[Scott]

As regular users will know, I just love drop shotting. One of my issues I have encountered in the past however has been the poor percentage of breaking strain you achieve using the polamar knot. This knot is required to get the hook at 90 degrees to your line. The best case scenario with this knot is around 70 percent of breaking strain.

This gets even worse when you have weight applied from the bottom such as when you fish another SP (I love a big 6" Storm swim bait for this) as your drop shot weight. Lately I have been experimenting with a variation of this rig.

Rather than tie my top hook on with a polamar knot, I have been firstly putting a small latex float stopper bead on the line. I then thread the line through the eye of my hook and apply another float stopper bead. A small drop of super glue ensures the beads stay put (tightly wedging the eye of the hook between them). A uni knot to the bottom SP and you now have 90-100 percent breaking strain on your rig even when you hook a good fish on the bottom SP. I have created a very quick and rough diagram in MS Paint to detail this.

 

[Scott]

Michael, the drop of super glue where the line goes through each of the latex float stopper beads ensures that the hook cannot slide anywhere. I have been using variation for the last month or so and haven't had a hook slip yet. In actual fact you will break the line if you try to move the hook but obviously the drag will slip before this happens when fishing.

Catch ya Scott

 

[YakAtak]

Nice one, looks good to me, I'm keen to get a handle on this type of rig for deep water bass fishin in the dams around here.

 

[Heno]

I use a similar rig to your setup but I use a dropper loop knot. I find I can vary the length of each dropper to suit different conditions such as tidal flow to achieve different actions with with some plastics. I haven't had any issues with knot failure so far.

 

[Gunston]

Scott
What is the depth that the lure sits at :?:

Chris

 

[Scott]

YakAtak, mate if you do a bit of research on the US bass sites you will find how best to fish this rig. It is very much a finesse rig when done properly that will catch fish when nothing else will. It was originally developed in Japan and was quickly utilised by US bass pros who won a lot of tournaments using it. It is incredible on shut down fish.

Gunston, the SP is at whatever depth you need it to be. If chasing flatties, bream or trout over weeds I have it around 6 inches above the weed. If chasing bream in submerged timber I have it around 12 inches above the timber and I use a lightly crimped split shot as the weight so that when your sinker gets caught in the trees, the split shot pulls off and you salvage your rig and the fish you hooked on it. Today I used it on some Atlantics and needed to fish it around 3 metres of the bottom in 4 metres of water to score as the fish were chopping bait on the surface, then circling around and nailing the dead and dieing ones as they sunk.

Heno, to fish a dropshot rig properly the eye of the hook must be rigidly attached to the mainline. This means that when you give the minnow a light flick with the rod, the head of the SP minnow doesn't move, it just gives a subtle little tail flick. It looks like a nearly dead minnow, floating stationary giving the odd feeble little tail flick. Throwing a SP on a paternoster rig where the SPs are on loops will catch fish but will not allow you to work a minnow subtly which is what is necessary on those tough days when you have a shutdown bass or trout ect eyeballing your SP but not taking it because it is not convinced.

An interesting experiment for you to try would be to attach a set of spring scales to your bottom hook, and attach your top hook into a vice ect. Slowly apply pressure via the spring scales and have a look at your percentage of breaking strain achieved. I think you will be either upping your leader size (ruining the subtly of your presentation or tying a different style of knot. We discovered this quite a few years ago when we use to catch big silvers off the reefs. Irrespective of what loop knot is tied, as soon as weight is applied to two hooks the loops all fail miserable as far as percentage of breaking strain goes.

Catch ya Scott

 

[troppo]

Certainly interesting Scott. Are the beads you are talking about the little green or pink things ya find at places like Kmart or Amart Allsports in the fishing section. I have never used them for anything.

 

[Scott]

Troppo, they are called float stopper beads and are a standard latex colour like a cheap franger. They are used to fix the depth of a running float. Specialist tackle shops would have them. They come on as little plastic ring with 3 wire loops off them with 1/2 dozen or so beads on each. Get the smallest size as they will grip your line the best.

Catch ya Scott

 

[yaker]

.

 

[kantong]

with a rig like that, do you just lob it the spot and let it sit like you were fishing with bait?

 

[yaker]

.

 

[YakAtak]

My question is, what hook would you use for the dropshot? I have worm hooks, are they the go, or could you use long shank?

 

[Peril]

You can use worm hooks or there are even special drop shot hooks - straight shank and the eye is straight but the eye's plane is perpendicular to that of the hook

 

[Guest]

Thanks for posting this Scott.

I'm keen to learn how to drop shot, and I like this method.....seems easy for a drop shotting amatuer like me to get a grasp on.

Off to the tackle shop tomorrow at lunch time 8)

 

[YakAtak]

These look interesting :shock:
http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/dropshot-hooks/861117.aspx