but finally getting out of my power fishing ways. Where are you throwing drop shots? Mainly off shore humps/points? Rocks and weeds?

The nice thing about the drop shot is you can fish it well in multiple depths and multiple structures. The only place I won’t throw a drop shot is thick weeds (can do it, but gets bogged down with weeds easily and there’s better options for that). Just off the edge of a weedline however is very effective. As a power fisherman by heart, I usually burn structure with a moving bait while watching side imaging for pods of fish. If I locate a pod, spot-lock or slow down, grab a drop shot and pick apart the pod of fish. Since it’s not a technique that covers a lot of water, you want to fish it through pod of fish or a high percentage piece of smallish structure that is likely to hold fish.

If you’re fishing it in heavy rocks, I would suggest switching to lead weights instead of using tungsten. You can burn through a lot $$$ fishing tungsten drop shots through rock piles. Match your weights to your depth. I use 1/4oz or 3/8oz for most applications. You also want to be able to feel your bait at all times, so if it’s windy, that also can call for heavier weights.

X2 on the Berkely Maxscent product line. They just flat out catch.

I agree with hoss. You can throw it pretty much anywhere but his point on “high percentage” locations is key. The main point of a dropshot is being able to keep the bait in the strike zone for a much longer time. They can be tricky to throw around docks, but I’ve had good success doing that. I haven’t tried it, but you can also fish it in pretty heavy cover with a heavier weight and a more weedless setup. Called bubba shotting. That said, I typically prefer using it on deeper weed edges and rocks.

Hoss and Joe pretty much nailed it. It can be fished in almost any location. That said it really excels Just outside the weed line and on Hard bottom spots. But if the rocks you are fishing are large, like said you are likely to lose a fair # of weights. Also like others have said its best when you have fish located. To many people first start trying it and struggle with it while using as a search bait and just give up. Far better search baits out there. But not many more effective once you have fish located. I tend to keep the weight as light as I can get away with. To often if the weight is to heavy the fish feels the weight when they pick up the bait and will spit it out. Another key is to learn to work the bait on a slightly slack line. You want to work the bait without moving the weight

Don’t over look docks with the dropshot either. Can get snagged every not and then, but when they don’t want it on the bottom, a dropshot can absolutely crush docks.