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Apr 18^th, 2026 at 10:31pm (UTC)

QuietJourney Forums › Boundary Waters / Quetico Discussion Forums › Fishing Tips for the BWCA and Quetico › drop shot

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drop shot (Read 3171 times)

jaximus Senior Member Offline Posts: 343 Location: wisconsin Joined: May 12^th, 2010	drop shot Apr 8^th, 2013 at 9:45am	Quote Print Post
	while fishing a walleye tournament on a local river, i had to deal with pretty strong current and was struggling with my usual presentations because i like to fish light weight tackle. i couldnt get the action i was looking for from my lures with the bigger jigs required to get down to the bottom. i then tried drop shotting with a big bell sinker and used a long shanked light wire hook to get a little more subtle flutter out of the plastics. the water is still pretty cold (38 degrees), so the fish werent hitting hard, a pretty subtle bite and they wanted a really controlled fall on the lure. what i found to be most effective was an 1/8 oz jighead (with the stinger hook eyelit) rigged as my dropshot hook with the stinger line as my dropper to the big sinker. with the jighead the plastic didnt tumble with the current nearly as much as the plain hook during the slack line portion when the sinker was on the bottom and i had really good success. this application worked really well in heavy current, not really applicable to the standard Q locations, but little modifications to the usual methods can be super effective, dont be afraid to think outside the box


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solotripper Inukshuk Offline Posts: 8103 Location: clarkston MI Joined: Mar 14^th, 2005	Re: drop shot Reply #1 - Apr 8^th, 2013 at 7:58pm	Quote Print Post
	This seems like a good time to share this tip/idea for fishing in heavy currents. I'd never seen/heard about it before. Last year on a trout fishing trip to the Muskegon River in MI, I was wading the river and ran into a guy in a custom riverboat who was just killing the fish using this technique. He came over to talk and it turned out he was a retired Air Force officer who was also a river fishing guide for many years. He was using this for trout but I don't know why it wouldn't work for any other species in the same conditions with the right bait? You take a steel lipped body bait like a Hot-in-Tot and remove all the treble hooks. You paint it black. Where the bottom treble hook went, you attach a Duo-Lock type swivel. You tie on a leader of whatever type line you like about 3-4 ft. He used fluorocarbon. Tie a hook on the end. He used a small red circle hook for trout/walleye. He was using a chunk of night crawler but said a live minnow or even Gulp type bait would work. Cast DOWN stream and set flip the bail when the body bait is where you think fish might be holding. Lure will dive and rattle against bottom structure with the bait holding just off the bottom. A little practice and you can make the lure walk sideways across the hole, covering more ground. He was anchored in boat and would work a hole for awhile, then let it free spool and move it down to the next hole until he thought he was getting too much line out. He'd then lift anchor, drift down and start all over again. Beauty of the set-up is that it holds bait close to bottom, is almost snag-proof and offers a very natural presentation. I bet it could work in the Q/BWCA in the right conditions. I also think and will try it out my next opportunity in the Q, to use it for trolling with a Gulp minnow on a Walleye harness and being able to depending on size/diving depth of Hot-in-tot, keep the harness at desired depth? Maybe use a floating type waldo harness to keep it even more snag free?


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solotripper Inukshuk Offline Posts: 8103 Location: clarkston MI Joined: Mar 14^th, 2005	Re: drop shot Reply #2 - Apr 8^th, 2013 at 8:12pm	Quote Print Post
	Here's a real drop shot set-up for Walleyes. Came across it while researching some spots I want to visit after I retire and can take my time to enjoy. (You need to *Login* or *Register* to view media files and links) 48 We first discovered the technique when we were holding directly over a bunch of suspended Walleye but couldn’t catch them on the good ol’ Jig and Minnow. Even if we lifted the jig off of bottom and held it at fish level, our success was mediocre at best. That’s when the dropshot came out. A #2 dropshot hook, a small 1/8 ounce dropshot weight and a lively minnow. With the hook positioned around 12 – 18 inches above the line, we simply dropped the rig over the side of the boat, directly into the fish showing up on the depthfinder screen and BAM… a new Walleye technique was born. A few pointers must be noted: If the fish are on bottom, a jig and Minnow will out produce a dropshot rig. Light line is a must on a Dropshot since these fish are up and mobile. 6 or 8 lb fluorocarbon is best. Leeches and Worms work as well. Hook the minnow through the lips, leeches through the sucker and worms in the front tip (once through only on all) Try not to move the rig much, let the live bait do most of the work. Drift as slow as possible or stay still if necessary. We have found evening to be the best time. Use a quality fish finder and learn to read it properly. This Walleye technique has since worked for us all over the country from Alberta, to Northern Ontario to the Bay of Quinte and so on. Good luck Dropshotting for Algoma Walleye, you’ve got the resource and now you have one more technique! Ang & Pete


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Puckster Inukshuk Offline Posts: 1208 Location: St. Paul, Minnesota Joined: Feb 10^th, 2009	Re: drop shot Reply #3 - Apr 13^th, 2013 at 9:07pm	Quote Print Post
	Hey ST -- I'm having a hard time visualizing this rig. Got a sketch or diagram for us "visual learners?" prouboy


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solotripper Inukshuk Offline Posts: 8103 Location: clarkston MI Joined: Mar 14^th, 2005	Re: drop shot Reply #4 - Apr 15^th, 2013 at 2:12pm	Quote Print Post
	Puckster wrote on Apr 13^th, 2013 at 9:07pm: Hey ST -- I'm having a hard time visualizing this rig. Got a sketch or diagram for us "visual learners?" prouboy On that Algoma link I posted on the right hand side about half-way down the have a box that asks if you want a 2013 Travel guide? Click on the link and you'll download a PFD file. Scroll down to file to fishing section and you see the text I pasted and a picture of the rig, which I couldn't get to work.


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solotripper Inukshuk Offline Posts: 8103 Location: clarkston MI Joined: Mar 14^th, 2005	Re: drop shot Reply #5 - Apr 15^th, 2013 at 7:33pm	Quote Print Post
	I found this on-line. A little different than Algoma article but close enough. (You need to *Login* or *Register* to view media files and links)


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