Anyone ever try a dropshot in a river?

[ngt]

I know people use them in lakes and I've heard of people using them surf fishing. I've seen people use those rubber shad like baits in my local brackish river when trolling or just casting for striper. Anyone ever try a dropshot in a river?

thanks

 

[JB]

Re: Anyone ever try a dropshot in a river?

I used a version of dropshot in the Wolf River in WI fishing for walleyes and white bass back in the '60s.

 

[fishrdan]

Re: Anyone ever try a dropshot in a river?

I tired it with heavy striper gear, but casting the mess just didn't work well. 4-6oz lure and a 3-4oz lead on a 5' drop would be sailing topsey turvey on the cast. If the lead weighted more than the lure/bait, it would have cast well. It worked nice to keep the lure planted to the bottom and I could work the lure in a LOT slower than a normal casting presentation though. I stopped drop shotting as the river I fish is filled with snags and the lures are too expensive.

Wolf River in WI,,,, back in the '60s.

Wow, that's a blast from the past. I used to summer at my grandparents up in Antigo (Bryant) back in the early 70's and have been at the Wolf River many times. Besides walleye, they used to fish for redhorse suckers during the spawning run and can them up like tuna. I don't remember eating any of the canned redhorse, but most likely did... LOL

 

[HCoach]

Re: Anyone ever try a dropshot in a river?

Yes! We use dropshot while vertical jigging for sauger on the Ohio River. It's about the only way you can do it up by the locks and dams, to keep the bait straight down.

 

[root beer guy]

Re: Anyone ever try a dropshot in a river?

my dad showed me this when I was a kid, it'll cure most of your problems:

my dad fished the st. croix in stillwater, mn growing up in the 50's......he was tired of losing lures and sinkers in the rocks, so for a sinker just used a washer, or a old rusty bolt, whatever seemed heavy enough. for tying to the hook/lure, he used mono that was less than half the strength of the main line back to the reel. the main back to the reel was heavy duty stuff.

when you get hung up, just give it a good yank. all you'll lose is a cheap sinker and a little line, you'll get to keep your exspensive stuff. works everytime.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Anyone ever try a dropshot in a river?

Ha!!! Back at the ol' Stripers again eh? I thought you wrote those things off and were a trout guy now?... and ain't you s'posed to be too busy changing poopy diapers to be thinkin' about fishin'?

... but to answer your original question, yes!... and I do very well with that presentation. It's my "go to" presentation when the water is too cold for trolling or too hot to do anything more that drift with the bimini top up.. I've caught some Hugh Jass fish with this presentation.

I use a Hayabusa Sabiki rig:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Haya...=sabiki+rigs&WTz_l=Header;Search-All+Products

I like the 4 hook rig with the size 2 hooks in style "C". These are heavy rigs with 40# trunk lines and 20# branches... more than enough to pull in your little 12" Stripers. The hooks are high carbon steel and very sharp and very strong. I bait each hook with a large live Shiner, the shiner and jig combo makes it look like the shiner is trying to choke down a little to large bug or something. I use a 2 oz or bigger snagless rock bouncer weight on the bottom of the rig.

I don't cast these rigs, I drop them straight down to the bottom and let the rock bouncer dance across the bottom as the boat drifts. I fish 3 rods like this set in rod holders in the boat. There's no doubt when you get a bite, the fish pulls the rod tip down into the water. Not only do I catch big fish with this rig, I catch multiple fish at a time too! My record is 5 fish at a time on a 6 hook rig.

This is my rig:

... and these are some of the fish I catch on it:

 

[nimmor]

Re: Anyone ever try a dropshot in a river?

I have used a drop shot in the Ky river several times. It can be deadly around stumps and logs. Remember a drop shot is designed to be casted next to a piece of cover and then danced in that place without moving the weight.