A drop shot for speckled trout is an excellent choice when fishing deep water. Here's the tried and true method to tying it right the first time.
Fishing a Drop Shot for Speckled Trout
Catching speckled trout here in Louisiana has less to do with lure color as it has to do with presentation, or getting your bait in front of the fish.
And achieving a good presentation becomes more difficult the deeper water gets.
That is why throwing a drop shot for speckled trout is such a great rig for us inshore anglers, especially in deeper, faster moving water.
In fact, this rig has been one of my best producers as of late.
What is a Drop Shot?
A drop shot is a simple rig requiring only your favorite soft plastic, a hook, and weight.
Click to Enlarge
Why a Drop Shot for Speckled Trout?
A drop shot is great because it's easy to tie and even easier to fish.
It only requires spinning tackle and braided line (though specific types help) and doesn't need a trained hand to be effective.
Why A Drop Shot Is So Easy To Fish
A lot goes into achieving a good presentation, and the trickiest part has to be selecting the proper weight, especially with a jig or Carolina rig.
Go too light, and your bait will never reach speckled trout in strong current.
Too heavy, and the bait won't look natural, sticking in the mud instead of drifting along.
This graphic does a good job depicting why we use different weights.
But, on a drop shot, the bait is separated from the weight, two to three feet above it, in fact.
So, it matters less how heavy the weight is, because the bait will remain out of the mud and present where fish are feeding.
All that really matters is that the drop shot reaches the bottom.
Which Tackle To Use
This is the tackle I use for throwing a drop shot for speckled trout:
Tying It All Together
Cut off three feet of leader line, tying your drop shot hook to it with a Palomar knot, leaving about a foot above and two feet below.
Then, join your main line to the leader line with a uni-to-uni knot.
As for the weight, you can use pretty much anything, whether it's a bank sinker, swivel sinker or whatever.
I recommend a drop shot weight because it's easier to attach because the eye pinches the line, not requiring a knot.
Fishing a Drop Shot
Fishing a drop shot for speckled trout is pretty easy!
I prefer to hook the bait through the nose, like what you see here.
Then, simply cast it out, and keep your line tight.
The extra fast tip of the Daiwa Tatula, combined with the light J-Braid, will help you feel the tiniest bite, making it easier to catch finicky fish.
Lift on it from time to time, raising the weight off the bottom and letting the bait flow with the current a little.
Just be sure to reel up slack so you can feel that bite.
How well does it work?
Incredibly well!
In fact, on my last fishing trip I caught 52 speckled trout (all keepers) by myself, mostly on a drop shot (but also on my favorite jigging combo)
So yes, it's super effective. I find it to work especially well when trout are being finicky or there are throwbacks to sift through.
But there is a problem with the drop shot...
It's simply too weak to stand up to larger, tougher fish like black drum and redfish.
The drop shot is kind of dainty, so a solution I came up with is to make it tougher, and the resulting rig is called the Heavy Drop Shot.
Visit the link above to see how to tie it and what tackle it's best fished with!
Tight lines, and thanks for visiting my website!
