[Fishing Tips] Drop shot rig. Go Finesse! - FISHING JAPANESE STYLE
Drop shot rig. Super popular rig for Bass fishing.
In Japan, we call it "DOWN SHOT RIG ダウンショットリグ". The word "DROP SHOT RIG" is not common there. When we say "DOWN SHOT RIG", I believe the majority of people would imagine a lightweight drop shot sinker with a light spinning tackle set. But there is a heavy version of it. We call it "Heavy DOWN SHOT". Using a heavier weight with heavy baitcasting tackle.
My preference is a light finesse style Drop shot rig setup. G-Loomis IMX 6feet Ex-fast, Shimano #2000 spinning (Stradic Ci4+), Berkley Nanofil 6lb or 8lb, and Fluorocarbon 6 to 8 lb. The weight is 1/32 (0.9g) to 1/8 (3.5g). This is my main tackle set. What do you think? It's too light? Or too heavy? I believe this can be seen as a heavier setup in Japan. There, anglers are using 3lb, 4lb Fluorocarbon line to catch bass using a drop shot rig. Wow... 3lb!? 4lb!? For me, it sounds too extreme...
This rig is not just for Bass Fishing. Can be used for Saltwater fishing. In Southern California, many people are using this rig for Surf California Halibut fishing with grub and shat tail soft lures.
History
By the way, do you know the history of this rig? Down shot rig is invented in Japan. This modern rig was invented by the genius Japanese angler, Haruhiko Murakami (村上晴彦). He's a real genius who changed the world of modern days Bass fishing with this rig and another finesse rig, the Neko rig. He's also a huge influencer with tons of followers.
This rig is used to be called the Tsunekichi rig in Japan. Tsunekichi was Haruhiko Muramami's fishing brand at that time. Unfortunately, this brand no longer exists but he's still actively working on his new brand, Issei, and with a big fishing brand, Daiwa.
Rigging
Drop shot looks like this. The hook is directly attached in the middle of the leader line. And the drop shot weight is tied at the leader-end.
How to tie a hook? I'm using Palomar Knot since it's easy. The important point is you need to make sure the hook point won never look down.
How to fish?
Shaking, Dragging, Jerking, Swimming. Any actions would be fine working for this rig. My personal preference is "Shaking, dragging, and stating". The bites are coming often when the weight & lure stay on the bottom. Just slow dragging would also greatly working especially for big fish. You may be surprised how slow I'm dragging the rig.
When we seek reactionary bites, quick jerkings and falling may be an option. The swimming method also can be fine but when I want to have a swimming action, I'll change a rig to a jig head, honestly.
Finesse Style Dropshot rig tutorial / Bass Fishing
What lure to use?
Any lure can be working but for Bass Fishing, I prefer to use long straight worms, shad-tails and stick baits. Gary Yamamoto. Keitech, Jackall, YUM, Zoom, etc, etc.. Yamamoto Senko (Pro Senko, Slim Senko) and Kut tail worm are my favorites for this technique. I know some anglers are using small (2" to 3") creature type baits and crawfish shape baits and got success. I seldom use those types of soft baits for this technique, but it sounds interesting.
For the Saltwater fishing targeting Halibut and Bay Bass, I prefer using soft baits that imitate small baitfish like Keitech Swing Impact, Keitech Live Impact, Jackall iShad, Lunker City Slug-Go. But I'd say any finesse type baits can be working just fine.
Enjoy fishing!
Thank you!
Angler Waki.
