The drop-shot rig is a finesse technique that has taken the USA bass fishing world by a storm. Recently it has started to be popular on UK waters and is proving to a killer technique for perch. A drop-shot rig will often catch fish when reaction baits won’t do the trick.
Steps
Drop-shotting is a finesse technique that requires light line, so use a spinning outfit spooled up with 6- to 10-pound-test line.
Using a Palomar knot, tie a small drop-shot hook onto the line, about 18 inches up from the end.Tie so that the hook stands out perpendicular from the line.
At the tag end of the line, about 18 inches from the hook, tie on a drop-shot weight.
Put a small bait on the hook.Four-inch worms, fry and grubs are good drop-shot baits.
Drop the rig straight down over the side of the boat or bank.When the line goes slack, reel up until the line is taut and the weight is on the bottom.
With the weight on the bottom, shake the rod gently. You just want to wiggle the lure without lifting the weight.
A bite may be anything from a tug to a sideways movement. If your hooks are good and sharp, all you have to do is reel hard to set the hook.
Reel the fish in gently. Remember you have light line on.
After landing a fish, check your knots and hook and go back to it. On a good piece of structure, there may be several good fish.
Tips
You can make your own drop-shot weights by pinching one end of a barrel swivel in a split-shot. The swivel helps reduce line twist.
Fluorocarbon line costs more, but since it is crystal clear and has no stretch, it is ideal for drop-shotting.
Once you get good at drop-shotting vertically, you can start to experiment with casting out and dragging the rig back, and fishing it over breaklines and other kinds of structure.
You don’t have to tie a hook directly to the line. You can add a barrel swivel, and extend a piece of line, and hook approximately 2-4″ from the swivel
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Lovely looking Esox from Ryan Digings caught on Fishin Addict salt and pepper fly.
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“my ‘go to’ lures…” “I’ve won matches using NMs almost exclusively.”
Steve Wilson
Case Officers Assessment Build Quality: Generally very good. Value for money: Great value especially considering the detail. Performance: Very good and versatile. Overall: A great lure that has made its way into my trusted set.
Introduction Steve Wilson has been one of the most successful canal lure match anglers in the country for a couple of years now. Steve has proved again and again that he can catch canal predators on lures when others struggle and has shown he is particularly adept at catching large numbers of smaller fish, using small lures and recognising when to change his presentation style and choice of lure to maximise his catch rate. In this review, Steve looks at Fishin’ Addicts Nano Minnow, which at just 3.5cm long is diminutive in size. Steve has fished with many, many small lures, trying to find out which will catch him more fish, most consistently, so there are few UK anglers better equipped to carry out a LureTour review of these cute looking little soft plastics.
First Impressions The Nano Minnows are very precise with basic colours determined by the base material with painted detail over the top. They have glued on eyes. They come in a strong re-sealable pack than can be used for other lures after the original batch has finished. It’s unusual for lures this small to have glued on eyes and I think the eyes are very important particularly when the water visibility goes above about 4 inches and the target fish have more time to see the lure. I often glue eyes to my jig heads for just this reason, it gives predators a target to hit.
Testing The majority of my fishing is on Midlands canals using drop shot or UL jigging. I use a lot of small lures as the fish in the areas I fish are either naturally small or highly pressured. I have a small set style/type/brands of lures that I trust and it takes me a long time to replace them or add to the set. This has very much been a long-term review as I came across Nano Minnows (NM) some time ago. They were pointed out by a friend and slowly I have come to rely on them in certain circumstances. After many, many hours of fishing I have confidence in using them and they have won me a few matches when other lures caught, but not as well. Finding lures and techniques that give me an edge is one of the things I love the most about fishing, so to manage to work their way on to my list of “trusted” lures, means the Nano Minnows have proved their worth to me, many times. I mostly use them on drop shot but they are good on UL jig heads. You need a jig head with a very light wire hook and mostly I would be using heads around the 1g mark. My recommendation would be an Ecogear
Shirasu light size 8 in 0.9g weight. The Shirasu heads are designed to look like the head of a fish, so I generally cut the lure back to accommodate this and then glue the eye from the lure on to the jighead. While these lures work well on a jighead set-up, it’s drop shot where they really come into their own. When the fish are feeding hesitantly I find it best to hook them as in the lower illustration in the photo below in the same way as you would hook a jig-head, with the hook fed down the body. When the fish are feeding more confidently then a classic drop shot nose hooking style as illustrated in the top method is best. This gives the lure a little more articulation and allows it more freedom of movement and when the fish are “on it” they will inhale the whole thing, no problem, so there is no need for the hook down the body. Hook wise I tend to favour a Sasame Wormer 875 hooks in size 8 or 9 and most commonly use a 2.2-3.5g tungsten DS weight. Many different speeds and styles of retrieve will work when drop shot fishing with these lures, but very often “less is more” and a slow steady retrieve with plenty of pauses will work on most days. When the water gets colder and the fish want less, rather than more action, cutting off the paddle and slitting the lure at the rear (as in the photo) improves the number of bites. You are basically turning the lure into a miniature split tail, but it seems to work best if the tail is slit horizontally rather than vertically.
Variations Nano Minnows come in a wide and expanding range of colours but only one size. My favourite colours are Roach Fry, Chartreuse glow & Glitter SnP.
Conclusions When the visibility is low in canals I think any small, bright shad with an easily mobile tail works as well as any other, but once the visibility starts to improve I’ve found the Nano Minnow to repeatedly out score other shads. I’ve found this again and again when I have alternated between Nano Minnows and others in clearer water to the point where they are my ‘go to’ lures in these circumstances. I’ve won matches using NMs almost exclusively.
The Ronnie rig has been pivotal in the capture of some of the biggest carp in the UK and on the continent in the last few years. Its immense hooking properties and ability to reset itself has made it a rig that so many top carp anglers will not be without today. Until fairly recently though, most of us had not even heard of this rig, let alone knew how to tie the ronnie rig. However, when you understand its amazing hooking mechanics it is hardly surprising it was kept a secret.
It is similar to the 360 rig, using a micro rig swivel to attach a pop up boilie to the hook but the increased length of the curved hook shank by utilising the kwik lock swivel and shrink tubing, which pulls straight when to fish is hooked, has meant that the concerns around mouth damage and hooks getting caught the landing net mesh are removed.
The Ronnie rig is essentially a low lying pop up rig, enabling the boilie subtly sit up just off the lake bed making it ideal for when there is not too much weed or debris.
The micro rig swivel allows the boilie to spin 360 degrees off the hook and the curved hook which pivots off the shrink tube and kwik lock swivel enables the rig to also easily rotate. The rig is able to maintain its aggressive hooking position at all times, yet with virtually no chance of tangling. This is what makes the Ronnie rig so brilliant and a rig that is here to stay.
How to Tie the Ronnie Rig
To tie the rig you will need a size 4 or 6 curved shank hook, a micro rig swivel and hook stop, kwik lock rig swivel, shrink tubing, bait floss and your chosen hook link material.
Step 1
Cut a piece of shrink tube about half an inch in length and slide it over the eye of the curve shank hook.
Step 2
Take a kwik lock swivel and opening the crook slightly to pass the swivel through the eye of the hook
Step 3
Use a pair of plyers to push to crook back into position.
Step 4
Push the shrink tube down the shank of the hook, over the hook eye and over the barrel of the kwick lock swivel.
Step 5
Next steam the shrink tube over a kettle to fix the shrink tube in place
Step 6
Slide the micro rig swivel onto the hook
Step 7
Push the rubber stopper onto the hook which ensures the rig swivel stays on the hook and gives the hook additional movement which helps with the hooking mechanics when the carp picks up the bait.
Step 8
Attached a pop up boilie to the micro rig swivel using bait floss and secure the boilie by blobbing the bait floss down with a lighter.
Step 9
To perfectly balance the rig take some rig putty and carefully mould it around the shrink tube until to rig slowly sinks with the hook sat up off the lake bed
Step 10
Finally attach the rig to your hook link material and cast to you chosen area.
The Cheb Rig or The Cheburashka Rig is something you may have heard of but aren’t really sure how it is different from other rigs that you’ve used in the past, for example, the Ned Rig or the Jika Rig. There are a number of reasons that you might want to consider using this rig, but before we get into why you might want to use it, let’s take a look at what it actually is.
Much like the Ned Rig, it is a great way to fish for perch – especially if you are not having much luck catching them. The reason for this is that the Cheb Rig is a brilliant technique for searching the water and can be fished quicker than the ned rig, therefore covering more water. It is also quite versatile due to being able to change the weight, hook size and pattern very quickly.
The key to success when fishing with the Cheb Rig, is having a range of Cheb weights. Whether you use an offset hook and fished weedless or a mounted straight hook, it’s the movement between the weight and the hook that make the lure look great in the water.
The Cheb Rig is a unique pin and weight system that is perfect for a very effective bottom jiggling technique. It was developed in Russia has become popular in the UK and Europe. If you are moving around whilst fishing and encounter lots of different fishing situations and swims, then the Cheb Rig is ideal. The quick-release and change system lets you fish at different depths, in different conditions, all with multiple weight jig heads in a short session.
The Rig
The rig isn’t anything too complicated. In fact, it is a basic, trace body that terminates in a clip. Add to this the Cheb weights and a hook that is suitable for whatever bait you are using to fish. A Finesse Worm hook is commonly used with the Cheb Rig, though you are also fine using an EWG Offset style hook as well.
Selection of 2g,3g,5g Cheb WeightsCheb Weight with Clip RemovedFully Mounted Cheb Rig
The Lure
Depending on what you are trying to fish with the Cheb Rig will influence the kind of lure you are using. We have listed a few baits that we like to use at the bottom of the page. Whatever bait you choose to use, a float stop can be extremely useful to keep the bait in place.
Cheb Rig with a Float Stop Preventing the Lure from SlidingComplete Cheb Rig with Float Stop
When to use the Cheb Rig
The Cheb Rig can be used at any time of year and can be especially useful if you find that you are stuck in a rut with your fishing and want to try something different or you need to search the fish out.
Advantages of the Cheb Rig
The Cheb Rig is one that comes with many advantages:
The weight is attached to the hook – unlike other rigs, namely the Texas Rig, the weight is actually attached to the hook. This means that you don’t get the same low pressure, running away bites that you can get with a Texas Rig. Instead, you get a firm bite.
It’s easy to change the hook
It’s easy to change the weight
It’s weedless
You can change the weight, hook and bait to fish different species of fish as and when you need to.
The weight sits on the bottom, and the hook can move freely to the bait. It allows action on the bait just sitting in the flow.
How Do I Fish With it?
Fishing with the Cheb Rig is can be done in a fast or slow way, similar to fishing with the Ned Rig. Though when fishing slower you will need to be a little more patient with the Cheb rig, especially when fishing using buoyant baits. Once the weight hits the bottom, you need to let it sit for a second so that the bait has a chance to bob back up. Then using small taps and bounces, no more than six inches of movement along the bottom at a time before you let it sit. Make sure that each time you let the bait sit a little longer than you would with a Ned Rig to let the bait float back up again.
If you are in doubt about how good the Cheb Rig looks in the water, watch it come back up to surface and glide it around a bit.
Setting up the Cheb Rig
Tie a figure-eight loop at the top of the mainline. It’s a small loop, but it is strong enough for fishing the Cheb Rig, but most importantly it is small enough that you can easily pass the Cheb weight over the top of it. This is the method we use to make the Cheb even easier to swap around. However many other anglers just tie an improved clinch knot directly to the Cheb clip without using a loop. It’s entirely up to you. See the videos below if you are unsure about either knot.
To put the weight on the line, choose whatever Cheb weight that you want to use, and then take the pin out of the centre of the weight. Thread the loop through the centre of the weight, the hook the loop through the pin. Don’t put it back in the weight just yet, it’s time for the hook first. Take the hook you are fishing and thread it onto the clip. Once the hook and line are both hooked in place on the pin, pull the weight back down the line and slip the pin back into the centre of the weight.
Not only is this set up really flexible, but it also saves on having to use an additional clip on this rig. It also makes it much easier to swap the hook and weight whenever you want to.
