Dropshot for panfish

Latley I've been addicted to using a dropshot rig for panfish...anyone else doing this?

Duke,

That is what I do as well...use a 1/16 or 1/8 oz. jighead with a minnow or soft plastic as the bottom weight and an aberdeen hook above that with a minnow or bait on it. This is especially effective in the river...usually get perch and walleyes on the bottom jig head and gills and crappies on the suspended hook.

I have started drop shotting for gills and perch because I find I get fewer deeply hooked small fish than I would with a free swinging hook below a split shot. Small jigs also work well to prevent deeply hooked pannies and a jig used as the weight on a drop shot rig gives you another option.

MP, thanks for the suggestions. For the record, I have several of the Shakespeare Microlite rods and they are a lot of rod for the price. They are used now and again for float fishing and are 5'6" if memory serves. Yeah, I'm just hooked on the idea of a very high performance dropshot UL one piece. I know these can be had from Japan, and they are a very pretty penny. I would have to buy a rod tube for it so I would never break it when putting it away in the loft of the garage. I'm thinking a custom build, because I really do like the slip ring clean cork handle on my Avid custom. I'll give Yogi customs a call and see what they can do.

I have been using the drop shot on Lake Geneva for years, I use a two hook set up, one about a foot off bottom and then a second hook up about a foot above the bottom hook.   I use anywhere from a 3/8 oz. bell sinker up to a 1 oz. depending on depth we are fishing.  I normally fish from 15 ft to 50 ft of water depending where I see fish on my locator.  Been the best method for Gills that I have used.  I use #4 long shank hooks in red, gold and bronze.  

svitreum,

I have a couple Shakespeare Micro Series Graphite rods that are either 7' or 7'6" (can't recall and I'm at work). They make them in both L and UL power and they are a GREAT panfish rod and cost about $20 (don't laugh until you try one!), so I don't even really get mad when I break them. I pair them with a 1000 size reel and use either 4# or 6# test. They work very well for both casting small, light jigs and drop shot rigs. The rods have a soft, sensitive tip and still have enough backbone for large panfish. I especially like them for crappies as the long, limber rod reduces pulling hooks out of their mouths and when using slip bobbers, you can take up a lot of slack line when setting the hook. Check them out if you want an economical rod...I bought one in a pinch and was so impressed for the money, I bought another one. They are 2 piece rods, but I lightly sand the connection and epoxy them together for added sensitivity and strength. It sounds like you are looking to go extreme top-o-the-line, but I have used St. Croix panfish rods, and honestly those Shakespeare rods are just as sensitive and I'd rather slam a $25 rod in my rod locker door than a $200+ rod...You can build a great panfish rod yourself for about $100 or have a custom rod builder assemble it for you to your specs for under $300...Check out Yogi Custom Rods in Mauston, WI. I know a few guys that have custom rods from him and they all love them. 

btw09,

I cast out, reel up excess slack, let it sit for a few minutes, then slowly twitch it back with pauses. Longer pauses in cold water. I also have a drop shot hanging over the side that bounces on and off the bottom when the boat rocks a bit. I actually get more action on the rod over the side generally speaking. Especially when you find a pod of gills in deeper water. I use anywhere from 1/8th to 1/4 oz bass casting sinkers for weight. Tie on a swivel and you can switch out weights on the fly.

I am looking for a 7'6" UL 1 piece rod for drop shotting panfish in deeper water. So far, the only thing that I've found is a Daiwa Kage 7'7" UL 1 piece. Does anyone have this rod or any idea how good/bad they are? I have a 7' UL 1 piece custom Avid with micro guides and a Tennessee handle that is easily my favorite panfish rod. Something just a bit longer would be a dream. Very hard to find one over 7' that is not a noodle rod. Looking for extreme sensitivity. I'd consider a custom rod if I could keep the price below 3 Ben's.

when dropshotting for panfish what size weight are you using on the bottom and are you casting and realing in slow or are you just dropping it off the edge of the boat and bouncing it off the bottom?

Funny comment. As a child I fished in northern wi. Lots of weeds. So I thought I should put the weight lower than the hook. That was the 70s.

A lot of the drop shot fishing I do is along weed edges or up on clean flats in 9-18 fow. I make long casts and drag the rig back. Along the way, the weight may pick up a stray weed or two, but the hook and bait/plastic stay relatively clean. As mentioned, it is dynamite for finding active pods of bluegills along edges or on large flats. Then I usually throw out a marker or plug it in on the GPS. Once I've located the pods I'll hang one over the side and fish floats. My favorite plastics are Gulp 1" minnow and Berkley Honey Worms in red.

I use a scaled down version dropshot for gills on Geneva,Delavan and Mendota...hook at least 2 ft up from weight...I catch the biggest Gills with this method ....probably because it gets the bait down in the weeds...Pulled this 11" gill out of thick weeds in 11 ft. on a dead calm august Day in 2018

I have been using the drop shot for quite a while and love it . For Walleyes in the winter I use a stand off hook about 8in off the bottom. Open water for Walleyes I will use a 1/16  or 1/8 jig and a large split shot and either cast out or bounce along the bottom works great. If you do get snagged the split hot will slide off saving the jig. I have caught suspended Bluegills and Crappies up to 5 ft off the bottom. I believe it gives the Minnows a different action and works great with plastics also.

Two dropshot videos fishing for panfish below, they give you a good idea of how well these work.

330 MaNiaC - Dropshot Fishing For Panfish (Big Bluegills)

DWS Outdoors - Catching Yellow Bass Using A Dropshot

For years I used a hook and small split shot and have caught numerous fish using this method (and I still do, for that matter).  The problem is I mostly catch the fish that are right on the bottom.  The suspended, more active fish I miss out on.  A dropshot takes care of this and is a great way to cover more water in a hurry to find active feeding fish.

I haven’t really tried the dropshot method for any fish. My take on the dropshot method is it is a fast way to cover water in search of very active fish. Most often fish are in a neutral or negative mood and need some amount of finesse to get them to bite. Dropshoting doesn’t provide that finesse that I can see. As I mentioned earlier there may be limited windows of opportunity where it does work for panfish. A quick edit to my post. When fishing whitefish on Green Bay I use a jigging rap or a jig of some type on the end of my line with a hook tied in about 12” above. That I guess does meet the definition of a dropshot.