Spring 2021
®
never go wrong with color number 031, blue pearl with large silver flake. Another good bait for this is a Basstrix Flashtrix or Bait Fry minnow.
THE RETRIEVE
After locating bass with the LV-100, start fan- casting the area using the dropswimming rig. Make a long cast, and with your rod tip between the 9 and 10 o’clock position, slowly and steadily reel in the rig while lightly shaking your rod tip up and down.
The QuickDrop and the bait will be suspended above the bottom during the retrieve. Since the QuickDrop is below your bait, shaking the rod moves the light weight and worm up and down in a very life-like swimming manner. The QuickDrop is small and doesn’t spook the bass. If anything, the tiny teardrop-shaped weight attracts the bass, which then focuses on your lure.
This rig is so lightweight it rarely ever snags, even when bass are bedded in weeds or stickups. If snags are of concern upgrade to the braid and 8poiybd leader, and then Texas-rig the bait with a Gamakatsu G-Finesse Tin Keeper hook.
When you spot a bass that won’t move off its spot, pitching the 1/16- or 1/8-ounce dropshot rig to the fish will usually get them to bite.
Especially with smallmouth, the bass will take your Shad Shape worm and swim away with it. By watching your line you will see it swimming off to the side, and all you need to do is reel until your rod tip loads up, and then lift your tip to set the hook. The bass will be securely hooked with the #4 size hook. The hook is stronger than your line, and will land the biggest fish the rest of your tackle can handle.
OTHER TRICKS
If you find a smallmouth that is not interested, tie on a Ned Head with a small crawfish or Basstrix bluegill bait.
For largemouth I like a Blade-Runner standup jig head, with a white Rage Tail hopped in the bed. This will usually illicit a strike, even if it takes multiple pitches.
If you find a deep bed with a big bass on it, swap out your light rig for a baitcaster rigged with a six-inch Yamamoto Senko wacky dropshot-rigged on a 1/0 Gamakatsu Stinger hook.
In this case, you want to go to the other size extreme for your QuickDrop. Use a heavy dropshot weight (3/4- to 1-ounce QuickDrop), and a long leader of three-feet or more. The heavy weight is necessary to keep your Senko in the right spot, and with the long leader you can raise and drop the Senko on top of the bass over and over again until it can’t stand it, and attacks it. With heavy line and a 5-power Lamiglas rod, you will win this battle.
If all else fails, my favorite trick is to put my dropswim bait into the bed, open the bail, and then slowly back away with the trolling motor until my boat is away from the bed. Use a QuickDrop that is only heavy enough to pull your line off your spinning reel, while backing away. When you can no longer see the bed, and the bass can’t see you, close the bail and tighten the line.
Once the bass thinks the boat is gone, it will move the bait out of the bed. You will see your line start to move sideways, indicating it is time to remove all slack and set the hook. This trick works great everywhere I have tried it.
NOT A ONE-TRICK PONY
Does this article have you considering the dropswimming technique?
It is not just a finesse rig. It is deadly with
all eight sizes of QuickDrops, in all depths
and conditions. QuickDrops pro staffer
Mike Matkowski and I have won multiple
tournaments and championships by
dropswimming 3/8-ounce and also
1/2-ounce QuickDrops in both
lakes and rivers.
Ciao, Marc
Marcantonio. •
Marcantonio at Siltcoos Lake in Oregon – Dropshot Senko
page 34