Berkley Gulp Minnow

ORIGINAL: Trout About

The drop-shot was initially developed for deep-water fishing. It works best when fish are suspended off of outside structure, in 20 to 80 feet of water. This requires good electronics, and a firm understanding of how to locate bait and offshore structure.
 

Once an area is located, cast the rig out, stripping line as needed, letting it sink to the bottom. When the weight hits bottom, raise your rod until you feel the weight of the sinker (about the 11:00 position). Then, lower the rod to create a slight bow in the line (about the 9:30 position). Once you have a slack line, start shaking the rod tip.

 

The most important thing about this technique is that you shake the bait on a slack line. Shake the rod for up to a minute and then reel down the slack, move the bait and start the whole process over. Do this until the bait is directly below the boat. In deep-water situations, it’s usually best to position the boat directly over the fish, and work the rig vertically.

 

Because you are working the bait on a slack line, bites feel different than when fishing a standard worm rig.  When a fish grabs your bait on a drop-shot rig, you typically feel a tightening sensation; the rod will start to get heavy. Do not set the hook in the normal fashion - just reel as fast as you can. If you set the hook like you would on a Texas-rig, you are likely to pull the hook out of the fish’s mouth.

 

 

ready2fish,  they definately don't work for smallies .  Especially those 5#'ers in Erie.