The Best Strategies for Summer Drop-Shotting

A drop shot rig is highly effective for catching bass during summer. However, the best specific rigging and presentations vary by situation. Read on and refine your summer drop-shotting game!

During the summer months, former Bassmaster Elite Series pro Frank Scalish always has at least one rod on his boat’s deck rigged with a drop shot. It matters not where in North America he happens to be fishing nor whether he’s after largemouth, smallmouth or spotted bass.

Summertime drop-shotting consistently keeps Scalish in touch with bass, especially when more aggressive tactics strike out. However, his drop-shot rig and how he works it vary depending on where he is fishing and the species of bass that swim there.

Smallmouth Bass

Summertime smallies tend to hang out deeper than 15 feet on many waters. This makes them less likely to be disturbed by a boat floating directly over them. Scalish “sees” deep smallmouth under him with his depthfinder and lets his drop shot sink straight down to them.

“The cool thing about fishing vertically is that you can see a bass and your drop shot bait and watch how the bass reacts to it,” Scalish said.

His drop shot outfit consists of a 7-foot, 4-inch, medium action spinning rod paired with a size 3000 reel spooled with 10-pound braided line. He secures a 7-foot fluorocarbon leader to the braid with a slender, super strong FG Knot.

When fishing vertically to depths of 40 feet, Scalish relies on a 3/8-ounce tungsten drop shot weight. Windy conditions may force him to step up to a 1/2-ounce weight. The weight hangs 3-feet below a 1/0 Gamakatsu Drop Shot Hook.

“Even when smallmouth relate to the bottom, they’re usually suspended a few feet above it,” Scalish said. “A 3-foot drop line puts the bait in a smallmouth’s face or just above it.”

A micro swivel 10-inches above the hook prevents line twist, which can be an especially annoying problem when fishing vertically.

Smallmouth Drop Shot Baits

Two YUM baits consistently dupe brown bass for Scalish. They include 3- and 4-inch YUM Dingers and the Warning Shot, which measure 3.75 inches in length.

He rigs the Dinger wacky style because its action perfectly mimics a goby. Since the Dinger comes in myriad colors, you can find the ideal hue for any water condition, Scalish added.

Once while fishing Lake Champlain, Scalish was catching plenty of smallmouth on a nose–hooked drop shot bait. However, the bass were too small to do well in the tournament he was fishing. When he switched to a wacky-rigged Dinger, he began catching the quality bass he needed to finish high in the money.

When Scalish fishes for smallmouth on the Great Lakes and on other waters where the goby is a primary forage species, he gives the Dinger slack line after the weight touches down. This lets the Dinger sink to the bottom. Then he pops it up and lets it sink again.

“That action imitates a goby,” Scalish said. “Gobies don’t have air bladders so they can’t suspend. When they swim up off the bottom they immediately go right back down.”

Scalish nose hooks the Warning Shot, which he noted has a flat bottom and resembles pricey hand-poured baits but at a much lower cost.

“I rig the Warning Shot flat side down,” Scalish said. “It has a thin blade tail. Just the current and the boat movement make the tail constantly shimmer and flicker. It’s a fantastic bait when the bass are not in an aggressive mode.”

Spotted Bass

The same baits, along with YUM’s 5- and 6.5-inch Finesse Worms, work wonders when Scalish is drop-shotting for summertime spotted bass. As with the Warning Shot, he nose hooks the Finesse Worm with a 1/0 drop shot hook when fishing over a clean bottom. If the spotted bass relate to brush piles, submerged trees and other cover that readily snags an open hook, as they often do, Scalish Texas rigs his Finesse Worms with a 1/0 worm hook.

“I use a short-shank worm hook because I want as much movement from the worm as I can get,” Scalish said. “A longer hook takes too much action out of the bait.”

When spotted bass relate to the bottom, Scalish fishes a drop shot just as he does for smallmouth. The one modification he makes is to shorten the drop line to the sinker from 3 feet to 1 1/2 to 2 feet.

Spotted bass and smallmouth bass often suspend high above the bottom. In this situation, letting the drop shot sink to the bottom would put the bait too far below the bass to tempt a bite.

“If the bass are suspended well up off the bottom, I stop the drop shot when it’s about 2 feet above the fish I’m looking at on my depthfinder,” Scalish said. “I wiggle and jiggle the bait and watch the bass come up and eat it.

This strategy earned a sizable check for Scalish when he fished a major tournament on Table Rock Lake. His drop shot rig picked off chunky spotted bass that were suspended 25 feet deep in the tops of submerged standing trees.

Horizontal Drop-Shotting

Summertime drop-shotting isn’t limited to deep water. On any given lake, many bass may make a living in relatively shallow water.

“You can’t get on top of bass that are 12 feet deep or less without spooking them,” Scalish said. “That’s when I cast a drop shot rig that has a 3-foot drop line to the sinker.”

After casting over whatever structure he is fishing, Scalish lets the drop shot sink to the bottom. Then he drags it slowly enough to maintain bottom contact. The long leader keeps the bait up off the bottom despite the line being at an angle.

When the weight contacts a rock or some other cover, Scalish stops the retrieve and shakes the bait a few times before pulling it over the obstacle. Then he lets it touch down and shakes it in place before moving it ahead.

Power Drop-Shotting

Horizontal drop-shotting with light line and a nose-hooked 6-inch YUM Finesse Worm dupes largemouth for Scalish when the bass hang on rocky bottoms or in other places where snags aren’t an issue. However, largemouth tend to relate to aquatic vegetation, brush, docks and other cover that is off-limits to an exposed hook.

To dig largemouth out of their summertime lairs, Scalish relies on what he terms “power drop-shotting.” He rigs one of his flipping rods with 17-pound fluorocarbon line. His drop-shot setup is a micro swivel 10 inches above a YUM Magnum Finesse Worm, Texas rigged on a 3/0 worm hook, which is 1 1/2 to 2 feet above a 1/2-ounce tungsten teardrop weight.

“I pitch and dip it in and around cover like grass edges and deep brush piles,” Scalish said of his power drop shot rig.

Milfoil, hydrilla and other species form grass mats on many lakes during the summer. Most anglers retrieve snag-resistant frogs over such mats and punch heavy Texas-rigged baits through them. Scalish targets largemouth that other anglers overlook by pitching his drop shot into submerged grass in deeper water on the outer edge of the mat.

“It’s like punching, but there isn’t a mat over the outer grass,” Scalish said. “The grass is still thick, so you need a heavy rod to get them out.”

The heavy rod and line also help Scalish dig bass out of brush piles to depths of 20 feet or so. He positions his boat close enough to the brush that he can pitch his drop shot rig into it. Then he slowly works the rig over every limb.

Drop Shot Baits

• YUM Dinger: 3- and 4-inch sizes for smallmouth and spotted bass; 5- and 6-inch sizes for largemouth
• YUM Warning Shot: Ideal for non-aggressive bass
• YUM Finesse Worm: 5- and 6.5-inch sizes for spots and largemouth
• YUM Magnum Finesse Worm: 7.5-inch size is deadly on largemouth