The first time I saw a drop shot was at the Chicago Bassmaster Classic 24 years ago. Besides a few Japanese anglers and West Coast guys, nobody else had ever heard of it. Today, every bass angler has a drop shot tied on to keep a bait dancing above the bottom.
It seems like practically everybody relies on 4-inch finesse worms and Berkley’s Powerbait Maxscent Flat Worms as their primary drop-shot baits. Those are the baits I brought with me when I went up to New York to fish the Elite Series tournaments on Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence River.
I didn’t do well in either event. Given the heavy fishing pressure put on bass these days, some of them are beginning to shy away from drop-shot baits they’ve seen countless times.
That pressure has increased astronomically due to the influx of forward-facing sonar. People don’t cast to structure anymore. Every cast is made to a bass that has been spotted with this sonar technology.
I stayed in New York for a week after the tournaments to do some filming on other northern lakes. It gave me an opportunity to experiment with alternative drop-shot baits. I believe you now have to show bass something different.
I did really well with four baits. Two aren’t new, but they’re not being used as much as finesse worms and Flat Worms. The other two baits are game changers. In fact, a few Elite pros were secretly using them during the New York tournaments. Those guys won’t be happy when they read this.
Wacky stickbait
Wacky rigging a soft stickbait on a drop-shot rig isn’t new, but I kind of forgot about how effective it is. I’m a big fan of Berkley’s 5-inch PowerBait The General for largemouth. For smallmouth, I downsize to the 4-inch PowerBait MaxScent The General.
When you fish a wacky stickbait weightless, it has an action that’s practically irresistible to bass. I call it “inch worming”. A drop shot lets you tempt bass with this action as deep as you want to fish.
The inch-worming action intensifies as the drop-shot weight plunges to the bottom. Once the weight touches down, I work the stickbait with tiny, rapid rod shakes to impart the inch-worming performance.
Because stick worms are bulkier than most drop-shot baits, I use Berkley Fusion 19 Wacky Hooks for this. I go with sizes No. 1 and No. 2 with a 4-inch stickbait and 1/0 and 2/0 sizes with a 5-incher.
Finesse swimbait
A finesse swimbait is another deadly drop-shot lure that I let slip under the cracks. I like Berkley’s 2.8- and 3.3-inch, boot-tailed PowerBait Power Swimmer. I nose hook the smaller size with a No. 1 or No. 2 Fusion 19 Drop Shot Hook. I step up to a 1/0 hook with the 3.3-incher. Another option is to thread these baits onto a 1/0 or 2/0 straight shank hook.
As the bait sinks, the little swimbait tail comes alive. After the weight hits bottom, I drag it back like I’d fish a Carolina rig. I slowly raise my rod tip from 3 to 12 o’clock, take up the slack and repeat that process all the way back. That activates the swimbait’s tail and lets you cover a lot of water.
Tubes
A number of pros have figured out how effective a tube is as a drop-shot bait. I like what I call “micro tubes” in 2- to 3-inch sizes. Berkley’s 2.5- and 3.5-inch Power Tubes are my favorites. I nose hook them with 1/0 to 2/0 drop-shot hooks.
When the drop-shot weight touches bottom, I literally let the tube sit there. Even when a tube is motionless, its tentacles never stop moving. The less action you impart to a tube on a drop shot the better it is. Every 10 to 30 seconds, I’ll give a little rod shake to reactivate those tentacles.
A great thing about a tube is that it imitates a wide variety of bass forage, including gobies, crayfish and perch. This is a super bait for smallmouth and spotted bass.
Ned bait
Revealing this bait is going to get me in trouble with a handful of Elite pros. I caught these guys fishing it during the New York Elite tournaments. A 3- to 4-inch Ned bait is just as effective on a drop shot as on a jig head.
Just like that tube, you don’t want to put a lot of action into a Ned bait. One reason that little turd is so effective is it has zero action. It works best on a short 4- to 10-inch leader. Nose hook the fat end with a No. 1 or 1/0 drop-shot hook. When you’re fishing scattered grass, Texas rig it with a 1/0 or 2/0 straight shank hook
With the amount of pressure bass get in today’s age of fishing, using these drop-shot alternatives, especially a tube and a Ned bait, gives you an advantage.
You can learn more about how I catch bass with drop-shot baits and other techniques at www.mikeiaconelli.com or www.youtube.com/c/goingike.
