The Dropshot Rig
by: Deitz Dittrich, Sport/MN (Lindstrom, MN )

A finished dropshot with a long leader

Hello, my name is Deitz Dittrich, and I have a problem. I am addicted to fishing. Not only that, I am addicted to bass fishing!

Understanding that you have a problem is the first step.

We as bass anglers don't need a 12-step program. Think about it, many of us have boats worth over $20,000, filled with 10-30 of our best rod and reel combinations and enough tackle to sink your normal aluminum boat.

At the end of a great fishing trip, we can pull up to the boat landing dock and see the guy reeling a spinning reel upside down on a bait casting rod fishing for pan fish.

He would say as we pull up. "How was the fishing?"

I reply "Oh, not too bad caught quite a few, was a fun day."

"Mind if I see any of them?" He says.

"Well, err you see, um, I didn't keep any of them." I say and as we walk by we notice the bucket full of sunfish the guy caught from the boat landing dock.

So, we have the boat with the GPS, three depth finders, temp gauge, 20 rod and reels, and enough tackle to fill fort Knox. Yet no fish, and we like it that way!

I'm also a teacher. I work in the Chicago Lakes School District in the Primary Building. There are three full time men teachers and about 40 female employees. Let's just say life isn't always easy! I'm one of those people that like to get to work early and finish all my plans so that when I have a break during the day, I can do something not related to teaching. Usually it's spent looking around the internet trying to find stuff related to fishing. It was one of these times about two years ago that I found an article written by Terry Batisti, who started and owns a small Hand Pour Plastic company called Snakebite Tackle.

The article was on a deep water fishing technique called dropshotting, and explained a finesse technique that was becoming popular in the very deep reservoirs of the west.

After reading the article I realized that we here in Minnesota don't fish 80 feet of water too often like the article stated, yet the rig fascinated me. I e-mailed Mr. Batisti and told him I enjoyed the article and then told him how I thought that the rig could easily be adapted to our waters and the way we fished here. We sent a few e-mails back and forth giving each other ideas on how, and where this rig could really shine.

The undershot rig is not new. Very seldom is anything totally new invented, we have just found different ways to use them. That is what has happened to the dropshot rig. From the research that I have done, it began as a river rig for fishing live bait off the bottom without using a floating jig head. Also, believe it or not, many years ago it was used for ice fishing. The basic rig is very simple and you probably will not need to run to the store and get anything, that is the beauty of this rig. It's simple, simple to use, and catches loads of fish.

You begin by tying a palomar knot on a hook with a long tag end. Then run the tag end back through the hook eye, and fasten a sinker to the bottom somehow. There are three different styles of hooks that I know of that people have been using: one is the simple, light wire, straight shank hook, another is like the Gamakatsu octopus hook, and companies like owner have thought that this rig is good enough that they have invented hooks solely for this rig. The sinker is easy too; you can peg a sliding sinker to your line, or tie one on. Companies have invented sinkers for this rig also.

Step 1. Place your line through the hook of the eyelet and back through creating a loop with an extra long tag end	Step 2. Use the loop you created in step one to make an overhand knot (like tying your shoes) with the main line and tag line kept together
Step 3. Now take the loop and pass it around your entire hook (or lure) before tightening	Step 4. Remember to wet your line before tightening to prevent heat from building in your line from friction - now tighten your palomar knot
Step 5. Take your tag line and place it through the eyelet of your hook once more (this makes the hook stick out away from your main line)	Step 6. Tie a weight, or place split-shot, on the end of your tag end (if you're in heavy cover, weaker knots will help you break free and save your worm or lure)

Typically the rig is fished on medium action spinning gear and 6-10 pound test mono line. The plastic used is usually a 4" finesse style worm or something like that. I like the Exude 4" finesse worm. It's a very basic presentation, yet the possibilities for the way that it can be fished are only held back by your imagination.

Again, the rig began as a deep open water technique for bass fishing. I am not going to talk about that much. I would rather talk about the ways I think it would best be used in our waters a little closer to my home.

The typical presentation is to make a short cast in an area that you believe to be holding fish. The rig works best when fished near to vertical. Allow the rig to sink to the bottom and let it sit, then allow a small amount of slack line and shake it. Move the bait a few inches and repeat. It's that easy. The bite is on slack line so it will not necessarily feel like a normal bite but like other rigs where the line is semi slack like a soft plastic jerk bait. Sometimes you may feel a tick, sometimes-just pressure. DO NOT SET THE HOOK! Instead, just begin to reel fast till the rod loads. Then, if necessary, you can set the hook. If you set the hook to begin with because of the way the rig is set up you can pull the bait out of the fish's mouth without a hook up. Most of the time, if you are using a light wire hook and many times an exposed hook, a boat rocking hook-set is not needed. I like to compare the hook-set to how the great crankbait fishermen do it: more of just added pressure than a hook set.

Areas that you can fish this rig are endless. It can be used anywhere where you would normally use a carolina rig or texas rig, and areas in which you wouldn't fish those rigs. Think of a time in which you were fishing a carolina rig and on every cast you would bring gunk up on your sinker and lure, yet on times you could keep the bait clean you felt a bite. Because the lure itself never comes in contact with the bottom on the dropshot rig, this is perfect. Your sinker still collects and stirs up the bottom yet the lure is allowed to work naturally.

Or let's say you have found fish on the very edge of a deep weed line. The fish seem to be positioned just inside the short weeds and the only way you can get them to hit is by using a very light weight sinker on a Texas rig. Yet you feel like you're wasting time to let your bait sink slowly down to the depth you're working. Again, the dropshot rig is perfect. Set the leader length to the depth needed and fish as heavy a sinker as you want. The lure itself is weightless, a suspending soft plastic lure. You control the speed at which it sinks or rises with your rod tip.

Another situation where the dropshot shines is if you are fishing over lure stealing rocks. You know what I am talking about. No matter what you throw down there it gets hung up. You can use one of the new no-snag sinkers on this rig or get some environmentally safe split shot and pinch them on the end of your line. Then, when you get stuck, just pull the sinkers off. Instead of having to re-tie you just need to add new sinkers.

Heavy vegetation is also a great place for the dropshot. With the onset of Eurasian Water Milfoil in many of our states' lakes, we have needed to adapt to fishing heavy vegetation. You know the bass are there. Typically many people fish these areas successfully with heavy jigs. However, there are days in which it seems if you could get a smaller finesse rig there you could catch more fish. Use as heavy a sinker as you like. Put as small a piece of plastic as you want, you can get it through the carpet of weeds and fish it weightless beneath.

Have you ever fished a dock or laydown to find a very skittish fish that will follow your bait along the bottom but you can't get it to hit? If only you had a lure that would sit in one place and entice the fish to strike. Use as long a leader as you want. I have heard guys use 5-foot leaders and cast past an area. The sinker stays past the area yet the bait just hovers next to the cover. I'm not saying that this rig is going to replace the carolina rig or texas rigs, but I do believe that it deserves a spot in your repertoire.

Give it a try. The worst thing that could happen is...

You could catch more fish to not bring home!

• If you have questions, or want to discuss this rig in more detail click here.