Berkley Power Baits

[IAtroller]

Has anyone been able to find any of Berkley's new drop shot lures. If so where and have you used them yet. There for has anyone ever tried drop shotting. Where and what type of conditions did it work best in.

Thanks for the help.

[Sunshine]

Used the Berkly drop shot power baits for bass on Table Rock 3 weeks ago and they work. Not sure about walleye, haven't done that test yet. Got them from Bass Pro.

[Johnnie Candle]

I have used the 3" power minnow for drop shotting walleye. My rig uses another jig on the bottom instead of just the sinkers. Where legal, the added lure seems to produce a few more fish each day. Use the rig when ever you are verticle jigging. It will amaze you how many fish come on the top hook. The small power baits provide very little drag and don't seem to effect the jig on the bottom at all. This is definately a trick you will want in your arsenal.

Keep the line tight,

Johnnie Candle

[Buglin']

Exactly what is drop shotting?
Thanks

[EAGLE EYES]

Buglin'

Drop-shotting, is a technique using primarily plastics. But can be used with live bait also. a Drop-shotting rig is set up by: leaving a certain length of tag end of the line, from the hook or jig that you just tied on. Then, leave the tag end the same length that you would like your bait to be positioned off the bottom. (This is usually around a foot or two). Then, place a split shot or or sinker on the end of the tag end (just large enough to feel the bottom). Now either tip you hook or jig with your bait of choice. Now, fish this technique by, walking the sinker or split shot across the bottom. What you are trying to achieve with this rig, is a bait that stays up in the strike zone at all times. It Really works on finicky fish who need the bait in front of there noses to get em' to strike. This technique was first introduced by Bass fishermen to get those deeper warm summer Bass to bite. Once this technique proved deadly for finicky Bass, the Walleye anglers found good uses for it as well. Lots of slight changes to this technique can be made, making it a very versatile weapon. Give it try! ;-) EE

[Tom (Mich)]

Right now, this rig is technically illegal in Michigan due to a loosely worded law that addresses salmon snagging. Not quite sure of the exact wording, but it has something to do with a bait being secured above a weight. Now, using a jig as the bottom weight might change that. Michigan DNR has not come out yet and stated that they would or would not write tickets for dropshotting - just be aware of the law should you try it.

[SUPERTROLLER]

Tom, you are right. It is illegal to have a weight suspended below a hook/lure unless the hook/lure is on a 3 inch unweighted dropper line. The only way to legally drop shot rig in Mi. is to run the 3 inch dropper. Even when you put a jig below the other lure you would be in violation due to having any weight tied on below the top hook/lure. I can not think of any way around this technical delima. I don't think people would be snagging with a normal dropshot rig but the snaggers would probably put on an oversized hook with an undersized bait and claim they were Bass fishing if it wasn't written up this way.

[EAGLE EYES]

Gotta love Minnesota! :-)

[SUPERTROLLER]

Are you still running one rod to my two? I can also run four baits at a time if I stack'em. If I'm salmon fishing the Great Lakes I can run Three rods and six baits. Don't think this little technicality is going to cause me to move. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure Minnesota is a fine State. I just don't think Michigan is too terrible either. We've all got rules to fish by that could be tweaked a little to improve the fishing pleasure, but the rules are also adjusted State to State by the types of waters accessible and styles of fishing available.

(P.S. Wisconsin still succs. LOL.)

[Tom (Mich)]

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure you'd lose that much by securing the bait on a 3" dropper. I know the point was to have the tube bait as horizontal as possible, but probably not that vital. To be within the letter of the law, I'll go with the dropper. That said, I can no longer use the Palomar knot - how could I do this without using a 3-way swivel? (short of moving to Minnesota of course)

[EAGLE EYES]

SUPERTROLLER, I was only messin' with ya! I hold nothing against Mich. or any other state. Hope you have a great season! EE
P.S. Yes, We are still only allowed 1 rod in the open water season. Kind of stupid Huh? Oh well, Rules,rules and more rules not much we can do I guess. :-(

[SUPERTROLLER]

No problem EE. I knew you meant no malice in your reply. That's why I replied in kind. Also threw the jab in for our Wisc. buddies to allow them to comment on some of their goofy rules. (No trolling in Vilas Co., you might catch a Muskie! Yeah, that would be terrible!) Good Luck to you this season too.

[SUPERTROLLER]

Tom, you can still use the Palomar knot. You just have to leave a much longer tag end. After you have tied on the hook, tie off again three inches up the line with the line doubled just as you did for the Palomar knot using a double pass through the loop to form a loop between the knot and the hook that is also doubled line. Your tag end then still hangs down to either tie on a weight or a jig. Hope this is understandable. It is really easy to do and takes more time to type it than tie it. (If you type like I do!)

[Junebug]

Hey, interesting discussion. Anybody ever try a floating jig tied on the tag end after a regular jig?
Any luck? or is it too snaggy when verticle jigging. This set up would be legal in Michigan, I think

[SUPERTROLLER]

Yes, this set-up would be legal in Michigan. The weight would be considered to be above the floating jighead because it is tied on before the floater and the floater has no lead weight.

We wind drift with floating jigheads but as you said, it would probably become a snaggy mess if you tried to vertical jig it.

[Gabby_SD]

http://www.snakebite.net/AAz.html here is a website about dropshotting for those that are new to it