Drop shot for late season Crappie.

[trypman1]

I sometimes find myself forgetting how effective a drop shot rig can be on deep water Crappie & other panfish. Late fall and winter, when they go south below 10/15' deep. I use a 2 jig or hook drop shot rig. A 3/8oz weight with a hook a foot above and another about 30" above the weight. When the crappie are stuck to the bottom, I drop weight to the bottom and jiggle up and down & then set, you keep doing that until you find some bites. You must keep your line tight, so you can feel the bite. This rig is also effective when they come up the bottom and school. You just stop your jigs in them, repeat the above action. My favorite baits are Gulp minnows and BG plastics. This is deadly.

[Crestliner08]

Hard to beat a drop shot just about any time of the year or whatever species you are after. I learned drop shotting when I use to target smallmouth bass off deep water structures. Works well for crappie too. I just prefer to cover more water with a jig & plastic offering. Just as effective, but you cover more ground than with a drop shot. Unless you are targeting specific structures, like logs or stumps.

[hdhntr]

classic KY lake rig used for many years and can be very effective with plastics or minnows.

[ezgoing]

This is the only way my wife would fish year around. And she always caught more crappie than I did using a jig.

I used double jigs with one just inches off the bottom last night and caught several 12" plus crappie after several days of not catching any crappie with a single jig fishing top down. They wanted it held with very little movement or they would not strike.

Here is an interesting article about this method of fishing crappie. Drop Shotting For Winter Crappie With Joey Mines - B'n'M Pole Company

[trypman1]

Thanks, a good read.

[M R Dux]

I've used a drop shot rig for casting to bottom hugging crappie for years. I find them tight to a depth change especially with cover. I position the boat on the shallow part of the depth contour and cast to deep water. For this rig I tie a #1 hook on a 6 inch dropper loop knot about 18 inches above a 1/2 oz weight. I hook the minnow up inside the mouth and out a nostril. Once the rig is cast out and hits the bottom, I fish it molasses slow like one would fish a Texas rigged plastic worm for bass. Most of the time the bite is just a drag or weight on the line but sometimes it is a vicious, snatch the rod out of your hands, bite.