Was hoping Glenn or someone else can explain to me line choice for drop shot. I know 5 years ago when I was in college was the first time I’d been shown drop shot with pure fluorocarbon.

These days I see a lot of people swearing by light braid line in the 10-12lb range with a 6-8lb fluorocarbon leader. The benefit I've heard was greater sensitivity and you still get the stretch from the leader material.

 

I understand what Glenn spoke of as far as the bow in the line with braid mainline. But does Braid to Flouro leader still work on drop shot compared to straight flouro?

 

Primarily fish from shore in high pressured lakes. Use to be a good method when I first learned it and would like to get better at it.

 

thanks in advance.

If you ever fished DVL Before the heavy rains that caused the lake to rise like 15', it was gin clear, and we always used straight fluro. In all other fisheries I used mono, copoly and fluro with equally good results, most of the water was either slightly stained with a 2 to 5' vis, or less..The bottom condition also may dictate which line to use, at least for me. Lots of rock, ect, I go copoly, if it's mostly vegetation I use mono or coploy, which ever I have spooled at the time. I've never saw need to use braid for drop shoting, either straight, or with a leader. What I think is more important than line choice, is how, what, where and when to use it. There are also some good videos on youtube, in addition to the one Glenn posted. I do a bunch of shore fishing, in Highly pressured city park ponds/lakes, they will teach you a lot. When shore fishing, I would opt for fluro to help eliminate any bow in the line.  Hope this helps some.

^^ Yes! ^^  @Hammer 4 articulated it really well.  In the context of the Fall droshotting video, the majority of the fishing would be on deeper structure, which is typically void of vegetation and is rocky.  Braid doesn't hold up well against rocks.  So that's issue #1.

 

#2, water tends to clear up the further you get into fall. Braid is opaque whereas fluoro, co-poly, and mono are more translucent. 

 

#3, braid has no stretch, which can be a benefit for certain techniques, but not ones requiring light-wire hooks such as dropshotting. You need some give (stretch) in the line, else there's a greater potential to pull out the hook and/or bend it on the hookset and while fighting the fish back to the boat.  Having a few feet of fluoro leader won't make up for a spoolful of non-stretching braid.  Fluoro simply doesn't stretch that much.

 

#4, Although not mentioned in the video, the braid-to-fluoro knot is another point of failure.  Just read through these forums and you'll find many heartbreaking stories about failed connecting knots and losing trophy fish.  For this reason alone, I cannot fathom why any pro would use leaders during a tournament with so much $$ on the line. I'm sure they have their reasons, but I personally wouldn't risk it.

 

#5, braid has buoyant qualities whereas fluoro is more dense, and therefore does not.  This can impact hooksetting ability, sensitivity, as well as the baits' action.  The last point is particularly important in regards to dropshotting.  The bait needs to look as natural and free in the water.  Braid can limit its movement, which could make it look unnatural.

 

With all that said, there are times I definitely use braid when bubba-shotting, which is using a dropshot in heavy cover.  In addition, fluoro isn't the only option here. It's not an either/or choice.  Co-polymer and even mono can work well for fall dropshotting.  I just prefer fluoro due to its sensitivity plus abrasion resistance in rocky structure.

 

Hope that helps!