The drop shot rig: hook above the weight, and why that changes the game

The rig, upside down

On almost every other rig the weight is at or above the hook, and the bait ends up on or near the bottom. A drop shot puts the weight at the very bottom of the line and the hook above it.

The consequence is worth stating plainly: the bait never touches the bottom. It hangs at a height you chose when you tied the rig, and it stays there for as long as you leave it.

That is a capability nothing else on this site has. A Texas rig sits on the bottom. A jig sits on the bottom. A crankbait only stays at depth while you are reeling. A drop shot holds a stationary bait at eight inches off the bottom indefinitely.

How to tie it

The knot is a Palomar, and the trick is what you do afterward.

Tie a Palomar knot to the hook, but leave a long tag end — two feet or more. Then pass that tag end back down through the hook eye, from the top. That last step is what makes the hook stand out horizontally from the line instead of hanging down. Tie the weight to the end of the tag.

If you skip the pass-back-through step, the hook flops and the bait fouls the line constantly. It is the single most-missed part of the rig.

Our knots page covers tying a Palomar properly, including the wetting step that matters more with fluorocarbon than with mono.

Choosing the tag length

The distance between hook and weight is the one decision that changes what this rig does, and it should match how far off the bottom the fish are sitting.

If you have a fish finder, this is one of the few times the screen gives you a directly actionable number: read how high the arches sit above the bottom and tie your tag that long.

The retrieve is not a retrieve

You are not reeling this rig anywhere. Cast it, let it sink until the line goes slack, then take up just enough line to feel the weight.

Now shake the rod tip. Because the weight is anchored on the bottom, the shake travels down the line and wobbles the bait without dragging it forward. The bait quivers in one place, which is a presentation almost nothing else can produce.

Then wait. Then shake again. A drop shot rewards patience over water covered, which makes it the opposite of a spinnerbait in every respect.

When it beats everything else

Fish you can see and cannot catch. Visible on the fish finder, sitting still, refusing moving baits. A drop shot puts something in front of them and leaves it there.

Clear water and pressured fish. A light line, a small bait and almost no movement is the least alarming thing you can present.

Deep, vertical structure. Bluff walls, rock piles, standing timber, deep points. Anywhere the fish are stacked in a small footprint rather than spread over a flat.

Cold water. Same argument as a suspending jerkbait: when a fish will not move far, you have to bring the bait to it and keep it there.

Gear that suits it

A spinning setup, medium-light to medium power with a fast tip, and light line. The soft tip is what lets you shake the bait without moving the weight, and the fast section further down still sets a hook at depth.

Line is the interesting choice. Braid to a fluorocarbon leader is the common answer: braid transmits the tiny bites you get on a drop shot, and the fluorocarbon leader is both invisible and abrasion-resistant against rock. Straight fluorocarbon is simpler and works well in shallower water.

A 2500-size reel is the right balance here — enough capacity for deep water, light enough to hold all day while doing very little.