Drop shot trip 9-4-06

[J-Dub]

I fished on Ft. Loudon Monday, braving the rain and Vol navy. I've been reading of some really shallow water catches so I figured I could get in on that. Wrong! Tried Ish creek for about 4 hours without even a single bite. The only thing I didn't try was dynamite and it crossed my mind! Anyway, figured I'd try some main lake deeper banks and headed out. First cast with a 7" worm in 12' of water I nailed a 16" lm. then it died again for the next hour. Out of desperation I tied on a drop shot. I've only used it about two times in the past w/o any success really. I don't know what I'm doing with it or how to fish it. I was on a bluff bank in 40' of water so all I'd do is toss it up to the bluff, let it drop to a ledge then really slowly dance it over the ledge down to the next one. It worked like a charm. I got 18 fish on that little thing and 2 were keepers including a 21" sm. It was a ball. I don't know if I was doing it right but the fish seemed to think so. Most were only 13" bass but it was a whole lot better than what I was getting. I tried another bank that was about 20' deep, dropped it to the bottom and just sort of held the rod taught but I couldn't get one that way. Maybe they weren't that deep though. Not sure.The the mighty Vol navy decided it was time to go home and the battle cruisers started rolling past so I decided to head for the barn instead of fighting the waves. I know this is for Loudon and not a Chatt-town lake but I wanted to ask if anyone else uses a drop shot and how they fish it because after yesterday I may have to learn how to really use that little doo-hickey. Thanks for the help guys!

 

[WS6Clint]

Nice to see someone try a new technique and have it work. What bait were you using on the drop-shot?

 

[Davo]

Great report. That's my main problem, not trying something new. I've had a drop shot tied on for months and bet I've only made 10 casts with it. I'm a big fan of the theory that if it doesn't work, just keep on doing it, I think some other people call it insanity.

 

[J-Dub]

I was trying a zoom finesse worm, bluegill color. I would dip the tail in chart. and then put one red dot on each side of the head section. Don't really know if that helped or not but in my mind it did. I wanted to try watermelon or green pumpkin but I always chickened out and stuck with the bluegill color. That color is sort of salt and pepperish so it at least had a little shad like color on it which is what I was shooting for.

 

[G-MAN]

Way to go! I've started throwing a larger variety of lures, since I logged onto this forum. The drop shot will definately be on my list next. Its always nice to find something that works, especialy when your go to bait has been gone to with no takers.

 

[ranman]

If you caught fish than you did it right!emoPoke I think one of the big misconceptions sp? about the dropshot is that it has to be a vertical presentation.In fact you can fish it anywhere you would normally fish a c-rig or a t-rigged worm.The big advantage is that you can keep your bait in the strike zone longer and entice inactive fish to bite it when other presentations aren't working.There are several posts in here you can look up on the subject for more in-depth info but it sounds like your off to a good start.Congrats on the catch!

 

[polo-dog]

Thanks for reminding me J-Dub to use the drop shot rig for bass. I use it for cats with shad but I would expect that I would do well in some of my areas with a dropper rig.

 

[drumking]

J-Dub - 9/5/2006 2:09 PM

I was trying a zoom finesse worm, bluegill color. I would dip the tail in chart. and then put one red dot on each side of the head section. Don't really know if that helped or not but in my mind it did. I wanted to try watermelon or green pumpkin but I always chickened out and stuck with the bluegill color. That color is sort of salt and pepperish so it at least had a little shad like color on it which is what I was shooting for.

Now there's a man after my own heart. Doctoring up those baits with color. Just love it. If you think that it helps, it certainly does. Can;t hurt.emoGeezer