Following

Dropshot is my go to if I have to put fish in the boat.

I use typically a 1 or 1/0 hook depending on bait. Haven't had any issues landing 5 pounders.

I do the nose hook where you come in through the bottom of the bait 1/8 inch or so and pull the point through the middle towards the nose but leave it in the bait and not exposed. If I'm around really snaggy stuff then texas rig.

Normally using a 1/4 weight and 3/8 if its windy. Teardrop shape if I can get away with it otherwise cylinder style.

Haven't tried the jig as the weight.

Roboworm. I throw the 6" 90% of the time in the fat and regular versions.

Good thread...

It seems like I use DS more and more, especially in summer and winter. Rarely do I go out now without it on the deck. When they won't seem to eat a T-rig or C-rig, I pick up the Drop Shot and go vertical.

I fish it mostly in and around crappie brush and ledges in 18-30 feet, so this setup may be different than those fishing clean bottom...

Reel, Spinning, 2000 series or equivalent. High speed, smooth drag, large spool. Line comes off easier than small spools.

Rod, Medium light/Medium, 6'10" - 7'.

I used a baitcaster for awhile until I figured out that most bites come on the initial drop. The spinning set up gets it down quicker when you see them on the graph. The high speed reel gets it back up more quickly so you can drop again. It's alot like flipping grass or bushes in that respect.

20# Hi Vis Yellow Sunline braid with 10# Sunline Shooter 6' leader. Alberto braid to leader connection. I've had back to back uni pull loose a couple of times. FG is good, but harder to tie correctly. Especially in the wind, on the water, on the fly, with old eyes. Never had the Alberto break at the knot.

I've used all the different "Drop Shot" specific hooks out there. My best hook up ratio by far is with the light wire, straight shank, Rebarb hooks. 2/0 - 3/0. Standard Robo worm gets 2/0, Fat Robo and 6" Big Bite worms get 3/0. Texas rigged. I try to go in and come out as close to the nose as possible, leaving the eye exposed. I did the nose hook exposed, and back to the nose but inside the worm, deal for awhile with the small hooks. Caught plenty of Spots and small LM, but the bigger fish seemed to spin the hook during the fight. Lost some giants at the surface. Now I exclusively use the Rebarb. Got to play with the new Owner Cover Shot hook some this summer. I'll be using it once it's available.

Baits. Roboworm. Aaron's Magic, Plum Berry, Bold Gill. Fat Straight some, mostly standard Robo. Big Bite Shaking Squirrel. Kreit's Magic, Bold Gill, Sunrise, both 4" and 6"

Weight about a 8" to 1.5' below the hook. Depends on where I see the fish on the graph. 1/4 - 3/8. Teardrop or cylinder, tungsten.

If there's one tip I can give, it's this. Don't set the hook. Just lift a little when you feel pressure. If he's not on there drop back down. Follow ups are common. Once you know you're hooked up, tug a couple of times. Kinda like you see salt water guys do offshore. With the small, sharp, light wire hooks, the fish will normally set itself. I've seen guys with me miss multiple fish, break off, hang up, etc, etc. The less you pull the easier they are to get away from the brush.

Wow, thanks so much for everyone's tips and tricks. I'm headed to Fork on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning to give this a try. I think I already have all the tackle, except for the line. I think the lightest line I have is 15, but most of you are saying that you use a lighter line (or a leader with lighter line). on a lake like fork, with big fish and lots of brush and not so clear water, is it vital to use the lighter line? can the fish really see the 10# vs 15# or 20#? or do most use the lighter line for some other reason?

Lighter line better bait action. I use 15 lb yellow braid and 10 lb fluorocarbon

I drop shot a lot.. have caught fish up to 6.5lbs on Joe Pool. I use Gamakatsu 1/0 Split Shot Drop Shot hooks, palomar knot to the hook with about a foot to 14" of tag line left from the knot. Feed the tag line back through the hook eye from the side toward the barb.. this will make sure that the hook stays with the point of the hook pointing vertical. I have pretty much settled on 3/8oz ball weights because of the Texas wind. If I could get out of it, 1/4 oz works well too. Just about any soft plastic can be used for drop shotting.. I like Zoom Finesse, Zoom Trick and Robo worms. You can rig them nose hooked, texas rigged, or wacky.. they all catch fish.. but I think the nose hook offers the best action on the bait with wacky being a close 2nd. Colors.. in Zoom baits. I like Houdini or something that looks like it. Green basic color with gold, black, red.. glitter. My best alternate color would be red shad. Robo's.. morning dawn is good.. Aaron's Magic, etc. I use a Skeet Reese Drop Shot rod.. its a 6'10" rod that I think best described would be a medium or medium light/heavy. It had a really sensitive tip but a good bit of backbone. I just upgraded my reel to a 40 series Pflueger President based on some comments by KVD.. I use 30lb Stren Super Braid for main line and Segaur Invivix 12lb florocarbon leader. I join the braid to the leader with the Alberto knot.. and I use about 10-12' of leader.. because I do get hung up a lot and by using the longer leader I don't have to change it as often when I break off at the hook. The Alberto knot casts great as you can trim the tag ends very close to the knot. The key is keeping the weight on the bottom and at the same time..feeling the resistance of the weight. Shaking the bait while you feel the weight is the key to drop shot fishing IMO. One of the more common bites is when the fish takes the bait and swims either toward you or up in the water column.. you will feel nothing.. and that is the key.. you have to reel quickly to catch up with the fish before he drops the worm.. other strikes run the range of almost pulling the rod out of your hand to the more common it just feels heavy.. you don't just feel the resistance of the weight.. but something heavier on the end. It take times to develop the feel of the bait when no fish is there vs the feel when there is a fish on the end. Good luck with your learning experience.
BD

I drop shot with a baitcaster quite a bit on Fork. Here is my set up...6ft9in Drop shot rod made by Reel Time rods there @ Popes Landing on Fork. Shimano Curado 50E reel, 12# Invizx fluorocarbon line, 1/0 Owner Rigging hook and I Texpose the worm because I fish it around a lot of timber at Fork. I use a 1/4 oz. Finch Nasty brand of drop shot weight (because they are the best). Other brands do not stay put on the line as well so you have to tie them on which is not what they were designed for. This set up works very well. You don't need micro hooks or micro line when you are fishing Fork. Fish at Fork are strong and there is a lot of timber to get hung up in and they know where all of it is.

I mostly use Zoom finesse worms, Strike King KVD finesse worms (not fat finesse), Berkley Havoc finesse, and Netbait finesse worms.
Robo worms are good also but you will go through a lot of those because of how soft they are.

This toad was caught Wednesday at Fork off of a brush pile.

Yes it was!