Dropshotting Is Easy With Good Electronics

By Tom Branch, Jr.

Drop-Shotting has been proclaimed as one of the hottest “new” techniques around, but it has been around since the mid 1970s. Drop-Shotting has been revived in the last 5 years by Japanese anglers, who started using this technique to catch the bass in their clear, highly pressured lakes, but saltwater anglers, and pan fisherman have been using this technique for many years to catch finicky fish suspended off the bottom.

So how do I learn how to become a drop shotter?

Before we start on the rig, you’ve got to understand that after the spawn and in winter time, the home of the big bass is in deep water. By deep water I mean anything deeper than 8 to 12 feet. Notice I say big bass. There are always some fish shallow, and if there is a lot of structure or hiding places available some big bass may be shallow. But every fisheries biologist you talk to will tell you that after the spawn a big bass will not move one foot more than she has to, to eat. So after the two or three months of the year when she moves shallow to spawn, her home is in deep water.

Deep water means different things in different places. In Florida, where the deepest water in the lake is 10 to 20 feet, this is where she will be. But in other parts of the country deep water could be 60 or 70 feet or even 90 feet or more in depth.

If all this makes sense to you now, you say, “Okay, how do I find Mr. Bass?” You next have to realize that fish move around and through a body of water using the same set of highways every day. That may be a creek channel, a break line, or a weed line that extends out into deep water. The key part of all this thinking is where the fish move toward the depth where they feed. The answer to this is found on the points, or bars if you want to call them that, which ex-tend farthest out into the deepest water in the area.

Okay, we have established where the fish live and how they travel. Now we’ve got to put you at the spot where you can point your finger in the water and say, “I’m going to catch fish right here.” This is done with your electronics. You are hunting the longest, deepest, narrowest point that extends the farthest into the deepest water in the area.

At the mouth of a creek, or even on an old empty bank there will be points that extend out into deep water. Using your big motor, idle across the point and mark the shallow top of the point. Move out to 8 to 10 feet and do the same thing, keep moving deeper. Keep doing this until you reach a drop off into the deepest water in the area. This may be 25 or 30 feet in depth. I believe the best fish caught on this rig are from 20 to as deep as 60 feet.

If there are no fish on the structure gather your bouy and leave. Go find another spot until you find one that does. If you practice this a few times it only takes about 10 minutes to do and even if you have to do it three times, I’ll trade 30 minutes and an hour of big fish for six hours and small fish any day.

What Is A Drop Shot And How Is It Rigged?

A Drop Shot is simply a finesse worm technique that is rigged with a plastic worm or small shad type bait fished on a #1 to 1/0 wide gap hook tied approximately 18 to 24 inches ABOVE a 3/16th ounce weight attached to the end of the line. The worm is tied ABOVE THE WEIGHT.

Once in a while a new technique of fishing comes along that is so easy and so successful that it gains great popularity in a very short time. The drop shot has become that technique.

While I was at the Atlanta Boat Show in 2004 representing Bass Pro Shops, I did a number of seminars on the bass tank. It didn’t take me long to figure out that the drop shot technique was one of the spectator’s main interests. How? What? Where? When? The bass in the tank also had a big interest in the little drop shot rig.

From past experiences I knew these bass-tank bass could be very finicky about hitting bait for the first day or two of the show. So, I went right to the drop shot rig. It was a big success with both the audience and the bass. This way of fishing is not necessarily one of the best ways of becoming the next state record holder, but what it can accomplish is five good bites on those tournament days when there isn’t a much of a bite to be had on the whole lake.

The best knot that I have found to use on the down shot rig is the old standby Palomar knot with a long tag end. I highly recommend checking out the knot guide at www.proknot.com to learn more about the Palomar knot.

As far as line requirements go, a light low visibility line is recommended. How light is up to the individual and by the body of water you are fishing. To me 6 pound test is light; 10-pound is real heavy. For my standard drop shot rig I use a 10 pound braided line with 6 pound Bass Pro Shops fluorocarbon. The fluorocarbon has a hard finish that helps to hold the hook at the correct angle, and it has extremely low visibility with the braid you can feel everything. I have also started using a small black swivel for this rig and this helps with no line twist. I use the smallest swivel I can get away with. SPRO actually makes one that will reel through your line guides. The braided line I believe aids in detecting subtle strikes in deeper water.

You should spend more time “shaking” this rig with your rod tip than retrieving it. Keep in mind that the intent of this technique was a light-line, controlled depth and finesse presentation by keeping the bait in the same place for an extended period of time.

As far as what baits work the best, that is like a lot of other fishing techniques. Whatever you have the most confidence in is going to work the best for you for me it is a hand poured Tru Tungsten - Dart worm in a green shades in clear water and reds and June bug in stained water. Just remember to keep it small so that a light shaking action or current will keep it moving.

Rod and Line Selection

Lets start with the rod! It’s no secret that the Bass Pro Shops - Woo Daves Extreme Spinning Rod in the medium light action 6 foot 8 inch range is my choice for this technique. Why? It’s simple. These rods are the most sensitive graphite rods I have ever used and they were designed for this technique. When you have a 4-inch worm with a 3/16th ounce Tru Tungsten weight hanging in 50 feet of water directly below your boat you must be able to feel even the lightest “TAP”. There are times the bass will almost rip the rod out of your hands, but there are also times that the hit is very subtle.

Where And How Is The Drop Shot Fished In Deep Water?

Much of the time on Lake Lanier you will find the bass suspended in and around pods of shad out in open water. When this situation occurs it is extremely important that you rely on good electronics. Lowrance X135 is what I use. High resolution is a must when looking for quality fish finder. The new color units are well worth the extra $100 if you have it.

My approach to finding shad is to probe various coves and creeks starting with the deepest water and working his way in by zigzagging back and forth across from bank-to-bank until a good pod of bait fish was found. Some of the fish we find are found in 50 feet of water some in 30 feet or less. At that point I would man his trolling motor and look for suspended bass (this is important) on the outside edges of the pod or in or around brush.

Then I would search out the larger fish and watch my electronics as the drop shot fell into the strike zone. I would make the bait quiver as I gently twitched the rod tip. As I will show you this presentation is much different from using a spoon where you want to impart a more erratic motion. If you have good electronics you can actually see the bass move up or down to attack your bait and immediately feel that “Tap”, “Tug” or heavy feel.

Electronics

First of all you will need the best electronics with a gray line that will show good contour and bottom separation. Most depth finders with three thousand watts of power will work well. With these electronics I look for the thermocline in the lake, which is where the most oxygen in the lake is. After finding this depth, I start to look for structure like rock piles and break lines near deep water. Most lakes in this area the thermocline is usually in about fifty to eighty feet of water depending on the lake. You will start to see the baitfish and bass from the surface to the depth of the thermocline. During the summer and thru the winter this method of fishing can be very
effective. Once you locate the balls of bait and bass over the structure, keep the boat right on top of them by using your depth finder.

Now the Learn the Basics of Sonar

The word “sonar” is an abbreviation for “Sound, Navigation and Ranging.” It was developed as a means of tracking enemy submarines during World War II. Sonar consists of a transmitter, transducer, receiver and display.

In the simplest terms, an electrical impulse from a transmitter is converted into a sound wave by the transducer and sent into the water. When this wave strikes an object, it rebounds. This echo strikes the transducer, which converts it back into an electric signal, which is amplified by the receiver and sent to the display. This process repeats itself many times per second. The frequencies most often used by Lowrance in our sonar are 192 - 200 kHz (kilohertz); we also make some units that use 50 kHz. Although these frequencies are in the sound spectrum, they’re inaudible to both humans and fish. (You don’t have to worry about the sonar unit spooking the fish - they can’t hear it.) As mentioned earlier, the sonar unit sends and receives signals, then “prints” the echo on the display. Since this happens many times per second, a continuous line is drawn across the display, showing the bottom signal. In addition, echoes returned from any object in the water between the surface and bottom are also displayed. By knowing the speed of sound through water (4800 feet per second) and the time it takes for the echo to be received, the unit can show the depth of the water and any fish in the water.

High transmitter power increases the probability that you will get a return echo in deep water or poor water conditions. It also lets you see fine detail, such as bait fish and structure. The transducer must not only be able to withstand the high power from the transmitter, but it also has to convert the electrical power into sound energy with little loss in signal strength. At the other extreme, it has to be able to detect the smallest of echoes returning from deep water or tiny bait fish. The receiver also has an extremely wide range of signals it has to deal with. It must dampen the extremely high transmit signal and amplify the small signals returning from the transducer. It also has to separate targets that are close together into distinct, separate impulses for the display. The display must have high resolution (vertical pixels) and good contrast to be able to show all of the detail crisply and clearly. This allows fish arches and fine detail to be shown.

There are advantages to each frequency, but for almost all freshwater applications and most saltwater applications, 192 or 200 kHz is the best choice. It gives the best detail, works best in shallow water and at speed, and typically shows less “noise” and undesired echoes. Target definition is also better with these higher frequencies. This is the ability to display two fish as two separate echoes instead of one “blob” on the screen. The transducer is the sonar unit’s “antenna.” It converts electric energy from the transmitter to high frequency sound. The sound wave from the transducer travels through the water and bounces back from any object in the water. When the returning echo strikes the transducer, it converts the sound back into electrical energy which is sent to the sonar unit’s receiver. The transducer concentrates the sound into a beam. When a pulse of sound is transmitted from the transducer, it covers a wider area the deeper it travels. Cone angle can best be describe as a 20 degree cone angle is showing a 10 feet circular area in 60 feet of water or a 8 degree cone angle will show 4 feet area in 60 feet of water.

What’s on the bottom? Mud, sand and vegetation on the bottom absorb and scatter the sonar signal, reducing the strength of the return echo. Rock, shale, coral and other hard objects reflect the sonar signal easily – so it shows thick bottom on the screen. A soft bottom, such as mud, shows as a thin line across the screen.

Sensitivity

The sensitivity controls the ability of the unit to pick up echoes. A low sensitivity level excludes much of the bottom information, fish signals, and other target information. High sensitivity levels enable you to see this detail, but it can also clutter the screen with many undesirable signals. Typically, the best sensitivity level shows a good solid bottom signal with GRAYLINE® and some surface clutter. When in the automatic mode, the sensitivity is automatically adjusted to keep a solid bottom signal displayed, plus a little more. This gives the unit the capability to show fish and other detail. In automatic mode, the unit also adjusts sensitivity automatically for water conditions, depth, etc. When you adjust the sensitivity up or down, you are biasing up or down the normal setting the unit’s automatic control would choose. With ASP™ enabled, the automatic mode picks the proper sensitivity level for 95% of all situations, so it is recommend to always use this normal mode first. But, for those unusual situations where it is warranted you can bias it up or down. You can also turn off the automatic sensitivity control for special uses.

To properly adjust the sensitivity while the unit is in the manual mode, first change the range to double its current setting. For example, if the range is 0 - 40 feet, change it to 0 - 80 or 0 - 100 feet. Now increase the sensitivity until a second bottom echo appears at twice the depth of the actual bottom signal. This “second echo” is caused by the echo returning from the bottom reflecting off the surface of the water, making a second trip to the bottom and returning. Since it takes twice as long for this echo to make two trips to the bottom and back, it shows at twice the depth of the actual bottom. Now change the range back to the original scale. You should see more echoes on the screen. If there is too much noise on the screen, back the sensitivity level down a step or two.

Grayline

GRAYLINE® lets you distinguish between strong and weak echoes. It “paints” gray on targets that are stronger than a preset value. This allows you to tell the difference between a hard and soft bottom. For example, a soft, muddy or weedy bottom returns a weaker symbol which is shown with a narrow or no gray line. A hard bottom returns a strong signal which causes a wide gray line. If you have two signals of equal size, one with gray and the other without, then the target with gray is the stronger signal. This helps distinguish weeds from trees on the bottom or fish from structure.

Screen Resolution

The number of vertical pixels that the screen is capable of showing is called Screen Resolution. The more vertical pixels on a sonar’s screen, the easier it will be for it to show fish arches. This plays an important role in a sonar unit’s capability to show fish arches. For example, if a sonar has 100 pixels vertically, with a range of 0 - 100 feet, each pixel is equal to a depth of 12 inches. A fish would have to be pretty large to show up as an arch at this range. However, if you zoom the range to a 30-foot zoom (for example from 80 to 110 feet), each pixel is now equal to 3.6 inches. Now the same fish will probably be seen as an arch on the screen due to the zoom effect.

Conclusion
Will this technique work?

I think I have proven that quality gear and electronics are the key to success with drop shotting, you should also ask my tournament partner that saw me land a nice 51/2 pound plus spotted bass on Lake Lanier that came out of 50 feet of water (Yes 50 feet) suspended on the outside edge of a pod of shad next to some brush on a creek ledge.

Just a couple reminders, if you’re planning to try this technique on any clear water lake…

• Good electronics are a must.
• The best tutor out there can be found at www.Lowrance.com
• Save your money and buy good electronics.
• You have to rely on your electronics to help you find and stay on the bait fish.
• The Drop Shot method is deadly on both active and not so active fish “IF” you get it in front of his or her face.
• Don’t over power your finesse baits with rods and line that are too heavy for this technique.
• Stay alert and become a line watcher and a deep finder reader….
• Don’t get discouraged if your results the first trip or two is slim.
• Like all other effective methods there is a learning curve to this technique.

About Tom Branch, Jr

Tom, Jr. is a full time Lieutenant / Paramedic with the Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services and the Prostaff Manager for Fish Harder Companies (Tru-Tungsten, Picasso Lures, Captain Mike Guide Proven Lures and Youvella-USA). He has fished all over the country and he and his wife Kim live in Dacula, GA. Tom, Jr. is sponsored by Bass Pro Shops-Outdoor World in Atlanta, Ga, Nitro boats, Mercury Marine, Tru Tungsten, Picasso Lures, Youvella-USA hooks, Lowrance Electronics, Navionics, ProLine Shoes, TuffSkinz Motor covers, BedRug and Keel Shield.