In the past ten or twenty years, a lot of "new" fishing techniques have been introduced to anglers. Some of those techniques were truly new and revolutionary; others were simply revisions of old techniques. I was recently introduced to a technique that is truly new, at least in the Midwest, that will help anglers put more fish in the boat. This new technique is called Dropshotting; it seems to work best in clear water when the fish are finicky, and is a technique all anglers should look into.
I was introduced to Dropshotting by Barry Day, one of the best and most avid bass anglers around. Barry explained the idea behind the technique and suggested we get together for an on-the-water lesson on Dropshotting. We made plans to meet on West Lake Okoboji in northwest Iowa in early September.
Conditions for fishing were not ideal when we arrived on West Lake. It was the coldest day in weeks, and the wind was blowing hard. West Okoboji can be a tough lake in good conditions, so this was going to be a true test of Dropshotting.
Before leaving the dock, Barry gave Jim McDonnell and I a quick introduction to Dropshotting. This technique was developed in Japan, where fishing pressure is intense. It was adopted in California, where fishing pressure is also very heavy and the water is frequently very clear.
Dropshotting is a very bare-bones technique. A lightweight hook is attached to your line with a Palomar knot. It should be tied so there is a tag-end of line below the hook anywhere from six to maybe twenty inches. Experiment with the length of line below the hook. To the line below the hook, attach a splitshot. We used the largest splitshot available. The ones with no ears are best because they pick up fewer weeds.
Tie an overhand knot to the line below the shot to prevent it from slipping off the line if it gets hung up.
The baits for Dropshotting are versions of Power Bait. We used Dropshot 4-inch Worms and Dropshot 4 inch Minnows. The Worms were more productive the day we fished, but that can be a day-to-day thing. The Dropshot Minnows can also be very good.
This rig can be either cast or drifted. The key is to not move it very fast. Barry suggested the rig be fished kind of like you would an ice-fly. No jerky actions, more like a shaking/quivering action.
We fished the Dropshot rig over rock humps and along weedlines. Due to wind, we couldn't get to the best spots. How did we do? On a day when we anticipated tough catching, we caught probably forty
bass (largemouth and smallmouth), walleyes, big bluegills, and crappies. The walleyes went to about twenty-one inches, the bass to almost nineteen inches.
Dropshotting is going to become an important angling technique. Get in on the ground floor of this productive method and watch your catches increase on days when no one else is having much action.
