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Put
The Drop On A Few Bass
When you think of finesse
fishing and Big Bite Baits
you may have thoughts of
Big Bite Pro Jeff Kriet
standing in the front of
his Triton fishing a
Flying Squirrel rigged on
a shaky head jig. Well I
am going to change your
thought just a little and
we are going to talk about
another finesse technique
that is called drop shot
fishing.
Drop
shot fishing first showed
up over in Japan to deal
with all the high pressure
conditions when trying to
get bass to bite. Soon
the drop shot tactic made
its ways across the big
pond and has fast found a
place in American bass
fishing circles.
Americans not only use
drop shot to catch bass in
high pressure conditions,
but we also use it to take
bass in other types of
water situations.
Drop
shot fishing excels when
you have bass sitting in a
place where you are either
faced with holding your
presentation in front of
them to trigger a bite or
where it is hard to get
your presentation to them.
Two of the top examples
that I am going to use for
this article is when bass
are located on deepwater
rock areas or are sitting
in deepwater brush
conditions.
First lets lay the
ground work of the
equipment that is needed
to work the drop shot
tactic. I generally use a
7ft to 7 1/2ft light
action spinning rod,
teamed this with a
matching spinning reel.
When it comes to line
there are a few different
thoughts, some fishermen
go on the small side of
the spectrum and fish with
4 lb test line; while
others go towards larger
side of the line spectrum
and opt to use 8lb test
line. For myself I use 6lb
Sunline Sniper
Fluorocarbon line the
majority of the time.
I team this with a #1
Gamakatsu Drop Shot Hook
for open hook
presentations and 1/0
Gamakatsu offset worm hook
for when I want to rig my
presentation weedless.
When it comes to weight I
try to use the lightest
weight I can to maintain
feel with the bottom.
To set up the drop shot
rig tie your hook on the
line, hook point up about
18 from the end of the
line then tie a knot at
the end of my line to act
as a stop. This will keep
your sinker from getting
pulled off your line if
you get your sinker stuck
in the rocks.
The
first situation we are
going to target are
summertime bass that are
located on deepwater rock
areas. The rocks we are
going to be targeting sit
in 12ft to 18ft of water.
When the bass are active
and feeding they are
sitting on top of the hump
in 12ft next to a big
boulder that is off to one
side of the hump. This
gives the big bass an
ambush point to sit by
when active and even when
they are not, they will
use this boulder.
I
know this boulder well for
one I can see it on my
Humminbird Side Imaging
and I have also learned
that when I bang a
crankbait off of it I
would get a big bite. So
this is the logical area
that I want to target when
placing my drop shot in
the area.
Once
I have worked the target
area on top of the rocks
and either taken the big
fish I was looking for or
found the school of bass
was not on top and
feeding, it is time to
back off and let my
electronics help me find
the bass I am looking for.
Upon seeing bass off to
the side of the hump I
mark the area with a
waypoint then ease to the
area to put my drop shot
presentation in front of
the bass.
The
second situation we are
going to target will be
timelier to the season, it
is now early winter time
fishing on a major
reservoir and we have bass
that are using deepwater
brush as home at this time
of the year. Your
electronics will be your
best friend in helping you
locate these brush piles
and bass. When the bass
are actively feeding they
will be located at the
tops of the brush piles,
but when they are inactive
they will be sitting down
in the brush.
A
drop shot presentation
will allow you to control
the depth that your bait
is holding at as you will
be able to see both the
bass and your bait on your
electronics. This will
allow you to keep your
bait in the strike zone
for the majority of your
presentation.
What
baits you pick and how you
present them to the bass
will either result in bass
over the side or not. I
have picked out my 3 top
Big Bite Baits and how I
present them with a drop
shot.
The first two baits are a
4 and 6 Big Bite Finesse
Worm. If the bass are
active and feeding I will
opt to use the 6
Finesse worm. I
will either rig this by
nose hooking the worm or
wacky rigging. If I
am working around weeds or
in brush and have a chance
of getting hooked I will
opt to rig my worm Texas
rigged.
If
the bass are inactive or I
need to match the size of
bait that the bass are
feeding on I will downsize
and use a 4
Finesse Worm.
I will use the same
rigging options.
When
I need to bulk up, or want
a bigger profile bait for
my offering I will use a
4 or 5 Trick
Stick. When it comes
to the riggings I will
cover my bases and use all
the different options and
let the bass tell me how
they want the bait
presented.
If
the bass are feeding on
minnows I will give them
that same minnow shape and
use the Big Bite Jerk
Minnow as my bait
offering. I generally keep
two sizes in my tackle box
4 and 5and pick the
appropriate size to match
the conditions I am
fishing.
When fishing in open water
conditions I will nose
hook the bait. If I am
fishing in cover I will Texas
rig my presentation.
So
when conditions call for
you to keep your bait in
the strike zone longer to
trigger bites make sure
you turn towards the drop
shot. With a handful of
Big Bite Baits you can put
your bait right in the
strike zone and keep it
there until you get a
reaction. If you are not
using a drop shot in your
bag of tricks you will
soon see what you are
missing and how a drop
shot will pay big
dividends in your livewell.
Scott
Petersen
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