I'm 22 and just started to get back into bass fishing, so I'm tryin to scrape off some of the rust. Today I was using a drop shot in 10 feet of water with a Senko on a red hook to no avail.  Any tips for this method? What is the best way and conditions to fish a drop shot (temp. depth, bait, etc.)? I've been following the forum and it seems pretty cool.  Thanks a lot!

ive had my best results with the drop shot during the spawn on beds if you choose to fish at that time. recently ive used it near laydowns, otrock humps in my local river.  its awesome at heavily pressured areas, where fish may be timid. i usually fish smaller plastics like the yamamoto shad shape worm, or 4 inch senko/worms or even flukes.  i usually move the rod tip about 4-5 inches per hop, 3 hops ata time, the fish will dictate what the presentation should be, but ive found that the drop shot rig is best fished slow.  i hope this will help a bit.  let us know how you do.

I use it all times of the year, i just change he baits that i use them with, during the summer a long 8 inch worm is good or a creature bait, winter time if you want to catch fish use a big bulky bait that resembles a forage fish.

There are all kinds of set ups for the drop shot.  Finesse worm, hooked texas, or just through the head end.  Drop shot goby's are great if that is what the fish are feeding on, or just for a different look.  How far is your weight from your hook is just as important too.  Are the fish feeding off the bottom, then you don't need a drop shot....3" - 18" is a good set up for distance between the weight and the hook.  Style of hook is all up to you.  They make drop shot hooks, but a wide gap 1/0 works well too.  Some use a straight shank hook too, it is all what you feel works for you.  Any other questions...feel free to send me a message.

Squid

When targeting smallmouth, I usually use a small finesse type worm, goby, or reaper.  I fish these anywhere from shallow water, to 65'.  I have great success throwing this around deep docks too.  I will use a senko type bait, or bigger worm in shallow cover when targeting largemouth.  On of my best techniques is to drag a dropshot when other people are split shotting or dragging tubes.  That is the great thing about this rig.  It is very versatile.  Good luck

Which rod and # line would you use for drop shot?

I had an epic day of smallmouth fishing on Sunday. Not only did I catch a scary amount of good fish, I also finally able to incorporate the drop shot into my game plan and have it outperform my usual presentations. I had found an absolute pile of smallmouth stacked up feasting on schools of baitfish a few feet off the bottom. This was all going on in about 22-30 feet of water. I marked about a 100 foot long area with some marker buoys and got down to business. I took some fish on grubs and jigs but it wasn't exactly fast and furious. One of the fish I caught coughed up a small silver baitfish which turned out to be a baby alewife (herring type fish that spawns in fresh water up here). I tried a few crankbaits to no avail. Finally I decided this was the perfect time to get rolling on this drop shotting thing. I used a Gamakatsu size 1 drop shot hook, an 1/8 ounce sinker (the only size drop shot sinker I had) and a 4" Lunker City Fin-S in silver/black and a Zoom baby bass fluke. The rig is a bit awkward to throw so the casts were short. I'd try to have just enough tension in the line so the bait would stay off the bottom like it's supposed to.  I'd slowly work each cast in all the way to a verticle jigging position. It was absolutely deadly. I wish the sinker had been at least a 1/4 oz to help keep in better contact with the bottom. Rod was a 6'6" ML BPS Micro Lite with a Shimano Solstace 2000 reel w/ 8 pound test line. While not quite as fun to throw and work as some fishing methods, the drop shot certainly helped me turn a good day into one of the best of the whole season.

I use a 6'6" spin rod with 6-8# test line.  Some use heavier line, that is what I use.

I use a 6'6" Yamamoto Dropshot rod with 6lb McCoy line.  Light line will get you more bites.  Don't be afraid to beef up your tackle if targeting largemouth.

Thanks for the reply, I have a 7M spinning rod with braided line, I think that I will that linw to an 8 lb.