Drop shot for zander

Fishing forecast

This type of equipment came to us from distant America, where fishermen have long been using a drop shot for catching bass. In our latitudes, the equipment is used for hunting zander and other types of predatory fish just above the bottom of the river in the grass thickets of deep water bodies and coastal places. The technique of drop-shot for pike perch consists in vertically raising and lowering the bait from the bottom of the reservoir, playing in the water column, while at the same time the fishing line is cast diagonally.

Manufacturing Drop-shot equipment for zander fishing

Installing the drop shot is quick and quite simple. The process will take up to five minutes. You can make equipment directly on the river bank. For this you will need a sinker, a simple or offset hook with bait and spinning itself with monoliska or braid. A working insert (thicker fishing line or fluorocarbon) is fixed to the fishing line, the length of which is determined by the depth of the wiring.

At the end of the working insert, a knot is knitted to attach a carabiner with a swivel for attaching a sinker (lead drop or Tyrolean stick). The optimal weight of the sinker should be 10-30 g, so that it easily rises with a small line tension and at the same time less clings to underwater obstacles in the form of grass and garbage.

The hook (ordinary or offset) is attached to the working insert using a "palomar" knot:

1. Fold the line in half and thread the hook into the ring. 
2. Tuck the end loop behind the fishing line of the back and pull it inside the resulting loop.
3. Put the final loop on the bend of the hook and tighten the knot.

Attention! The number of the hook must correspond to the size of the bait.

Which lure to choose for a drop shot

For dropshot, use similar baits as for jig casting, only smaller sizes. For zander fishing to be effective, it is desirable that the main part of the bait is heavier than the tail: twisters, worms, vibrating tails, rubber squid, foam fish.

Fishing technique

As a rule, zander is caught on a drop shot in water bodies with a small current. You can hunt both from a boat and from the shore. The difference is in depth. Standard jig casting or the following technique is used for catching zander:

In order for the predator to attack the bait, the following rules must be followed:

1. Make a short spinning cast to the chosen place and wait until the load with the bait sinks to the bottom.
2. The angle between the fishing line and the fishing rod should be approximately 90°.
3. Evenly and chaotically jerk the spinning to make the bait move.
4. Pause if there is no reaction from the zander so that the bait reaches the bottom again.
5. Make a few turns of the coil to "play" bait in a new place.

It should be remembered that the tackle drop-shot for zander is quite sensitive. As soon as a predatory fish touches the bait, the hand holding the spinning rod will immediately feel the attack. If rubber baits are used as bait, you should not hook them up right away. Wait until the fish reliably swallows the bait.

We hope that this material will help you to hunt pikeperch interestingly and effectively.