The drop shot rig works real well for catching largemouth bass. Many largemouth bass anglers think of the drop shot rig as a finesse rig for deep water smallmouths, but this rig will work well in shallow water, deep water, around cover, with live bait or soft plastics. The drop shot rig will work in most situations. Whether you are fishing around docks, weeds, wood or rocks, it’s one of the most versatile rigs you can use when fishing for largemouth bass.
Best Baits on a Drop Shot Rig for Largemouth Bass
Finesse Worms
Finesse worms are probably the most popular bait to use on a drop shot rig. Work these worms along slowly and make sure to pause them long enough because plenty of bass will be inspecting your bait closely while fishing this way. A pause for up to 10 seconds may be needed after a couple of twitches.
Big Soft Plastic Worms
Most anglers don’t drop shot with big worms, however, they should start. Big worms catch big bass and a drop shot rig is a great way to present them around all types of cover.
Soft Plastic Minnows
Minnow baits are some of the best baits to use on a drop shot rig. Twitch it along and pause it while you wait for the bass to come in and inspect your bait. Give it a few seconds on the pause because most of your bites are going to come on the pause.
Lizards
Lizards aren’t the most popular baits for drop shotting with most anglers. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be drop shotting them though. These baits look great on a drop shot rig and you will definitely catch quality bass by using this technique.
Paddle Tail Worms
Paddle tail worms work well on a drop shot rig. Hop them along and mix in some pauses and you will get a lot of bites with them.
Crayfish Baits
Some crayfish baits actually look really good on a drop shot rig. You can fish them slowly around all types of cover and expect to catch some quality fish.
Ringworms
Ringworms are one of the best looking baits on a drop shot rig. Most anglers that are targeting largemouth bass will never fish this way, which means you will have a good chance to showing some bass a presentation that they may have never seen before. The average size ringworm is 4 inches, so expect to catch plenty of smaller bass with an occasional big fish mixed in by using this technique.
Curly Tail Worms
Curly tail worms look good on a drop shot rig too. Fish them around cover and you will catch some bass.
Tubes
The tube is another bait that looks great on a drop shot rig, however, most anglers won’t fish with this technique. Fish this tube slowly along the bottom and expect to get lots of bites on the pause.
Drop Shot Rig & Live Baits
Live baits are some of the best baits for targeting largemouth bass on a drop shot rig. It is more popular when fishing deeper water. Whether it’s a deep water point or just a nice weed edge in deeper water, the drop shot rig combined with live bait is one of the best ways to get constant action.
Nightcrawlers
From late spring through early fall, the drop shot rig and lively nightcrawler is one of the best ways to put large numbers of largemouth bass in the boat.
Leeches
A drop shot rig and leech is another awesome way to catch a lot of bass. Once water temperatures get above 60 degrees, this becomes one of the better techniques for catching tons of largemouth bass.
Minnows
The drop shot rig and minnow is one of the best ways to target largemouth bass and if you upsize to the bigger shiners, chubs and suckers, it can be one of the best big fish techniques too. It’s hard to keep the minnows alive in the warmer summer temperatures, so most anglers will target largemouth with this technique in the spring and fall.
[wpinsertshortcodead id="cpgud5f8d881788989"]
