another drop shot question

[TonkaBass]

Boes the weight of the sinker matter? what hook do you guys use? Is a special purpose rod really needed?

[TurnUpTheFishing]

I dont think weight is a important as when your jigging or worming. I like to start and 1/4oz and upsize according depth. I suppose if you were drop shotting suspended fish weight would be much more important.

I use owner mosquito hooks in various sizes depending on the bait but any light wire hook should work fine. Im not a fan of the stand out hooks to bulky for my liking.

If by "special purpose rod" you mean a rod made by a manufacturer intended to be used specificly for drop shotting then I say a big NO. I dont have enough cash to have one rod for every lure or rig so I use a 7'M fast action legend elite to jigworm, dropshot or even walleye rig (yeah I said it). It was worked out fantastic for me. With that being said I wouldnt pick up any old rod to dropshot.

[cjac]

I just started playing around with drop-shotting this year, but your questions can apply across any presentation really.

Weight: Just enough to get the bait where you want it is sufficient. Be it walleye, bass, panfish, etc. I like just enough weight to get my presentation where I want it want it and still keep it light enough to feel as much as possible. I want to feel a "pick up" as much as a "pull".

Compare it to a J'n'P presentation for example. Natural weed growth in less than 8' or 10' feet deep I'll go as light as possible, 3/16 oz often. Contrast that to deeper weedlines on a milfoil lake like 'tonka I will opt for a heavier jig to drop thru the 'foil. Little heavier the deeper I go, as it also gets my bait in the zone faster.

Situation-specific rods: I sway back and forth on this one...

TUTF makes a great point on a rod serving many uses, but its also a pretty high-end rod in this example. You can get many applications from one good rod like that.

RK (sorry Rob) likes to use the "women's shoes" analogy, and I can relate by looking in ther closets in my house, but it clearly illustrates the topic at hand. They (the Mrs's) can have 20 pairs of black shoes, all situation-specific in their minds. Same goes for us with our gear.... Question becomes how often am I in that situation and will I use it enough?

I have set-ups that will suffice just fine for the DS presentation but I'll admit I'm looking for another situation-spefific set-up for '09.

[OLY]

I usually drop shot with an 1/8 oz finesse drop shot weight, and only go heavier if it is really windy or I am fishing 20+ ft of water. I love the Gamagakstu drop shot hooks I will never use anything else. I dont think you have to have an actual drop shot rod, but I do. I have a 6 10 allstar drop shot rod and it is awesome! With the rod line and hook combo I use I have a near 100% hookup ratio. Feel the bite lean back and let the rod load up, fish on!

[fishcast]

Pretty much the only size sinker I use is 3/16oz, and I've caught fish with that size from a few feet of water to like 26 fow.

And rather than the sinkers marketed for drop shotting, I use bullet sinkers held in place with a carolina keeper. I fish them around weed edges a lot and in my experience the bullet sinker pops through the weeds much cleaner.

For hooks I used size 2 mustad "drop shot" hooks when I use shorter finnesse worms in the 4-5" range, and 3/0 gamakatsu ewg with worms in the 6" or 7" range.

I just use mediumish power spinning tackle, personally I'd say most rods are labeled technique specific just to get people to buy more thinking what they have isn't good enough.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Here is my .02$ on the questions, take it for what its worth.

Quote:

Does the weight of the sinker matter?

Like with any technique, yes, it matters, maybe not so much as in a technique where drop rate is a key in getting strikes, but still important in my opinion. I feel you want to use as light a sinker possible, yet allow you to work the lure in place. Too heavy a sinker and the fish can feel it as they pick it up and swim away. Too light and you move the lure to much and are not able to work it in one place.

Quote:

what hook do you guys use?

I use the Stand Out hooks. Size of the hook depends on he chunk of plastic I am using.

Quote:

Is a special purpose rod really needed?

Needed?... no, but like any technique, a special purpose rod for that technique really does help. And thus will up your odds on catching more fish. To me the ideal Dropshot rod is one that has plenty of back bone, yet, a SUPER fast tip. A rod with a a sinker holder is nice for when its in the rod box as well.

Dude, you should have asked these questions when you were at Cabelas the other day?.. sup with that?

[Cecil]

The key to the weight is feeling the bottom in deeper water and being able to keep the weight on the bottom. But like Deitz stated, it can be negative to have too heavy of a weight like any weight.

I use different hooks depending on lure. Finnesse worm or small plastic in open water I use a Octapus type hook. Bigger plastics or if I'm in heavier weeds I will switch to a light wire offset worm hook.

If in deeper water, I use a 7'6" med lt extra fast. Shallower either a 6'6" or 7' similar action.

[Wayne Ek]

We use the drop-shot rig for just about everything these days. Last fall we beat up on the walleyes with it. And I still think it is one of the easiest rigs for novice anglers to use, the only thing simpler is a slip bobber set-up. That being said here is what I've learned.

1. The sinker does matter, both in weight and style. For weeds or deep chara (perch grass) presentations a pencil weight or worm weight seems to work best. For sand or muck I will use a plain old bell sinker. And for rocks we have been using the Lindy no snag sinkers. I have tried tungsten weights and they work great, but I really did not feel that they worked any better than a bell sinker, if you go up some in sinker weight. I've also noticed the more stationary you are the lighter the sinker you can use, but the minute you start moving along slowly (like working a break or around a rock pile) you need to go to a much heavier sinker so you can keep a semi-tight line, eliminating that natural bow in the line caused by moving. I tend to gravitate towards a heavier weight,probably much heavier than you need, but I like the line control it gives me.

2. Line- I use 6/14 Fireline with a straight line (salt-water) swivel, made by Off-Shore Anglers, they are called Wind-on-Swivels (Bass Pro Shop) they are quite small and will run into the quides without a problem, the only time they are in the quides is when your storing the rod, with the proper leader lenght they shouldn't be in the quides when fishing. Then I have 6 to 8-feet of 10-pound fluorocarbon, the hook and then the weight.

3. The hook depends on what plastics I'm using as does the size. Most of the time I will use a mosquito hook, for deep weed-lines like cabbage Owner makes a weedless wacky rig hook that worked pretty well last season for shotting in deep weeds.

4. The rod, I like a longer rod 7 to 7.5-feet. I almost always use spinning tackle when shotting, the only exception was last year on "tonka" and Lake Oscar when I used a Heavy Flipping stick to punch holes in the milfoil (I don't think it worked any better than just texas rigging of flipping a Pig/jig would have) but I had to try it. I like a xtra-fast tip on a medium weigth rod. I think the longer rods allows you to fish a little further away from the boat when your shotting in deep water and have the luxury to fish almost vertical, it also helps when fighting a bigger fish (which did not seem to happen to often during tournaments last year). When dipping in shallow cabbage or coontail it allows you to make a little softer entry. I don't care who you are when you pitch a shotting rig it isn't always the most graceful or quiet entry.

.............................................................

One tip, I think most people new to the drop-shot rig tend to fish to high in the water column, I've found that starting out around 12" off the bottom is usually a good starting point, then if your not getting bites go closer to the bottom rather than higher with your next move. The only time I go really high in the water column ( 2 to 3-feet off the bottom) when shotting is when I'm fishing a deep water chara grass hump, and that stuff can grow 2 or 3-feet of the bottom at times so you want to stay on top of it.

And just I little heads up. Last fall we shotted the Northland Slurpie Panfish tube on fast breaks for fall walleyes, it out fished every other presentation, including fatheads or shiners on jigs. I wish I could take credit for it but Roy Kramer put me on to this pattern. Even old dogs can learn new tricks...

[TonkaBass]

Dietz

I know, I had the ice fishing on the brain... It's a problem, I'm trying to overcome it. But here's another question for you, do you spool your reel with all flouro, or braid then switch to a flouro leader?

[Deitz Dittrich]

I put plenty of backing on... and then spool up with about 50 yards of 100% floro. Ek above said he uses braid.

I have found with using such small lines, I use 6 lb.. it gets stretch out pretty good.. so I replace it often...

[RK]

Hiya -

I think with this stuff it's a little bit of 'to each their own...' but here's my $.02...

1.) Size of the weight definitely matters. I bet I use a 3/16 oz 80% of the time, and only go heavier if it's very windy and I'm in deep water. I use as light a weight as I can get away with, for the reasons Deitz described, plus because I think a lighter weight is less likely to slide down between the rocks and get hung up. I use either Lunker City Bakudan weights - especially the skinny ones - or a Water Gremlin Bull Shot. The Skinny Bakudan weights are really snag resistant. For REALLY sticky rocks, take a Bull Shot, and mash it flat as can be with a pliers. Amazingly snagless...

2.) I use Owner Mosquito hooks, usually in 1 or 1/0, depending on the plastic. I use 1/0s with thicker plastics like 3" Yum Dingers, and 1s with real skinny stuff like Robo Worm leeches, 3" flukes, etc. I also have some Owner texas rig drop shot hooks for rigging weedless, but I seem to use them about once a year. I could easily do without, and when I run out of them, I won't replace them.

3.) I don't think you have to go buy a rod made for drop-shotting, but I do think the right rod action is important. I use a 6'9" Med-Light power spinning rod Keith Terlinden built for me. Speed-wise it's somewhere between fast and mod-fast. I like the little extra give in the tip section - it's pretty forgiving when a fish picks up, and also helps you keep steady when the boat's bouncing around on you. It's great for the sweep set you need with drop-shotting. Really, other than maybe being a little faster, a drop shot rod has a lot in common with a good live bait rig rod for walleyes. Personally, I think most jigging rods are a little too stiff for drop shotting. Keep in mind though I'm mainly fishing smallies, so my drop shotting is over rock piles or over pure open water, so I'm not hauling fish out of cover very often.

As far as line goes - I put backing on then about 50-60 yds of 6# fluoro, and, as Deitz said, re-spool frequently.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[CHM]

I have a dumb question...when you put the sinker in the keeper what do you guys do with the hook?

Thanks,

Chuck

[Cecil]

If you wrap the line around the guides it will sit a little tighter to the rod.

[TonkaBass]

I have a dumb question...when you put the sinker in the keeper what do you guys do with the hook?

Thanks,

Chuck

I just rig it weedless when the rods in my locker. This is a must if you are using rod slicks because it can be difficult to get it off if the the hook is exposed and gets stanged up inside of the rod slick.

[Wayne Ek]

I use a heavy rubber band or hair band on the handle of my drop-shot rod. I place the sinker under the rubber band then place the hook in a lure keeper or place a piece of plastic worm over the hook point. The FM store had some ice fishing lure keepers at one time in the store that work.

[st.crioxfishin]

This may hijack the post slightly, but its dropshot related...

Has anyone used the shimano Cumara rods for a dropshot? and what specific ones do you like? Right now I'm trying to choose what rod to get for a dropshot and I'm torn between the 7'2" M,X-fast and the 6'8" M,X-fast. I'm also looking at the St.Croix avid and tournament bass series 6'9" ML,XFast rods anyone ever use these?

Any insight on these rods; good, bad, or other will certainly help. Thanks!

[Cecil]

I used the St Croix 6-9MLXF but I have since switched to a 7'-6" Medium Light Fast. Longer rod has many advantages.

[RK]

Hey Bob -

I've used the St Croix Tournament 6'9" ML. VERY nice drop shot rod. Very similar to the 6'9" ML Diamondback I use for drop-shotting, which I love. I haven't tried the Cumara, but the Crucial DS rods seem pretty nice. Imagine the Cumaras are as good or better.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Deitz Dittrich]

Bob- wish I would have known, that day you saw me I had 2 of the Cumara 7'2" M X fast in the boat.. you could have tried one.

Its what I use and love!!

[TonkaBass]

I also use the St.Croix legend tournament 6'9" and love it. Seems to do the job nice for me. My buddy on the other hand uses a crucial and swears by it. Though to go wrong either way if you ask me.

[st.crioxfishin]

sounds like good results with both brands of rods, thanks for the input guys!