"Micro" Drop Shot Rods

Hi- Seems like every year I try a new "technique" that becomes a bit of an obsession. My target is whatever is biting, mostly Bluegill, Crappie, Yellow Perch, but I'm equally thrilled with a large/small mouth, Walleye or occasional pickerel.

This year I've started off with a lot of ultralight or compared to the heavier bass gear, kind of micro drop shotting. I've been using weights 3/64 to 1/8(max), soft plastics like the small Mule offerings, Crappie magnets/Roos, trimmed Keitechs etc.

I can handle the 1/8oz comfortably on my "Light" Drop shot rod (Daiwa Tatula Elite AGS 7'6)- with that weight I can feel the bottom and I like the sensitivity (.4-.6 braid, 4# flouro leader). Under 1/8oz the casting struggles and the rod feels like its not loaded enough. I fish from the bank

I'm all set with plenty of reels to chose from........ for now.

I'm looking for recommendations regarding a rod choice. I'm thinking JDM, but I'm open if anyone has other suggestions. I've scoured the other threads, read a lot about the solid vs. tubular tip, not many threads specific to an ultralight drop shot approach.

So far I'm considering
Soare XR S610L-S
Soare XR S76UL-T
Lunakia 610 MLT

Theres a lot of overlap in lure weight ratings, some are ultralight, some are light. So I'm lost

I'm open to any suggestions or feedback. Thank you!!!

Iv e been reading about this and watching videos on youtube. Very interesting,may have to give it a try too. Good luck

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Originally Posted by Dollfly

Iv e been reading about this and watching videos on youtube. Very interesting,may have to give it a try too. Good luck

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I picked it up off YouTube as well. So far its been very successful for me, I'm really surprised its worked as well from the bank as it has. I had always thought of it as a technique geared towards deep water fishing from a boat. Most of my panfish catches have been in 2-3' of water. I've gotten into a little bit of everything, and knocked off a few bucket list species (I'm in NJ so some are a little rate) in the deeper water. Trying to take advantage of it before the weeds really get up.

My hope is to find a good quality rod, probably JDM that will give me the ability to go down to those 3/64ths weights and still get some reach from rod length, sensitivity and ability to cover decent casting distances

My favorite micro drop shot rod is the Major Craft Aji Do 5G S682L. It has an extra fast solid tip that feels like it was made for drop shot rigs. I use anywhere from 1/32 to 1/8 oz.weights and mainly use Gulp one inch minnows fishing for bluegills and trout. I haven't tried the 1G model but it has the same specs as the 5G for a bargain price on Digitaka. Probably would have bought that one if it had been available at the time.

This isn't a technique I've tried, either. Drop-shotting does sound interesting, however, and especially from a UL perspective. I think I have a packet of 1/16 or 1/8 oz. drop shot weights I picked up in Feb. at the Academy Sports tackle clearance -- will have to give the a try.

Let me know how your experience goes, for sure!

I’ve dabbled in micro drop shot fishing from the bank .
I used 1/16 jigheads with the hook cut off and I squeeze the jighead with needle nose pliers , pushing the remaining hook shat into the lead head . Makes cheap dropshot weights .
I use lightweight jigs , 1/80th or flies for my baits .
I’ve had good luck at our town pond using the DS rig mainly because the bottom is fairly free of snags .
I tried it at the big reservoir and gave up after losing three rigs in a row to snags .

I would think any of the Ajing rods would work great for Micro or UL drop shotting.
One of my favorites was a 5’4” St Croix Panfish series rod . Its fast tip made feeling the light taps easy . And the UL power made it fun to reel them in .
I did bump up to 3 and sometimes 4# test , but still lot a few rigs .
Worked great during the colder months when I needed to slow down my presentation.
Just another fun method to catch gills .

I've been having a blast with it. I love being able to feel all the strikes (and tons of short strikes). Every year my approach seems to get smaller and smaller, the qty of fish increases, and the size of the largest stays the same. It really makes it fun.
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I’m gathering the stuff for trying this myself. I’ll keep y’all up on what I find. Those are some nice fish, I’d be happy with em.

I love my Daiwa Presso Air 6’ one piece UL so much I bought another one. I pair mine with the Shimano XR Soare 500 and Hercules 4lb braid. I use a BG-1 1.5g jig and can feel every pebble, stock or bluegill bed on the bottom.

About 90+ percent of my fishin is some sort of drop shot, be it shallow spawners or deep water later summer catches. I’m convinced the drop shot rig in general is the most versatile rig in fishing, it can be scaled way up or way down. I’ve fished rigs with #10 hooks and 1/32 oz tungsten weights all the way up to 3/0 hooks and 2oz weights for just about any species imaginable on the TN river systems and lots of other places in the Mississippi River valley through my travels for work.

I use Gamakatsu open eye siwash hooks and clos the eye around the upper loop of a #7 VMC swivel to make my own version of a “spin shot”