Craig Wickland first showed the author the deadly drop-shot method while bass fishing.

Craig Wickland first showed the author the deadly drop-shot method while bass fishing.



I had heard quite a bit about drop-shotting during the several days I spent on the water recently with Minnesota bass pro Craig Wickland. I told him it was about time he showed me this hot, deep-water technique. It has been all the rage on the pro bass circuit.

As Craig fired up the big motor and headed slowly out from shore, he began to explain. "The tactic was perfected by Japanese bass anglers to cope with the generally clear, very pressured waters they fish in Japan. It's not uncommon for 700 to 800 anglers to be fishing a weekend tournament on a small body of water.

The Japanese often fish in three divisions, Wickland said. One division is for single anglers in boats; another for two anglers in a boat; and a third for shore fishing. Most lakes are hit hard.

"And if you fish with heavy tackle and crude methods you're not going to catch many fish because of all the intense, intelligent fishing pressure, he said. "I had the pleasure of fishing with several top Japanese anglers who showed me this light-line, finesse presentation, the best ways to rig up, and how to work drop-shot rigs."

Wickland flipped a weedless-rigged, small plastic worm on a drop-shot rig out 30 feet from the boat and started to explain the correct retrieve to tempt bass and to hook a high percentage of strikes.

"After the weight hits bottom, you lightly quiver the rod tip three to four times then drop it back towards the lure 6 to 12 inches to create a little slack line. Continue this basic pattern until the weight is no longer in contact with the bottom," Wickland said.

An assortment of deadly bass lures and the wide gap hooks commonly used to fish these baits.

An assortment of deadly bass lures and the wide gap hooks commonly used to fish these baits.



Within a couple seconds after the first quiver, Craig shouted "I've got one" and set the hook into a chunky bass. After a few laughs, he chucked the rig out again and within seconds was rewarded with a second bass before finishing his next sentence.

I was impressed, particularly since we weren't trying to catch any bass at the time. But we did happen to stop the boat over a short, deep-growing weed bed, which is one of the top spots to use the drop-shotting method.

The basic drop-shot rig features a hook tied directly to the line with the weight hanging at least 18 inches below the hook on an extended tag end of the line. In most instances, the weight is dragged or skipped along bottom, through or over cover.

One of the major reasons this rig is so productive is that you have absolute depth control. You can always keep it at a certain level off the bottom no matter what the depth, and you can keep a fish-teasing presentation right in a fish's face, with no actual forward movement of the lure.

It's a general rule of thumb that if fish are aggressive it's best to fish faster and with lures that travel on a more parallel plane. But if fish are not chasing bait, a slow vertical presentation such as drop-shotting often works best, especially if you down-size lures and use lighter lines.

Last year someone asked me if I heard about this method, and when I said "no" they began to explain it to me. I wasn't impressed and said "Why couldn't you do the same thing with a jig?"

That line of thought quickly changed this summer as I lowered my first drop-shot rig over the side of the boat and quivered the rod tip. Immediately, my 3-inch, plastic minnow "came to life," quivering, darting, with a nervousness created by every slight movement of the rod tip.

Since the weight hangs under the lure, all rod movement is translated directly to the lure. And since the line is taut, every movement is intensified.

Riggin' Up


Most bass anglers fish with the weight 18 inches to 4 feet under the hook, but I've gone to even longer dropper lengths, especially when I'm after suspended crappies.

Longer rods — 6 1/2- to 7-foot spinning rods — with flex in the tip and good backbone are preferred. But when using long droppers for off-bottom crappies, I'll often use 8- to 9-foot spinning rods.

These longer rods are also ideal when stacking lures for checking different depth levels, such as putting one lure a foot or two off bottom and another one 4-7 feet off bottom. This double rig often produces crappies or white bass on the higher presentation and bass or walleyes on the lure closer to bottom.

Light lines are normally used, with 4- to 8-pound test covering most drop-shotting situations. I prefer lines with good abrasion strength, and Berkley's fluorocarbon Vanish is about as good as it gets for this technique. Not only does it have much better abrasion strength than any mono type line, it is near invisible underwater as it has the same light reflective properties as water.

The ultimate weight to use at the base of the line is the Japanese-designed Bakudan weight. They come in a variety of sizes and have several unique features.

The weights have an internal swivel system that allows them to spin freely without any line twist. They can be quickly attached without tying any knot, and if they snag on bottom, a sharp pull will cut them off the line so the whole rig isn't lost or weakened.

A Berkley Micro Power jig tempted this large crappie.

A Berkley Micro Power jig tempted this large crappie.



A split-shot or two can also be used to take the lure down, but rounder shot works better than shot with a "dog ear," which spins more as it's being moved. When fishing over various wood snags, a bullet-shaped slip-sinker pegged to stay on with a piece of rubber or toothpick is often preferred. Just like with any other fishing, use the amount of weight needed to let you stay in contact with bottom. Weights in the 1/8- to 3/8-ounce range will cover most situations.

There are a variety of small, soft-plastic lures that are effective for drop-shotting. Berkley recently introduced a line of 3- to 4-inch Dropshot PowerBaits that are deadly. I've already caught loads of bass and crappies on Berkley's 4-inch worms and minnows and on the Micro Power Tubes.

Other lures I've had success with are the FX Roboworm, Bass Assassin Shads, and Lunker City's 2 1/2-inch Fin-S Minnow. Four-inch worms and split-tail minnows are the most popular bass lures for drop-shotting, while "minnows" and small tubes generally work best for crappies.

Wide-gap hooks are used for self-weedless or "Texas style" rigging. This extra gap is needed to give you enough bite when setting the hook when it's buried back into the worm.

I like the XPoint XGap hook. But other popular wide-gap hooks for this rigging are Mustad's Pro Select and Owner's Rig N' Hook. When rigging with an exposed hook, I really like Daiichi's short-shank Bleeding Bait hooks. I think the red color attracts more fish and helps generates the strike toward the front of the lure.

If you're having difficulty hooking fish on a particular lure, I might go to a longer shank hook and bring it out further back on the lure. But the main reason for missing fish is that they are not able to suck the lure in if they hit when the line is taut. That's why after you jiggle or hop the lure you should drop the rod tip back to create a little slack line, so the fish can more easily suck in the presentation.

Fishing Tactics


The main way drop-shotting rigs are fished, particularly for bass, is from a boat slowly moved parallel to an edge such as a drop-off, weed edge or rock line. Casts are usually made quartering ahead of the boat (about a 45-degree angle), and after the weight hits bottom the retrieve begins: shake, shake, shake, pause and drop tip, then repeat. Your presentation will generally end up behind the boat, where you can let it drag for a while to check the deeper water, or bring it in and make a new cast.

Another excellent way of utilizing these rigs is to fish them vertical or near vertical from a still or very slow-moving boat over deep water. If you see fish suspended a few feet over bottom off the tip of a point or a deep-water hump, drop the rig down and jiggle it right in front of them.

Drop-shot rigs are also deadly over short cover. They'll give you a virtually snag-free presentation that's visible to the fish when coming over fringe weeds, sandgrass, or other short vegetation. It's hard to work a jig along a snaggy rip-rap bank especially if the fish are deep and the wind is howling. A drop-shot rig makes this a lot easier, besides giving you a better sense of feel. And if you hang up, a steady pull will usually slide the weight off, and re-rigging is faster than tying on a new jig.

Pegged bullet-shaped sinkers (or a small split-shot can be used below the sinker) are great for working over wood for bass or crappies. To make this rig even more snag-free, I often use a Timber Hook, a weedless hook made by Lindy Tackle that has an easy-to-set 7-strand weedguard.

Several of the drop-shot crappie rigs that I use feature off-bottom presentations. A Bakudan weight about 2 feet below a hook is deadly for finding and fishing just over deep wood.

Once the wood is felt, gently lift and drop the weight just enough to stay in contact with the wood. A soft-plastic minnow on a longer shank hook works great as does a head-hooked minnow.

Using a smaller split-shot below the hook is a great way for you to dip into weedy or wooded holes with a long telescopic pole, feel for the cover, stay right above it and pull crappies out.

Let's say crappies are suspended 4 feet off bottom along a pier that goes from shore down to 15 feet of water. It would be nearly impossible to keep a jig 4 feet above the bottom, and a jig below a float couldn't be adjusted to the depth change. But a drop-shot rig with the weight 5-6 feet below the lure would keep you at the correct depth all through the cast, and let you jiggle and tease fish into biting any time during the retrieve.

Although I've only tried this on a limited basis, how about drifting or slow trolling for crappies over open water with several baits stacked at different levels? Light shot can be used to keep the baits away from the boat and at different depth levels.

Or how about dropping the weight down along the trunk of a big tree standing in deep water and stopping it every now and then to tempt crappies that may be suspended at different depth levels. We've just started to utilize this hot, new method. And as more anglers begin to exercise their creative minds, more techniques and fish will follow.