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soft plastic/rubber lures


paul mc

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Jeremiah T. Bagwell:

Do you guys do any drop shot fishing in the UK?  It is a method of finesse fishing with small soft plastics that is becoming very popular in the states.

 

JT Bagwell

Tell us more JT. Its not a term with which I am familiar. Finnesse angling, rather than out and out U/L is gaining in popularity over here.
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A drop shot rig typically consists of a small weight tied about 1-2 feet below the hook on light line. It is usually thrown with spinning tackle.

 

When fishing the drop shot you have the ability to cast out and keep your lure in one area while still having the lure move. With the weight below the hook you can simply twitch your rod tip and it will cause the lure to have an erratic lifelike motion while practically staying in the same place.

 

This is a very slow and extremely productive method we use for catching bass but, I am sure that you guys can use it to catch the fish you have in the UK.

 

If you have any more questions let me know and I can try to find a diagram showing exactly what a Drop shot rig looks like.

 

JT Bagwell

Contact me any time: Facebook.com/Bagwell or Facebook.com/BagwellsBassTactics or Twitter.com/JeremiahBagwell

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I've had some success drop shotting for perch in deeper water. I found that 7" sluggo SS baits seemed to work best! Even half pound perch ate their way up a 7" bait to the hook nicked through the head. I was impressed! I think it would work well for Zander too, but it is difficult to work out a way of doing it with pike present beacuse of the wire trace problem.

Tim

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J.T. Baggy,

Is that the method where you tie your hook on as normal but leave a long tail i.e. the bit you would normally cut off is left long about 12" to 24" long. To this long tail a casting weight is tied on.?

This keeps the rubber worm tight to the main line and apparently always off the bottom, where it could be dragged in to silt.

Keith

The more you learn, the more you know.

The more you know, the more you forget.

The more you forget, the less you know.

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Peter,

 

It seems you have seen the Drop Shot rig before. The only difference between what you described is the method in which it is fished. It is an option to drag the weight along the bottom keeping the slightly above the bottom. However when I fish a Drop Shot rig it has been more effective for me to keep the weight in one spot and just shaking the slack line causing the lure to move up and down in an erratic fashion. After a few shakes of the lure I will usually hop the weight a foot or two and repeat the shaking action.

 

This technique is very effective when using smaller lures in highly pressured waters. Waters that get a lot of fishing activity or pressure related to weather conditions such as tides and cold water.

 

JT Bagwell

Contact me any time: Facebook.com/Bagwell or Facebook.com/BagwellsBassTactics or Twitter.com/JeremiahBagwell

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Cheers JT & others! These past few days have been working a soft plastic jig close to the bottom, and very effective it has been too! This drop shotting seems to be a worthwhile refinement, thanks for the tip.

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JT - I think drop shotting would be lots more popular in the UK if more folks had boats and lakes/rivers where they were allowed.

 

Most places in England absolutely prohibit boats. The main exceptions are some canals and tidal sections of rivers. Can't even use a float tube from what I'm told. Scotland seems to have more places you can use a boat. Not sure about Ireland.

 

And another big difference you may not be aware of - UK waters for the most part are owned. Even rivers. The landowner(s) rights extend into the water. With a river, usually to the half way point. And most lakes from what I can tell are privately owned as well.

" My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!" - Harry Truman, 33rd US President

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Tony - no eel fishing where I live but in general, my guess is that any fish that will catch on lives will catch on a drop shot rig. Great for times with the fishing is tough.

 

Only real downside for lots of UK waters is that it will only work with light line and I can't think of a way to rig with wire to get the effect.

 

OTOH, a drop shot hook is pretty small with a tiny barb so if you got bit by a pike, you'd just need to re-rig and sister pike would barely notice the hook until she got rid of it.

 

Light spinning gear with line to a maximum of probably 8lb and usually lighter. The hook that has been designed specifically for use with drop shot rigs looks like the ones in this package. Package is from Gamakatsu.

 

dropshot_rig.jpg

 

quote:


These leaders feature Gamakatsu’s Split/Drop shot hook attached to 6 feet of premium monofilament. The hook is attached in the center of the line leaving a 3 foot long tag to let the angler choose the level to suspend the bait. The 3 feet on the other end allows anglers who are deep vertical jigging with braided line some separation between their line and the bait. They come packaged three leaders per pack and in three sizes: A size 4 hook with 6lb line, a size 2 hook with 8lb. line and a size 1 hook with 8lb. line.

The rig itself looks like

 

dropshot3.gif

 

and some folks opt to add to their chances of catching a fish by using a jig as the bottom weight so you have: (and BTW - the hook curve/point should be up rather than down as shown in this picture)

 

dropshot1.jpg

 

The lure is usually given some "action" by the angler shaking the rod tip while the rig is on the bottom. In 10 feet of water, a very gentle shake with the rod tip moving maybe 6 inches to either side. In 40 feet, you gotta shake more seriously for anything to be seen at the rig.

 

[ 09. December 2002, 01:36 AM: Message edited by: Newt ]

" My choices in life were either to be a piano player in a whore house or a politician. And to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference!" - Harry Truman, 33rd US President

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Newt,

 

Thank You that is a fine follow up too my post.

 

Just to let you know I do sometimes fish a drop shot on baitcasting equipement on heavy line. Not often though, mostly during the spawn when I am sight fishing.

 

JT Bagwell

 

[ 09. December 2002, 02:45 AM: Message edited by: Jeremiah T. Bagwell ]

Contact me any time: Facebook.com/Bagwell or Facebook.com/BagwellsBassTactics or Twitter.com/JeremiahBagwell

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