Drop Shot summer Crappie

I've been tearin' up the Crappie, Bluegill, and White Perch up here in PA.

Water temp is near 80, and the fish go deep. I'm having great success with a "drop shot" rig. I use small soft plastics, Gulp plastic, even marabou streamers!

This drop shot, or finesse fishing, is so much fun in the summer. Everybody does it, even the Bass Pro's, but nobody will admit they drop shot?

Beautiful day today, no rain, 80 degrees, light wind. Life is good!

Tight Lines,

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Nice mess of fish.

Get the knife, yummy

Never though to use that technique for crappie, great catch

Fine batch of fish! And yes, we use the drop shot here in MA as well. Great when there's not much of a wind to contend with.

I love drop shotting! When they go deep its a great technique. Just curious what size hook you are using? I usually use a 1/0 or 2/0 Gammy circle hook for bass but am afraid that my be too big for crappie.

I did well on a steep bank with standing timber last night on big bluegills and shellcrackers. 1/16-1/8 oz of lead, #8 tru-turn 18" up the line baited with a worm. We parked it in 25'+ of water and were casting to the bank, catching fish 12-16' deep (8-10' out from the bank...steep!), and had a great time with the wife and kiddo.

Best tecnique was to work it in slow like a texas rigged worm for bass, and let it swing down the steep slope.

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Originally Posted by BigEdCT

I love drop shotting! When they go deep its a great technique. Just curious what size hook you are using? I usually use a 1/0 or 2/0 Gammy circle hook for bass but am afraid that my be too big for crappie.

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I use the same hook I've used for many years drop shotting - a Gamakatsu "Drop Shot/Split Shot" hook in size #2. Works well on both species.

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Originally Posted by MO' MONEY

Never though to use that technique for crappie, great catch

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drop shotting was invented by crappie fishermen years ago ..way before the bassers adopted it

Does some one have a pic of this rig.

I'm picturing a small bell sinker on the bottom and maybe a 1/8 jig tied 18" or so up from that on a jig pole. Would be good jigging deep structure. Could let the weight help get the jig off any hang ups down deep.

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Originally Posted by MO' MONEY

Never though to use that technique for crappie, great catch

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Mo,

Yeah, it's perfect for Crappie also! Crappie love minnows, so I put a small plastic minnow on the drop shot hook and it stays a foot off the bottom and wiggles like crazy.

I caught a couple Crappie on a 1" nightcrawler chunk yesterday, but I think they would much rather hit a small minnow? Take both, very easy to change?

And, in deep water, it's so much faster to reach the strike zone with a drop shot weight rather than a jig head (you have to go too big to get down in deep water). And it's a very relaxing way to fish.

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Originally Posted by tcounty

Does some one have a pic of this rig.

I'm picturing a small bell sinker on the bottom and maybe a 1/8 jig tied 18" or so up from that on a jig pole. Would be good jigging deep structure. Could let the weight help get the jig off any hang ups down deep.

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I tie an unweighted hook 12"-24" above a weight 1/16-3/8th oz (depending on depth and current), and then bait it with whatever you like from crickets to soft plastics. Last night on bluegills I had to go lighter on the weight to stay above the coontail grass. The 1/8 oz was taking my bait into the grass, where the 1/16 was letting the bait ride above the grass.

Like anything be willing to change up your tackle to meet the needs of the day.

tcounty you got the idea. Bottom bouncing rig, drop shot, inline....no matter the name given it's great at getting at the deeper ones. Even working standing timber below the water, like you said the wgt helps to pull the hook down and loose if snagged.

WTG crappitier!! nice mess of eaters right there bud! :ThumbsUp

Nice fish.

How about a video, tcounty? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b0CJn5jmDs

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tcounty

Does some one have a pic of this rig.

I'm picturing a small bell sinker on the bottom and maybe a 1/8 jig tied 18" or so up from that on a jig pole. Would be good jigging deep structure. Could let the weight help get the jig off any hang ups down deep.

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Used a dropshot setup yesterday fishing for perch on lake erie. Fished in 58ft water to get them. Had an ounce and a half weight on the bottom with a blood red tru-turn hook a foot above it. I was using 6lb nano with a 4ft leader of 4lb clear vicious line. Here's a pic of my catch.
Attachment 168629
The walleyes weren't caught with this rig. We trolled spoons to get those.

That's what I pictured. I'm gonna give it a try at Glen Springs tomorrow.

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Originally Posted by chaunc

Used a dropshot setup yesterday fishing for perch on lake erie. Fished in 58ft water to get them. Had an ounce and a half weight on the bottom with a blood red tru-turn hook a foot above it. I was using 6lb nano with a 4ft leader of 4lb clear vicious line. Here's a pic of my catch.
Attachment 168629
The walleyes weren't caught with this rig. We trolled spoons to get those.

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Nice mess Chaunc

I drop shot in pa to in late spring, summer and fall. I use different types of baits in late spring grubs or gulp minnows, summer gulp leech or minnows and small crawfish pattern , fall mostly grubs.