Dropshotting -- the hottest new method for catching fish had its roots in Japan.
Over the past several months, two major Western tournaments have been won using a new, yet not-so-new method -- dropshotting. This technique was developed in Japan quite a few years ago. I know a lot of people here in the United States are taking the credit for it, but in Japan, dropshotting has been a hit for a long while.
In Japan, bass tournaments may draw from 600 to 800 boats, and because the lakes they typically fish are rather small, you can't begin to imagine the fishing pressure they experience. Dropshotting has been the number-one technique for catching fish and winning tournaments in Japan for the last five years, despite the pressure.
The Japanese name for dropshotting, which I won't attempt to pronounce, means "always lucky.' Through my contacts with "Lucky Craft," I've gotten to know many people in Japan, and have learned quite a bit about this 'always lucky' technique: how they fish it, why, when, and where. The two tournaments I mentioned earlier, were won in from 30 to 60 feet of water. For the most part, folks here believe dropshotting is just for deep water. That's not entirely true.
Dropshotting is a rig that has a weight on the bottom of the line, and the hook is tied directly to the line from a few inches to a couple of feet up from the weight.
In the spring, when the water starts to warm, the bass move up in the sunlight zone to warm their bodies; they absorb the ultra-violet rays. A lot of times they will be within a foot or two of the surface. You might be flippin' in 5-feet of water, but the fish are sitting in 2 feet. By using the 'dropshot rig,' your lizard or worm is actually sitting at two feet as well.
Shallow-water dropshotting is like a method I learned in Texas. We would throw lizards in the tops of trees and let them settle down through, two or three feet, and the fish would just suck them right down. We shook the bait right in their faces, and all of a sudden, they would swim off with it.
The shallow dropshot rig calls for 3/8-ounce to 1/2-ounce weights, depending on the depth you're trying to fish, and the size of your bait. I have had success using 4-inch lizards. There are no secret colors, the normal ones are fine. You really have to get tuned-in to the bait and learn how to work it. I believe it's the most deadly method today.
One thing I've noticed though, even in tournaments, you can catch 25 or 30 fish, but if the guy in the back of the boat doesn't have the right rig, or if he isn't tuned-in, he won't get a bite the whole day. Success with dropshotting is mostly line control and presentation.
Most of the time, even when I'm dropshotting in the deeper water, I virtually never cast; it's more of 15- to 20-foot pitch. I want to get the bait down to the bottom, and get a good direct line to it. I know that people think when you dropshot you fish vertically. Sometimes that's true, but most of the time I like a slight angle to my line.
It becomes very, very important when you're fishing these techniques, to use your finder; you must be superb with it. Earlier this year, while at Lake Pleasant, I had borrowed a boat because I'd sold mine, and it took me a whole day to learn my depth finders.
The pattern on Lake Pleasant at the time, was to find a tree with fish in it, drop your bait right in the tree, and catch the fish-every time. But, the key was to drop the bait where the tree was. If you missed the tree by 10 feet, the bass ignored the bait. You had to get right into the tree with him.
There was one spot on Lake Pleasant, where I saw a fish in a tree down 50 feet. To actually learn how to turn your boat, run your meter, and still get that bait right in the tree with the fish -- well, it takes practice. You might spend 10 to 15 minutes trying to properly present the bait to a big fish in a tree. If you work at it, though, you can do it.
Remember I said earlier that a guy could catch a lot of fish and his partner might not get a single bite? The difference most of the time is control. I have yet to be slammed on a dropshot rig. I'll drop the bait down, and I keep the sinker in touch with the bottom; then I shake the bait, not enough to raise the weight off the bottom, but I shake it none the less. My rod tip might move an inch or two, no more. Just by popping the slack out of the line, the bait moves slightly. Even at 60 feet you will notice that. I know that the bait is moving, but more importantly, I'm keeping pressure on the line, staying in touch with my bait.
By not lifting the sinker off the bottom I'm maintaining pressure. When the pressure changes, I set the hook. Of the 30 fish a day I've caught, I have only felt maybe five or six of them before I set the hook. All I noticed was a pressure difference.
The dropshotting bite is not an old jig bite, or anything like that, it is a subtle, finesse technique. It's like doodling with patience. Once the cast is made, and your weight has reached the bottom, you simply drift along and shake, shake, shake that bait. If, after a while, you don't get a hit, then you repeat the process, maybe 10 feet to the left. Each cast could take up to 5 minutes to complete. Did you get that? I said, each cast might take up to 5 minutes! Remember, you are drifting along with the wind or currents, you don't stay in the same spot all the time. Dropshotting is rigged having a swivel weight (Bakuban 909-798-1732) at the bottom of the line, and the hook is up from the weight between 6 and 20 inches depending on where the fish are holding.
In the tournament on Lake Pleasant, more fish were caught on an 18- to 20-inch separation between the weight and hook, than the shorter rigs. I'm sure that length of rigging is a crucial part to dropshotting success. Experiment, and always have two rigs -- one shorter and the other longer.
The knot the Japanese use on their dropshot rigs is a palomar. You tie the knot, leave an extra long tag end coming out of the knot; and then, you take that tag end, and while holding the hook with the bend pointing up, you thread the tag end back down through the eye of the hook. The result is a hook which is always pointing up, because the weight tied on the bottom of that tag end, puts pressure on the hook and keeps it in proper position. This is extremely important because this aspect will increase your hooksetting percentage by a huge margin.
There are two different ways I fish the bait while dropshotting. A weedless 1/0 Owner worm hook -- Texas-rigged -- seems to work real well. I also fish an open hook system. I use a smaller #2 hook and attach the bait through the nose. So it's very, very important to have that #2 hook, pointed up where it will hook them in the mouth or in the lip as it comes out of their mouth. For deep applications I prefer a 1/4-ounce bottom weight.
The line size used for dropshotting -- for the most part -- is light, light, light. I almost exclusively use 6-pound-test line. I use Drop Shot Fluorocarbon line made by Triple Fish.
I use fluorocarbon line in deep water, because, being very dense, it sinks very, very fast. So, when you pitch the rig out, and it goes to the bottom, you have a much more direct feel to the bait. Fluorocarbon lines don't have as much bow to them as other lines, which translates to better feel. You see, most lines fight going down; they try to get back to the surface. That's why lines bow. When your line bows, you've lost a lot of the feel that is so necessary to dropshotting.
The only time I'll use heavier line is when I flip those shallow-water fish. Then I'll go to 15- to 20-pound line. Otherwise, you can't beat the feel, down deep, of 6-pound-test.
Another important aspect to using a light line is to retie your knots often. Because of the way the hook is tied on the line, each fish you catch will run its teeth across the line, weakening it. Even the best lines aren't completely abrasion proof. I don't know a shortcut here, I'll just say tie and retie often.
Dropshotting is certainly the wave of the future. It does too many things right. It gets the bait to the fish, and it is subtle enough to entice a bite without spooking the bass. It has many applications, and as this year progresses, I predict there will be a lot of tournaments won using these techniques.
It would be great to think I invented dropshotting, but the truth is, the Japanese have been using their 'always lucky' method for many years. I'm just glad my friends shared it with me. I hope it helps you catch more fish.
Over the past several months, two major Western tournaments have been won using a new, yet not-so-new method -- dropshotting. This technique was developed in Japan quite a few years ago. I know a lot of people here in the United States are taking the credit for it, but in Japan, dropshotting has been a hit for a long while.
