|
Drop
Shotting
Drop-shotting is a new technique that has been the talk
of the Pros so far this year. The technique has been
around the west coast a couple of years, but has really
gained fame this past year on the tournament circuit
when three B.A.S.S. events were won. Drop-shotting is
a finess technique that was designed for clear water
while fishing out west. This technique has been very
successful on the east coast even in some dingy water
situations. It is a system of fishing that has the weight
on the bottom and the lure a couple of feet above the
lure, sort of suspending it.
To
rig I will use 8 to 10 lbs. test STREN Super Tough line,
take about 30 inches of line and tie a small Mustad
37145BLN no. 2 hook with a Palomar knot, then take the
tag end and run it back through the hook eye while holding
the hook upright. Go from top to bottom and this will
keep your hook straight and make it stick out. Then
you add a Bass Pro Shop drop-shot weight (1½ oz.) or
take a 1 ½ oz. slip weight and place a Carolina Keeper
below so your weight will slide. Next attach a Zoom
Finess worm or Zoom tube or really any Zoom plastic
you prefer, by hooking right through the nose just like
a nightcrawler where it is dangling down. Spray with
Jack's Juice in crawfish or garlic and you are ready
to go fishing. For drop-shotting I use a six foot medium
action Woo Daves' Finess rod with a Pro Qualifier reel.
Cast out to the structure that you are fishing, whether
it is a dock, bridge piling, drop-off, etc. Let lure
free fall to bottom then gently twitch up till you feel
weight and drop it again, letting the lure sink to bottom.
The
key here is to keep the lure in the same place, jigging
up and down. After I do this three to four times then
I will pull lure two feet and repeat process. This can
be a deadly tactic on bedding bass as you cast just
past bed and pull sinker to outside of bed - now your
lure is directly on the bed. Here you just jig up and
let fall, repeating as long as necessary. It's also
great around shallow stumps or structure. Remember the
key is to keep the lure in one place for extended periods
of time.
One
other great tactic is to flip on heavier equipment under
boat docks. This allows you to keep your lure under
the dock for as long as you want. In these situations
I will use a 6 or 8 inch Zoom lizard on a 7 ft. medium
heavy Woo Daves' rod and Bass Pro Shop's John Morris
reel with 17 to 25 lbs. STREN Super Tough line.
Be
sure to check out the Woo Daves' sunglasses and the
Woo Shoes on-line at www.basspro.com
or the Bass Pro Shops catalog.
Good
luck fishing and may God Bless.
|
