Drop shot rig questions...

[Crestliner08]

I've used the drop shot presentation (for over about a dozen years now) mostly for smallmouth bass, when fishing off-shore structures. I've have had success using it for crappie as well, but haven't found the need to resort to this finesse tactic very often. Rarely are crappie so finicky as to having to resort to using it.

However, that being said, I can offer a few tips that may improve your success with this presentation. First, I have never found that circle hooks work all that well with either bass or crappie, when used on a drop shot rig. I've always had my best results (hook-ups) with the tried & true Gamakatsu Drop Shot hook. Reason being is that the point of this particular hook is straight, not curved in like a beak. This drives the point into the mouth of the game fish, vs driving it in and back out again (following the curvature of the beak point).

Next, I would recommend a simple, straight tailed plastic, such as the BGBS series. And just nose hook it. When drop shotting it is desirable to mimic a vulnerable minnow, unaware of the predator's presence. This plastic does just that, as I'm sure most other straight tails do as well.

Finally, the biggest mistake most drop shotters make is to worry about movement of the bait. Don't be. Move it as little as possible. I lower the rig to the bottom, take up slack so that I know where the bait is in the water column, then I lower it just a tad to take off the pressure on the line. This gives the bait a freer movement in the water, allowing it to take advantage of the currents (which there always is). This minute movement and the subtleness of the straight tailed plastics, will ensure the bait is moving as it should. Extremely productive, regardless of the species of fish you are targeting.

I hope this is of some help.

[dandeman]

[QUOTE]I have never found that circle hooks work all that well with either bass or crappie, when used on a drop shot rig.[/QUOTE]

Circle hooks don't work if you try to set the hook as with other types of hooks. The hooks set themselves if you let them. "Different strokes for different folks". Whatever works for any person is what works best.

Merry Christmas!!!

[naturenut]

'Crestliner08', i aggree with you, good tips.
i drop shot smallies with KVD caffiene shads like in the pic.
i never thought of rigging the same way for crappie. i always use a Aberdeene hook.
but i should get better action rigged on a drop shot hook.

i would never use a weighted jig for drop shotting either. unless it caught fish.
it's just going to hang vertical...

i hook them like this up into the nose. they stay horizontal in the water. there's a couple of examples. you can see hooked another way, how they sag in water.

thats a #1 vmc spinshot on a 2.25'' shad.
i make my own spin shot style hooks on bigger hooks like in pic with the KVD shad.

i also use a heavier weight, so i can keep the bait limp for good action, but i can feel
weight real easy when i want to get the line taunt, without pulling the weight off the bottom. real easy to feel even in 25 fow.

[shipahoy41]

I've used the drop shot presentation (for over about a dozen years now) mostly for smallmouth bass, when fishing off-shore structures. I've have had success using it for crappie as well, but haven't found the need to resort to this finesse tactic very often. Rarely are crappie so finicky as to having to resort to using it.

However, that being said, I can offer a few tips that may improve your success with this presentation. First, I have never found that circle hooks work all that well with either bass or crappie, when used on a drop shot rig. I've always had my best results (hook-ups) with the tried & true Gamakatsu Drop Shot hook. Reason being is that the point of this particular hook is straight, not curved in like a beak. This drives the point into the mouth of the game fish, vs driving it in and back out again (following the curvature of the beak point).

Next, I would recommend a simple, straight tailed plastic, such as the BGBS series. And just nose hook it. When drop shotting it is desirable to mimic a vulnerable minnow, unaware of the predator's presence. This plastic does just that, as I'm sure most other straight tails do as well.

Finally, the biggest mistake most drop shotters make is to worry about movement of the bait. Don't be. Move it as little as possible. I lower the rig to the bottom, take up slack so that I know where the bait is in the water column, then I lower it just a tad to take off the pressure on the line. This gives the bait a freer movement in the water, allowing it to take advantage of the currents (which there always is). This minute movement and the subtleness of the straight tailed plastics, will ensure the bait is moving as it should. Extremely productive, regardless of the species of fish you are targeting.

I hope this is of some help.

Couldn't you achieve this same success by using a Carolina Rig with a floating minnow in the current about on a 2.5 foot leader?

[Crestliner08]

Couldn't you achieve this same success by using a Carolina Rig with a floating minnow in the current about on a 2.5 foot leader?

A Carolina Rig normally employs the use of a heavy egg type sinker with it's retrieving method, in order to keep the rig on the bottom. I don't like heavy weights for most anything, except using the Carolina for bass on deep structures. The drop shot uses light sinkers and is a more precise finesse type presentation, for when your quarry is in a neutral to negative mood.

And like I said, it is now rare that I now have to resort to a DS rig for my crappie fishing. You can always find some active fish, so the normal crappie presentations seem to work just fine. Finally, I am a strictly CPR fisherman and never use live bait to catch any species I go after. In my opinion, it's just not needed. If you like using bait, more power to you. To each his own as I always say.