Best Dropshot Reel

Fish a drop shot about 18”-24” off bottom. Find weed edges anywhere from 12’-18’ of water. Find Lily pads/reeds and throw jig at edges. Also used jig around docks and was successful.

Fishing for smallmouth on Minnetonka is hard, especially in the summer. One way to target them is by fishing steep breaks and deep rock. They set up on places like this that are in cooler water which feels more native to them. Dragging a drop shot is the #1 way to catch them. Having a sensitive rod is absolutely key in detecting the difference between a bite and a fish. I was using a 7’3” st croix victory rod and it’s sweet

The Founding Father reported catching Largemouth Bass using the Drop Shot technique and Shimano Vanford Spinning Reel on Beebe Lake. Additional comments from this report: "Found fish on points in 7-10’"

We took 2nd place with 15.8 lb. All of our fish were caught on a drop shot fished on the outside weed edge in about 15ft. The fish were tight on specific spots but once you caught one you could work several fish off the same structure. The zoom trick worm in red magic seemed to be the ticket. Other fish were caught on a Sukoshi bug or a jig crawled slowly across the bottom. Natural colors seemed to work well. Slow was the key, I think most of the bites actually came when I was just dead sticking the bait, drinking coffee or just eating a snack. Once we realized that it was our thing just to be drinking coffee and setting hooks! Fun day!

On Crystal Lake locate the deeper weed lines 10-15ft. Ideally locating milfoil or coon tail as the main vegetation. Using a VMC finesse neko hook, Texas-rig the plastic to be more weedless. Work the drop shot down the whole weed line until you get bites. Once you catch a fish there is a good chance there are multiple in the area so be sure to work the area over well before moving on. This should produce a decent number of fish with some quality ones mixed in.

Lonnie Bloom reported catching Largemouth Bass using the Drop Shot technique and Daiwa Tatula LT Spinning Reel - EOL on Lower Prior Lake. Additional comments from this report: "Targeted the scattered clumps of milfoil and coontail with sunfish beds scattered among them. Slowly, extra slowly, dragging and pausing a soft plastic jerkbait across the beds and through the weed clumps produced numerous fish, adding a few gentle twitches on slack line proved effective in coaxing bites out of some of the bigger fish. The sunfish will absolutely blast your bait the whole time it is down there, just maintain the extra slow drag and pause with some subtle shakes here and there. "

Fish were in the THICK stuff. had to move the drop shot really slow to get quality bites. lost one that was pushing 5 which hurt but got some solid three pounders to make up for it. Was super hot out so the fish were super sluggish.

Joe Ponessa reported catching Smallmouth Bass using the Drop Shot technique and Daiwa Tatula MQ LT Spinning Reel on Mille Lacs Lake. Additional comments from this report: "15-20 fow, fish that held closer to boulders were easier to convince into biting. Mega 360 showed the best boulders to target, Mega Live showed if fish were holding on them."

Tyler Duncan reported catching Panfish / Bluegill using the Drop Shot technique and Daiwa Tatula MQ LT Spinning Reel on Baby Lake. Additional comments from this report: "Fishing near the lily pads/weed line at the public launch on the lake. 10 foot fluoro leader to braid. 14in leader from the hook to the weight. Fished exposed hook threaded through the bait. Dead sticking. Caught 25+ rock bass, about 10 adult hand sized sunfish and a large crappie."