Brett had learned the technique from Aaron Martens at an earlier tournament . Brett showed me what Aaron showed him , and he took me shopping for the gear I ’ d need . I quickly realized that drop-shotting was not just a numbers technique – that you could catch big fish on it , too . I ’ ve been a dropshotter ever since .
I think the primary virtue of drop-shotting is that it catches fish for you . With other soft plastics methods , you have to
ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL HOEWELER provide all the action , detect the strike and set the hook . With a drop-shot , the fish does a lot of that for you . When you fish a drop-shot like I do , sharp hooks will almost set themselves .
highlights
In 2003 , I won the Bassmaster Open Championship on Toledo Bend Reservoir ( Louisiana-Texas ) and drop-shotting was a huge part of that win . You think of Toledo Bend as a power-fishing lake , but each morning I was able to get a good starting limit on a drop-shot . Without those fish , I never would have won the tournament .
when
Drop-shotting is such a versatile technique that there really is no peak time to use it . It works all year long , every season on the calendar , and for every kind of bass . I absolutely always have a drop-shot rigged up and ready to go every time I launch my boat . If you develop some good drop-shotting skills , you can catch bass virtually anytime , anywhere , from California to Florida and Washington to Maine . It ’ s even a great method when you ’ re fishing dirty water . It ’ s always a viable technique , though it may not be the best technique under some conditions .
If I had to pick one area where the drop-shot shines the most , I ’ d say it ’ s on northern smallmouth bass fisheries . As I said , I ’ ve always got at least one drop-shot rod rigged up in my boat , and it ’ s usually going to be on my deck no matter where or when I ’ m fishing . In smallmouth waters , it ’ s usually going to be in my hand all day .
tackle
My go-to drop-shot rod is a 7-foot , 2-inch Sixgill Scythe spinning rod ( SCYTHS702M ). It ’ s rated as medium action , but it ’ s very close to medium-heavy , and it allows me to get a good hook set on soft plastics that I ’ m rigging self-weedless rather than with an exposed hook .
My reel is a Sixgill Dreadnaught Series 2000 spinning reel with a 5.2:1 gear ratio . I spool it with 10- or 12-pound-test Berkley Nanofil as my main line and I use a surgeon ’ s knot to connect it to a 4- or 5-foot length of 10-pound-test fluorocarbon . My leader – the length from my bait to the sinker – is usually 10 to 12 inches . This is the combo I use for about 80 percent of my drop-shotting . If I ’ m using an exposed hook rig , I ’ ll go to a slightly lighter rod .
I use Ark Fishing No Chip Tungsten Tear Drop-Shot Weights and Ark Skinny Drop-Shot Weights ( cylinder shaped for grass ). About 75 percent of the time , I ’ m using a 1 / 4- ounce sinker , but I ’ ve gone as heavy as 1 1 / 2 ounces in deep water or heavy current .
My hook is an old school Gamakatsu offset worm hook that I ’ ve used a long time with a lot of continuous success . A lot of great drop-shotters — like Aaron Martens — prefer a straight-shank hook , but that offset hook has been really good for me .
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