Ike: Drop Shot Versatile Year-Round
Mike Iaconelli uses a drop shot rig when he wants to get down 'n dirty with tough bass. (PAA: Alan Clemons)
PAA Communications
When the drop shot technique began gaining traction in the bass world about 10 years or so ago, it seemed like a weird rig to consider for catching bass.
A main line with a weight on the bottom and a “drop” line hanging off to the side with a hook and worm or shad-like bait attached? Yeah, right. Even some of the most diehard anglers had a hard time wrapping their heads around it.
“When you think about plastics and the way we have presented them over the years, they’re all pretty much on the bottom,” said Toyota pro Mike Iaconelli ofNew Jersey. “Whether it’s a Texas-rig, a jig, a jighead with a bait or even a Carolina-rig, to a certain extent they’re all going to settle to the bottom.
“Early on, I thought the drop shot was something you did out west when you were in 100 feet of water or when it’s 30 degrees. That has been blown away as a big misconception.”
The drop shot is now a standard rig for many anglers. It has myriad formations, from the ultra-light finesse setups with light weights, line and small baits, to heavier line, weights and bigger worms, craws or shad imitations. Some anglers have event taken it to extremes – nicknaming it the Bubba Rig – with stout line and 3/4- or 1-ounce sinkers to fish near or in vegetation.
Iaconelli added the rig to his arsenal about 10 years ago and began tinkering with different lines, baits and weights. He tried it in different areas with cover, hard bottom and on various structure such as humps or channel ledges. He learned to use his sonar to find suspended fish – notorious for their fickle attitudes – and then try to figure out how to get them to bite.
But early on, and like many others, he had to learn one key element.
“I reviewed tapes of the 2000 (Bassmaster) Classic inChicagoand would rewind and rewind,” he said. “People think you throw it out and shake it like a shaky rig or something. But the more I watched some guys who were experts with it, I noticed they weren’t moving it at all.
“I started watching it in my pool and realized what it was. Every human being, and I don’t care who you are, if you put your hand up to a light and watch it you’ll see movement. Nobody is perfectly still. You cannot be perfectly still and that’s the key to the strength of the drop shot. Throw it out, let the weight contact the bottom on a semi-slack line and let your natural body movement move the bait.”
Spinning tackle and light line typically is best for drop shot rigs in ultra-clear water. (PAA: Alan Clemons)
Once Iaconelli realized that little element, “my catch rate doubled,” he said. Other factors help a bit, too. A gentle breeze. The rocking of the boat on the lake. Just maybe a gentle, subtle twitch. But no shaking or jiggling.
“Just stand there with very little movement,” he said. “I may have periods of 10-30 seconds where I don’t move it at all. Maybe drag it a little and let it sit. You just want that little quiver and that’s the trigger to that bait.”
Year-round tactic?
First thought to be a technique for ultra-clear water (it is) or an ultra-tough bite (it is), once the drop shot found its way into more boats it became a multi-seasonal rig.
It can be good in summer in pressured areas where bass have seen crankbaits, jigs and plastics every day. It can be good in spring around cover where post-spawn bass are guarding fry, or even for spawning bass. And in winter, when the water’s cold, it’s also effective.
From lakes with vegetation and a little color to the deep ponds out west and gin-clear waters of the northeast, there are only few situations when a drop shot may not work.
“The coldest I’ve used it is right off hard (frozen) water,” Iaconelli said. “We have ponds at home where the ice comes off by the dams first and I’ve caught fish on a drop shot there. Right after freezing is the coldest I’ve used it and I’ve used it in summer in deep water when the temperatures are 92 or 93 degrees.
“It’s not just for out west. It’s not just for cold water. It’s for winter, spring, summer and fall, from zero to 100 feet. It’s very versatile.”
Lures and line
Spinning tackle is optimal for drop shotting for several reasons, with ease of control and use of lighter line being foremost.
A 7-foot rod and high-capacity reel aids with the sensitivity when using 4- to 8-pound test line. Iaconelli opts for fluorocarbon unless he’s in a special situation.
“Probably 75 percent of the time I’m using lighter fluorocarbon and the other 25 percent I may go non-traditional with a power drop shot,” he said. “If I’m around heavy cover or matted vegetation, I may use braided line with a fluorocarbon leader.”
Myriad bait options exist, from small grubs, finesse worms and shad imitations to larger versions of those or craws. Matching the lake’s forage definitely pays off if you know what the bass are targeting. It’s not a rig for dangling by a suspended bass, either; slowly dragging the drop shot off a ledge or on the bottom – slowly being the key – can be effective.
“I like to compare the drop shot to when the SluggO came out,” Iaconelli said. “We all fished it on a 4/0 hook or maybe aTexasrig and for a while that seemed like the only things anyone did with it. Then as more fluke-style baits came out, people figured out you could put them on a jighead and bounce them off the bottom or maybe double-rig them.
“It’s the same with the drop shot. In the beginning all we used was light line but now it’s expanded and is a wide-open technique. There are no barriers. There’s nothing that says you can’t use a drop shot with heavy line and flip it around docks or heavy cover.
“It’s definitely a mulit-species technique. I fished it when I was a kid for flounder off theJerseycoast, just a simple top-bottom rig. But I guess I was too hard-headed to realize it was a great rig for bass, too.”
