Dropshot rod required

[Jim Murray]

Planning on doing a bit of dropshotting on my local canals for perch. Just wondering what rod would be recommended, I'm thinking a longer one than needed for eg boat fishing?

Would spend anywhere from £30-£60 on one; my local shop has the HTO's, I'm going in this week to check if he has any others there. Would prefer cork handle but can't see too many out there.

Any recommendations or advice?

[Phone]

Jim

 

Unless you are he!! bent on a new rod what do you already have available?

[Steve Walker]

I have a DAM Calibre dropshot rod, but to be honest I don't use it that much, not even for dropshotting. I find that the ultralight lure rod I use for fishing little jigs works fine for dropshotting, and is more versatile. I mostly use it when I want to alternate between the techniques and want two rods set up.

[Jim Murray]

Closest match would be a very old 10' leger rod (threaded tip ring), it's quite stiff. Or an 11' glass with a spliced quivertip. I don't have a light spinning rod at all hence the need for this one.

[Steve Walker]

Are you specifically wanting to dropshot, or would you also want to fish little jigheads?

[Jim Murray]

Are you specifically wanting to dropshot, or would you also want to fish little jigheads?

 

Ideally a rod for both Steve.

[Steve Walker]

In that case, I would prioritise the jigging - I can dropshot with my jigging rod, but I can't jig with my dropshot rod (the tip is not sensitive enough to see the bites).

 

It could be said that the softer tip on a jigging rod would make it harder to impart action to the dropshot rig, but in practice I don't find that.

 

The HTO Rockfish light and ultralight rods are very popular for fishing little jigheads for perch. The only caveat I would add is that they have essentially a spliced in quivertip and therefore have the same problem quiver rods with one piece tips have - when your line wraps round the top two eyes, snapping the end off, you have to replace the whole tip section, whereas with a push-in type you can just replace the solid bit. Also, as with quiver rods, the push-in types often come with a choice of lighter and heavier tips.

[Jim Murray]

Are you specifically wanting to dropshot, or would you also want to fish little jigheads?

 

Ideally a rod for both Steve.

[Jim Murray]

In that case, I would prioritise the jigging - I can dropshot with my jigging rod, but I can't jig with my dropshot rod (the tip is not sensitive enough to see the bites).

 

It could be said that the softer tip on a jigging rod would make it harder to impart action to the dropshot rig, but in practice I don't find that.

 

The HTO Rockfish light and ultralight rods are very popular for fishing little jigheads for perch. The only caveat I would add is that they have essentially a spliced in quivertip and therefore have the same problem quiver rods with one piece tips have - when your line wraps round the top two eyes, snapping the end off, you have to replace the whole tip section, whereas with a push-in type you can just replace the solid bit. Also, as with quiver rods, the push-in types often come with a choice of lighter and heavier tips.

 

Didn't realise it was so technical - anytime I've used dropshot technique before, you really don't have to impart much action anyway. Def not buying two rods so may well take your advice thanks.

[Steve Walker]

The thing that made the difference to my catch rate with jigging was realising that it's more like quivertipping than spinning. Bumping the lure over the bottom, you give it a jerk and then let it settle on a tight line, watching the tip. Lots of bites come after it hits the bottom, sometimes several seconds afterwards, and the bites can be quite subtle little taps on the tip.