Dropshot foulups

It all started with the plastic worm and has now mutated into a huge array of specialized offerings. Whose is the best and which one is your favorite? Come share your thoughts and opinions here.
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Randingo
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Dropshot foulups

Post by Randingo » Thu Apr 13, 2017 2:46 am

I can't be the only one who has this problem. When you're fishing a dropshot, it's fairly common to hook a number of small (6-8") bass while you're figuring out what's going on. Especially when these little guys are smallmouths, they get really hyper and often cause the dropshot weight to wrap around the main line. You'd think it wouldn't be too complex to undo this, but it can be a nightmare that takes me upwards of five minutes to undo or causes me to re-tie the rig. Is there a better way to undo this mess that I'm not aware of? How about a better way to handle the fish? It can be really frustrating, and I'm hoping someone smarter than I am has some pointers for saving time and/or reducing/eliminating this problem.

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Re: Dropshot foulups

Post by ayo8 » Thu Apr 13, 2017 3:00 am

I didn't know catching bass was a problem :D

You might want to be more attentive around smallies. Bring them up as quickly as you can, so they dont tangle up your rig.

I don't know what type of drop-shot rig youre using, but the drop shot rig I use rarely tangles up.

I think, your answer might be a 1oz drop-shot sinker, and swivels :)

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Randingo
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Re: Dropshot foulups

Post by Randingo » Thu Apr 13, 2017 8:38 am

ayo8 wrote:I didn't know catching bass was a problem :D

You might want to be more attentive around smallies. Bring them up as quickly as you can, so they dont tangle up your rig.

I don't know what type of drop-shot rig youre using, but the drop shot rig I use rarely tangles up.

I think, your answer might be a 1oz drop-shot sinker, and swivels :)
I'm talking about those hyperactive little dinks that are so wired they seem to be bouncing off the water when they're close to the boat. It's a standard dropshot rig with the tag end forming the dropper--usually 6-18"-- and a 1/8-1/4 ounce weight. And all I want to know is if there's a more efficient way to get them unhooked or get the rig untangled after they've done their gymnastics routine.

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Re: Dropshot foulups

Post by big_gee » Fri Apr 14, 2017 12:13 am

Your answer is the Gamakatsu G finesse swivel shot. You end up with far less tangles and line twist.

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Randingo
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Re: Dropshot foulups

Post by Randingo » Sat Apr 15, 2017 3:23 am

big_gee wrote:Your answer is the Gamakatsu G finesse swivel shot. You end up with far less tangles and line twist.
Thanks. I recently picked up a couple packs of these, but I don't have much confidence in them yet: the extra hardware that makes it brilliant also makes me fear it will be off-putting to fish. Do you feel like you've gotten fewer bites with this hook than a traditional dropshot hook?

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Re: Dropshot foulups

Post by big_gee » Mon Apr 17, 2017 1:27 am

I know a couple of my buddies swear by them. I use them when the fish are aggressive so I don't have to worry about retying all the time. If the bite is super tough then I just use the regular G-finesse TGW drop shot hook.

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Re: Dropshot foulups

Post by Brad in Texas » Mon Apr 17, 2017 2:39 am

I have used the Gamakatsu Swivel hooks and they work great. They have a pinch grip to attach a separate line down to the sinker.

One idea I'd pass along is, say, you are using 10 lbs. braid down to an 8 lbs. fluoro leader for your finesse drop shot.

Tie on the Gamakatsu hook, then use something around 4 or 6 lbs. test (it makes no difference) down from the Gamakatsu "pinch" grip down to a cylinder weight with its own pinch style grip attachment.

This way, if you get hung up, for most of us, it'll be down at the weight, say stuck between rocks. If you give it a tug and it doesn't come loose, the 4 lbs. test line should snap first . . . saving your hook and bait.

It takes seconds to re-attach a short separate piece of line to a new weight and make it ready to fish again.

How does this all help your issue? Well, the swivel hook itself means it makes it much harder for even a hyperactive SMB to wrap up the line. But, if it does and it involves the line down to the weight, you can snap off that line and maybe unravel things a bit easier.

One final note: Since drop shotting is often vertical or from short casts, if you "flip" the presentation out instead of an overhead cast of any sort, it'll fly out and not tumble through the air. When I have had line issues a few times, it was this and not the action of a fish that created it.

Let us know how it works out!

Brad

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Re: Dropshot foulups

Post by njbasscat » Mon Apr 17, 2017 5:55 am

It's often easier to remove the weight, untangle the tag end, and then put the weight back on.

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Re: Dropshot foulups

Post by vinnieb729 » Mon Apr 17, 2017 8:24 am

Are you using a fluoro leader...or what line/lb test? Some brands and types are stiffer than others and kinda uncoil themselves when this happens...and yeah, those little smallies can go bonkers...like you shocked 'em or something.

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Re: Dropshot foulups

Post by Randingo » Mon Apr 17, 2017 11:08 am

Thanks for all the responses. The problem I'm talking about is not related to the typical line twist you get when fishing a "regular" dropshot setup with nose-hooked plastic. That is, of course, still something that happens, but I've greatly reduced it by nose-hooking differently. Those issues are also considerably mitigated when I use braid to a fluoro leader. I think the two big takeaways are to use the swivel shot hook when the bite is solid, because the ability to unhook both the weight and the drop line as well as the mobility of the swivel will probably reduce both the frequency with which this happens and the time it takes to fix; and the other move is definitely to unclip the weight from the dropper when I'm using a regular hook. It's weird how little things affect your confidence in a presentation. For years I fished the dropshot with straight 6-8 pound fluoro tied to a Gamakatsu splishot/dropshot hook. That's still what I have the most confidence doing. I've started getting used to the braid for my mainline, but I don't think it's been quite as successful for me (for various reasons I haven't fished as much the last few years as before, and I've never been one of those data collecting anglers). The swivel shot appears to be the best solution any company has put out, and for some reason, that little extra bit of hardware makes me feel like it's one step further from the perfection of straight fluoro to hook with the tag as a dropper. I just have to get the rest of this stuff out of my head and go fishing some more. And that's probably the other thing: it seems like my luck at finding days when they'll bite well on power techniques and even topwater has been such that, since I'm not fishing as much, I haven't thrown the dropshot nearly as much in the past few years as previously. Hopefully I'll get more days on the water this year and work out all of those confidence issues by catching a bunch of fish.

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Re: Dropshot foulups

Post by gailt » Mon May 08, 2017 10:22 am

What size of the Gamakatsu swivel drops do most of you use.

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Re: Dropshot foulups

Post by accodn2ryan » Mon May 15, 2017 5:50 am

gailt wrote:What size of the Gamakatsu swivel drops do most of you use.
I usually use either a size 1 or 1/0 Gammy swivel hook. Depends on how finicky the fish are, and the size of the worm you're using. I usually tend to start off with 1/0 though when drop shotting.

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Re: Dropshot foulups

Post by earthworm77 » Sat Jun 17, 2017 8:49 pm

it is pretty normal for me using the split shot/dropshot hook, I might give that swivel hook a try.

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