Braid on Drop Shot set up?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by BigBass Dez on March 11, 2009 at 10:29am

Hey D.J ,

Always good to hear from the "team" ..Okay im kinda with you on my thoughts with braid . Okay so i have spent the $ on a good dropshot rod that provides great feel . I also invested $ on a good reel that provides a great dragg system and power . So with being said my 6-8 p-line cx works great for me thus far . I do understand that braid will provide increased feel and offers stronger line support , but outside of that i just cant justify converting to braid with floro leaders.. Dont get me wrong here , i dont think that my way is the best or the pro's suggested method , it just a system that works for me . I consider myself a finese angler , so i very comfortable with fight a big fish on lighter line . The only time i use braid is when im pitching ,flipping, or ripping rattletraps through grass ..

Im cant wait to hear what the pro's on this site have say ..hint, hint , taggy !marc! mark! ronn! etc etc ..lol come on lets get the low down on braid !

Permalink Reply by Keith Brooks on March 11, 2009 at 3:53pm

I only use braid on my drop shot rod if I know in advance I will be fishing extra deep or anytime there will be current. Using 6lb braid with 2lb diameter will the improve sink rate and lessens the amount of line bow in current wich allows you to get away with lighter weights. I also always use a mono leader for added give, and a swivel.

Permalink Reply by bassmasterderek on March 11, 2009 at 4:22pm

Sparky showed me the braid set-up last year and that will not change for me as far as drop shotting goes. I use a floro leader with the double uni knot which seems to work for me. I have only lost one fish at that knot and it was probably a bad tie on my part. In my opinion this is the best way to go.

Permalink Reply by David Parnicky on March 11, 2009 at 5:46pm

I use striaght fuorocarbon. There is already minimal line stretch with fluorocarbon so I feel this is more than adequete for feeling light strikes and the weight working the bottom.

Permalink Reply by Wes Williams on March 11, 2009 at 6:00pm

I use straight 5 lb Sunline on all my dropshop rodz...unless shottin in harsh conditions

Permalink Reply by kzoo on March 11, 2009 at 6:00pm

P-line Fluorocarbon, great knot strength and abrasion resistant. I don't care for Berkley Vanish.

Permalink Reply by Jordan Doucet on March 11, 2009 at 10:21pm

Hi guys,
I started fooling around with braid to a flouro leader a couple of years ago. My feeling is that in the wintertime, or when fishing in 35plus feet of water whether it be a dropshot or football head, braid to flouro is the way to go. Anything shallower I'll go to 6lb p-line flouro straight.

The advantage of braid is that it doesn't seem to have the problems with memory, line twist, its very limp, the life of braid is longer and it has no stretch which makes it extremely sensitive.
The downside to braid is that you have to tie that pesky knot again on the water of your connector knot ever breaks, no stretch often means you need to be careful on your hookset so you don't pop your leader especially if fishing with a stiffer rod, and braid can dig into itself, especially when fishing 6-10lb line.

Overall, I usually make the switch back to straight flouro around this time of year, but for deep water applications of 35' plus definately worth a shot.

Permalink Reply by Marc Marcantonio on March 11, 2009 at 10:35pm

I use the braid for deep grub work when I need to use light jigheads, and of course for frogs and certain other topwater work; but it doesn't work for me for dropshotting.

I use 5 and 6 pound Sugoi fluorocarbon for most of my smallmouth dropshotting and dropswimming, and find it to work great. I don't have the line twist problem others have, and I like my line to sink for dropshotting as on a long cast I have less of a bow in my line which can cost you fish. Water resistance isn't a problem with this thin fluorocarbon in current, and braid is trouble about rock but fluorocarbon has great abrasion resistance.

ciao,
Marc

Jordan Doucet said:

Hi guys,
I started fooling around with braid to a flouro leader a couple of years ago. My feeling is that in the wintertime, or when fishing in 35plus feet of water whether it be a dropshot or football head, braid to flouro is the way to go. Anything shallower I'll go to 6lb p-line flouro straight.

The advantage of braid is that it doesn't seem to have the problems with memory, line twist, its very limp, the life of braid is longer and it has no stretch which makes it extremely sensitive.
The downside to braid is that you have to tie that pesky knot again on the water of your connector knot ever breaks, no stretch often means you need to be careful on your hookset so you don't pop your leader especially if fishing with a stiffer rod, and braid can dig into itself, especially when fishing 6-10lb line.

Overall, I usually make the switch back to straight flouro around this time of year, but for deep water applications of 35' plus definately worth a shot.

Permalink Reply by Ronald Hobbs, Jr. on March 12, 2009 at 8:09am

I almost never ever fish braid with a drop shot. One of the main reasons is ripping those little hooks out of the fish, I use 6lb. flouro and 4lb. for most for drop shotting for smallies, I have caught more 5 pound fish than I can count on the 4lb. alone. I do not see any advantages to using braid on your drop shot for smallies. I think most people use the braid not really for its strength even though this might be a bonus but more for a cheaper longer lasting backing to flouro and for the increased sensitivity and less stretch as well, but not for the break strength qualities, because most of the time you are attaching 6 and 8 lb. test. The chain breaks at its weakest link!

Even the deepest of water with the drop shot rig and flouro., assuming your nose hooking baits, you should have plenty of drive to get the hook in the fish with the proper rod. Just reel like hell and sweep, pretty easy! The right rod for the certain drop shot application is most important. Braid might come in handy if you don't have a stronger rod for deeper water drop shotting, it would make up for some of the give in the rod.

I can see a couple applications were the braid might come in handy for dropshotting. Drop shotting in grass, punching matts or flipping tules, or any other heavy cover. These places I would assume your rig would be used texas rigged with heavier rods and line. Oh, one other place a fish spawning inside somewhere all screwed up in Lake WA, rebar, metal sorrounding the bed, It might be a good Idea to use 15 braid straight.

As for now I will save my braid for heavier hooks, long casts, and heavy vegetation!

Permalink Reply by Mark Maderos on March 12, 2009 at 9:02am

I run both a braid to flouro rig and a str8 flouro rig. I like to be versitile. The braid to flouro rig I use a high quality custom swivel that weighs more than an average swivel. When given some slack line the swivel drops quickly to the bottom causing the bait to do a slow nose dive to the bottom. This actions has produced alot of viscious strikes when standard dropshotting has produce few bites. Also I like the braid around docks for pulling out a fish from underneath a dock. I also use a different hook than most for this rig so I can pull alot harder than the standard DS hook.
Then my str8 flouro rig is 6 or 8lb flouro with a regular Gama DS hook and a nose hooked bait. True finesse fishing.
I also play around alot with hook to weight legnths. Smallies seem particularly finicky when it comes to how far the bait is off the bottom. One day they want a bait 4" off the bottom, next day 3'ft. go figure.

Mark