Dropshotting is getting pretty popular here in the SE. It took a good while for it to hit mainstream. I still think the Shakey head is still probably the most used technique here in Georgia. Great technique but it’s just not my cup of tea. I can do it well but there really is no talent to doing it but I give it credit it’s a great limit catcher. I book a lot of trips on clients wanting to learn how to fish the dropshot since it’s a little more technical. For some reason anglers make it harder than it needs to be. The equipement can be pretty technical, but it is quite simple once it’s shown to you. But most people have the hardest time with the “reel set” ie hooking the fish part. If your like me and you use those small tiny dropshot hooks like the owner mosquito or the gamakatsu splitshot/dropshot hook I think the reel set instead of the hook set method is far superior. Now if your using Texas style rigging then thats a different story.

The biggest complaints I get from the dropshot newbies and even some guys that have been fishing it awhile is that they miss the fish or lose them after hooking them. There are 2 culprits on why this happens and it usually lies within using the wrong rod for the technique or its your hookset or in my terms the “reel set”. The term reel set is just what it is you set the hook with the reel versus the rod. I first heard the term reel set when I read about it in an article written by dropshot guru Terry Battisti. Terry by the way was one of the first guys that used the dropshot technique as it came to us overseas from Japan so I kinda like to listen to those that have more insight than I do. I had a tough time like most people to not set the hook right away and to let the fish load that rod tip up then start reeling without using the rod to set the hook. So if your having trouble in the category of losing fish or missing fish while drop shotting try this reel set method with the dropshot and see if your ratio improves.

PS now that it’s snowing I’m getting the urge to go fish the Float N Fly . hmmmmm I’m gonna go stick my head out the door.

Here’s the video I tried to make it a click start deal but somehow this BLOG program doesn’t like my HTML or lack thereof. So here’s the link..

Reel Set Video

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 1st, 2009 at 6:46 am and is filed under Bass Fishing, Fishing, Technique. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.