First Shot at Dropshot
Another Laid-Back California Tactic
I have experimented with dropshotting during
1999. Actually it is not much more than a glorified
sinker-bouncer rig - and an addition of other California fishing
tactics (doodling, shaking, brass 'n glass, etc) that I have used
for quite a while. Anyway, I wrote an article about it. I hope
you like reading it and learn from it. I talked a little with Don
Iovino and got some of the following information from him about
how he dropshots. Also spoke with Garry Garland and he is coming
out with a new size of DropShot Gitzit soon. I do know of some
other manufacturers who plan to make down-sized baits (about
3") for dropshotting during the Spring of 2000.
Have you ever?...used a SplitShot
Rig for bass suspended in open water or just above bottom? Have
you ever done "doodling" or "shaking" with
"brass 'n glass"? Have you ever used a
"reaper"? Do you know Don Iovino's nickname?
If you answered yes to a few of
these questions, then you will nod approvingly when I say that a
DropShot Rig is the LATEST OFFSHOOT which follows and in some
ways improves upon the same basic principles and applications as
all the California techniques mentioned above.
If you answered no, then I must
ask you a few more questions. Do you have a large base of pelagic
bait (shads, shiners, even stocked trout fry) that stay in deep
open water? Do you ever encounter suspended bass in mid-water or
deepwater somewhere near these supplies of open water baitfish?
Do you "find fish" by driving around with the
electronics on looking for grey marks on the screen? Does fishing
often mean "dragging" rigs around on bottom raking
points, channels and other structure near where your graph showed
those mysterious grey marks? Can you see your bait when it is
twenty feet below your boat? If so, you may want to find out more
about California finesse tactics...SplitShot Rig, doodling,
shaking, brass 'n glass and now...DropShots.
The DropShot Rig is credited with being conceived in Japan,
but I consider it as a derivative of original California tactics
as used within Japan. Back in the USA now, the DropShot is mostly
used by innovative pro anglers in California where a DropShot Rig
is a light tackle finesse method used for the most finicky of
bass fishing situations.
What's a finicky finesse situation you ask? There
is a saying that Californians are "laid back." I think
it is true of the people, and true of California bass in my
opinion. First, these are predominantly pure strain Florida gene
pools (and spotted bass) that are being dropshotted in
California. The Florida strain in California are far more laid
back and less aggressive than northern bass. Second, they live
their lives (at least the smaller "keeper size" years)
in open water where they loosely aggregate in close proximity to
their food supply - pelagic shad and other open water preyfish.
Third, there is often no cover nearby, and sometimes no obvious
association even with structure...the only loose association is
to the preyfish supply. A bass in cover may bite your bait to
defend his territory from careless intruders or to avoid any
danger...but an open water bass has little to instinctively
defend or fear from your bait. Fourth, they are probably not
feeding when you encounter them. Fifth, the water is exceedingly
clear. Put those five things together. Now add YOU on a boat with
a bass rod. Welcome to a most finicky finesse situation, my
friend!
Gear. A medium strength rod to
handle 6 to 10 lb. test such as Berkley Pro Select Green for
instance. A seven foot rod to get the "sweep set" that
is often required on the bite. A reel with a wide spool and high
gear ratio to wind in string quicker than the fish can rocket up
towards you from the deepwater on the hookset and during the
fight. There are a few highly-specialized dropshot rods/reels
from Japan that are coming onto or being copied in the US market.
Knots. The way Don Iovino ties
it, there is only one knot on the entire rig...a Palomar. You use
it to knot the hook onto the line THREE feet above the "tag
end" of the line. MOST IMPORTANT is that the hook point
faces UP when you tie it on the line...just like a single jig
hook is always upright.
Hooks. Don Iovino uses the new
Owner "J" hook (model 5140). I also recommend the
Yamamoto "Sugoi" hook (series 59). As I recall it, Gary
Yamamoto invented this particular "style" of offset
shank hook as many as 15 years ago. I still very much prefer the
Sugoi for finesse tactics even though there are new choices like
the Owner "J" hooks or Mega-Bites. The offset bends in
hooks like the Yama Sugoi and Owner J naturally help hold the
point poised upright in striking position...a regular straight
shank hook is less apt to stay upright here. Personally, I prefer
a normal shank length, lightweight wire and fine needle point
like the Sugoi. I would not recommend a heavy wire hook, an extra
long shank (too heavy), an extra short shank (too close to the
line)...for DropShots. You will be using smaller, slinkier baits
usually on dropshots ...so expect to use hooks in the range of
1/0, 1, 2. A wide gap is important.
Putting bait on. What you have
probably never seen or done before is that...although these are
hooks with the offset kink bends near the eye....Iovino merely
impales the worm on the hook bend by putting the point in the
bottom and out the top of the bait's nose! The bait just lays
impaled on the hook bend...much like a pork chunk is impaled on
the bend of a jig hook. If Iovino desires to keep the hook point
hidden so it will not get snagged...he only threads the bait's
nose on just enough to cover the barb and the point of the hook!
Putting weight on. Don Iovino
recommends a brass weight (5/32, 3/16, 1/4, 3/8 oz. depending on
depth). Thread it onto the tag end of the line. Then thread an 8
mm. glass bead onto the line next. Don uses the "Bead Peg-It
System" whch can only be described as a "rubber
toothpick" from Top Brass Tackle to peg the bead in place.
Yes, thin slivers of wood toothpicks stuck in the bottom of the
bead with superglue also work for me! When you shake or doodle
the line in mid-water...or whenever the weight hits hard
bottom...the brass 'n glass will clack and make fish-attracting
noise. The Iovino offers two theories...either use black weights
and black beads to make the weight as visually bland as
possible...or use crawfish-colored brass and bright orange beads
so the weight now becomes a visual attractor as well. Either way,
black or brightly colored...fish will bite your sinker here.
Personally, I use a dull lead bullet with TWO big, transparent
glass beads that are facetted (or cut like a diamond). The facets
provide two wide flat glass surfaces that click together better
than round beads. A round bead provides minimal surface area for
clicking noise between two beads...and to me it has always
sounded like glass-on-glass (two beads) is the loudest sound than
glass-on-brass which is louder than glass-on-lead.
Putting two on. Some guys are
double-dropping on dropshots. They tie a shad-colored or
light-colored bait on three feet above the weight...and they tie
a craw-colored or dark-colored bait on within a foot or less from
the weight. The top bait is often exposed hookp point..and the
hook point is buried in the bottom bait by necessity to avoid
snagging.
What baits to use. Take a look at
the products from Don Ioviono. These are handpours and the
softness of the baits are ideal for DropShots and other finesse
tactics. By the way, I asked a question above if you knew Don
Iovino's nickname? It is "The Godfather of Finesse" and
you can say many models of his finesse bait designs at www.iovino.com
Remember to think thin and slinky. A
bait with a thick body or thick curly tail does not work as well
in my mind for dropshots the way they do it in California. Often,
the bait must be a thin, diminutive down-sized item that merely
drifts and do-nothing well. Thinner, longer, straight-tailed
baits are generally better at this than fat, short, squiggly
ones. Small sizes of soft jerkbaits are great. PAPER THIN TAIL
grubs like the 3" Kalin's Salty Lunker Grub are super. An
excellent bait is Garry Garland's SplitShot Gitzit tube...about 2
1/2 inches long and fatter diameter than typical tubes. The
Gitzit's gliding action and subtle tentacle flutter is ideal
action. You can see the Garland SplitShot Gitzit on Iovino's site
where it is called the Fatzee.
Try a thin strip of pork rind. A wafer
thin strip of white pork rind about 3-4 inches long and 1/2 inch
wide at the head, tapering to a needlepoint. You cannot buy this
size of pork rind...you must cut it from other store-bought
shapes...or you can make it yourself with pig skin from the
butcher. Well worth the effort...you will slay them with this!
Plastic cannot imitate it. By the way, get some Rit dye and try
some pink pork rinds also.
Caveats. Personally, I am not yet
entirely comfortable that the hook is tied to the line with the
weight below it. This does not give the fish slack line to suck
the bait into it's mouth from a few inches away. Yes, when you
shake a suspended bait, or when you lower the rod when the
dropshot weight sits on bottom, you do create an instant of
semi-slack line, and when that line comes tight again, the
dropshot bait does a little quivering dance. All good! But with a
SplitShot Rig for instance, the weight is above the bait and
there is two feet of loose leader to allow the bait to float on
its own...or move towards a fish when a bass sucks it in. In
fact, I purposely use loose limp leader line. Sometimes I keep a
leader or two tightly coiled in my bag like a Slinky for when I
seriously splitshot or Carolina rig. The coiled leader allows
more slack for the bait to be sucked in from a distance. Even a
light jighead can be sucked in from inches away...but I do not
believe the DropShot bait moves as far as either a SplitShot/Carolina
bait or a light jighead bait when a bass sucks at it. In this
respect, the DropShot clearly offers its best advantage when the
weight stays in contact with the bottom...slack can form in the
line when the weight rests on bottom...and the bait stays
suspended above! That is good.
What else? The DropShot is still very
much a new tactic contained to finesse pros in California (and
Japan) for mostly keeper-sized bass in deep, clear water. It is
the latest member in a "family" of similar Califorina
finesse rigging tactics. Most of these light line finesse rigging
tactics have not made it too far past California so far. In many
ways, bass fishing tactics are highly regionalized...almost state
by state. Let's wait and see if the DropShot outgrows its deep
clear Western boundaries!
But while we wait, let us try to predict a little bit of the
future of dropshotting during the year 2000! Here goes:
- For the California tactics, expect to see some manufacturers
come out with a few new baits in the 3" size for that style
of dropshotiing.
- In other parts of the country, do not be surprised if someome
starts winning tournaments on a bulky version of the DropShot
System a 3/4 or 1 oz. weight - much like a heavy Carolina Rig -
but with the bait above the Carolina weight rather than below it.
This is an easy way to fish deep bottom-growing weedbeds. Merely
tie the bait on the line as many feet above the weight as
required to clear the weedtops...use heavy gear and work it slow
or fast.
- In flowing smallmouth rivers, expect to see a bottom-bouncing
style of dropshot used to methodically and precisely rake the
bottom, bouncing along in the flow.
Hope it helps you drop a few shots out on the water.
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