I'm wondering if most northern fishermen use a more horizontal approach to drop shotting. Most of the articles on the subject talk about fishing in a vertical style in water 30' + deep.

   In Ct, there are not alot of lakes that have a thermocline deeper than 20' to 25'. I don't think I ever caught a fish deeper than 16'!

   I drop shot in water from 4' (if it's not too weedy) to about 15'. I pitch the bait about 25' away from the boat and jiggle and drag it slowly back, to get hits.

   Is this horizontal technique more common to other northern bassers?

That's the only way I've done it. You're right, not a lot of real deep lakes around here.

I have cast the rig into shallow water and walked it down in to deep water with good results all of the way down.

There are many ways to fish a drop shot. Around docks, edge of weeds, rocky areas. Don't let what you have read limit your imagination. All you need to do is change the distance between the hook and weight. Good luck!! 

AJR

I've used it fishing from the banks. You might be missing out if you never fish below 16' though.

Vertical drop shot Candlewood all the time. Especially this time of year, the fish move to the deeper structure in 20-30'. Never really did it the other way, looks like I need to try this.

I'm wondering if most northern fishermen use a more horizontal approach to drop shotting. Most of the articles on the subject talk about fishing in a vertical style in water 30' + deep.

   In Ct, there are not alot of lakes that have a thermocline deeper than 20' to 25'. I don't think I ever caught a fish deeper than 16'!

   I drop shot in water from 4' (if it's not too weedy) to about 15'. I pitch the bait about 25' away from the boat and jiggle and drag it slowly back, to get hits.

   Is this horizontal technique more common to other northern bassers?

the method of drop shotting you describe is certainly effective and i use it fairly often if i need to go to a finesse presentation. but if youre not drop shotting vertically youre missing out. summer is a good time to do the traditional drop shot thing as is winter. when the fish are deeper (and especially when theyre schooled up in the winter)  is when it may be beneficial to use your electronics to drop shot. ideally you want to be on the bow watching your bait on your graph. the first time you see a fish actually eat your bait on the graph youll be hooked. when the water gets down into the 30s the fish are usually well schooled and a drop shot fished vertically can be absolutely deadly.

Both work nicely. I like to Bubba shot in shallow water, something I learned on the Delta. Agreed, go deep when the fish are graphing low.

Midsummer at Thompson Lake (near me) I drop-shot vertically for smallies when they suspend. Water's real clear, so I only vary bait color a little ( pale works best for me). Depths are around 75 ft usually, so I tie my flurocarbon onto braid for a good hook-set.

what fish finder do you guys use to see your bait and the fish come up to it?