Drop shot

What is a drop shot rig?

A finesse rig with the hook tied above a weight on the end of the line, so the bait hovers off the bottom at whatever height you set.

Tag length: 6 in to 3 ft; Set it to how high fish are holding
Knot: Palomar; Tag back through the eye, point up
Weight: Cylindrical, 1/8 to 3/8 oz
Action: Shake in place; The weight never moves

How do you tie a drop shot rig?

Tie a small hook a foot or two up the line with a Palomar, leave a long tag end, run the tag back through the hook eye so the point stands out from the line, and clip a cylindrical weight to the bottom of the tag. Nose-hook a small plastic and drop it down.

That last step, running the tag back down through the eye, is what makes the hook stand perpendicular to the line. Skip it and the hook hangs limp and misses fish.

Why does the drop shot catch pressured fish?

The weight rests on the bottom while the bait sits above it, in the fish's line of sight, and stays there. You can shake the rod tip and make the bait quiver in place without moving it an inch, which is exactly what a fish that will not chase wants.

Almost nothing else lets you keep a bait in one spot at a fixed height for thirty seconds at a time.

How long should the tag end be?

Adjust the tag length to how far off the bottom fish are holding: a few inches for bass hugging the bottom in cold water, two or three feet when they are suspended over deeper structure.

This is the setting people leave alone and should not. If sonar shows fish two feet up, a six-inch tag is showing them nothing.

Drop shot, step by step

Tie a small drop shot hook with a Palomar knot, leaving a tag end as long as the height you want the bait off the bottom.
Pass the tag end back down through the hook eye from the top, so the point stands up.
Clip a cylindrical drop shot weight onto the end of the tag.
Nose-hook a small soft plastic.
Drop it to the bottom, keep a little slack, and shake the rod tip without moving the weight.

In practice

Shake the rod tip, not the reel handle. The idea is to make the bait tremble while the weight never moves.

What this means when you’re choosing

A cylindrical or teardrop weight with a line-gripping clip, so you can change tag length without retying.
Small, light-wire drop shot hooks in sizes 1 and 2, which is what lets a finesse rod set the point.
Spinning tackle with a fluorocarbon leader. This is not a rig for heavy line.

The common mistake

Dragging it like a Texas rig

Every other bottom rig wants to be moved along, and moving a drop shot along defeats it: once the weight is sliding, the bait is just a plastic on a long leader. The whole design exists so the bait can shake in one place at a set height. Cast, let the weight settle, shake in place, wait, then reel in and cast somewhere new.

Common questions

How far above the weight should the hook be on a drop shot?

Set it to where the fish are holding. Six to twelve inches for bass sitting on the bottom in cold water, and two to three feet when sonar shows them suspended above structure.

What knot is used for a drop shot?

A Palomar, tied with a long tag end. After tying, pass the tag back down through the hook eye from above, which makes the hook stand out perpendicular to the line with the point facing up.

Where this comes up

The guides that use drop shot and show it on real gear.

Last reviewed September 13, 2026. Drop shot is one of 222 terms in the fishing glossary.