I've been thinking again what makes bass eat or not eat lately... especially in the colder months when the problem seems more noticeable. My best days recently have been with deep crank baits, swimbaits, and spinner baits and even dead sticked flutter spoons. In all situations on the toughest days when I finally figured something out, one thing was constant.. I was getting bit on slack line. It really hit home when I caught a bass with spinner bait laying on bottom motionless. Twenty plus years ago I had this theory I mentioned to a fishing buddy in Florida that I believed the vibration of line and lack of it when a bait is motionless had more to do with the fish biting than the bait not moving. He told me I should apply for a grant to prove my theory. I thought it was a joke at the time, but now that I think about it, I think he was serious. You get bit more with lighter line than heavier in some cases, is it the action of the bait or less vibration/noise caused by the different line diameter? "Hold the pause" is one of the best bits of information I've taken from a well known bait maker in Florida, salt water fishing. Of course it works everywhere but I always wondered if it was again the bait being still or the less line noise, or combination of the two. Would like to hear your thoughts.

There are days when dead sticking works best. Some days they just want something that looks like its struggling to survive, fluttering down to the lake bottom and then just laying there motionless.

I do get more bites on a drop shot when the line isn't taught, just a tiny bit of slack in the line.

I think it gives the artificial lure more lifelike qualities when the hook/plastic is on a slightly slack line vs taught.

Why I think there's something more to the line thing is that when the bite is tough, I feel like I get more bites with the fish picking up bait and coming towards me. I would think (no rocket scientist here) that less noise would be detected from the line/bait when fish is following a ways before picking up, versus the line being pulled across its path, as in a reaction strike. We all know about how fishing a bait from different angles can increase your chances. Don't know that it really matters unless someone comes up with a bait that can be reeled in without line, not a lot you can do about it at this point... except believe me.

These seem like very good points. You mention a drop shot. I have a review rocket spinning reel and for the life of me cannot find line that won’t fall off the reel. What am I missing??

Have you tried braid? 15lb braid tends to work really well on spinning reels for drop shot. Then tie an 8lb leader of your choice onto the braid.

Mono & Fluoro jump off the spool on a spinning reel.

+1 on 15# braid. The lowest price Power Pro works great.

You can use a mono or fluoro leader if you want but you will get almost the same number of bites with braid tied straight to the hook. Tie a good palomar knot and you're good to go.