Fluke Fishing Basics

The drop shot knot gets talked about plenty in bass fishing circles, but it doesn’t get taught particularly well in most of the places you’d look for it. I’ve seen people tie it five different ways, and only one of them is actually the correct version — the Palomar knot, tied with enough tag end to reach the weight below. The other versions work until they don’t, and they tend to fail at the worst possible moment. Here’s the correct approach and why the specifics matter.

Why the Knot Is Part of the Rig Design

The drop shot rig works because the hook is positioned above the weight, keeping the bait suspended off the bottom at a precise depth. The knot connects the hook to the main line and determines how the hook sits relative to the line — ideally at a 90-degree angle, so the point faces outward and up for solid hook sets. If the hook angle is wrong, the bait doesn’t present naturally and the hook set doesn’t drive the point home correctly.

The Palomar knot achieves the correct hook angle automatically when tied with a drop shot hook that has a turned-up eye. That design feature — the angled eye — is what creates the 90-degree hook position when the Palomar seats properly. Using a hook with a straight eye won’t give you the correct angle regardless of how well you tie the knot.

How to Tie It Correctly

1. Double about 6 inches of line to create a loop and pass it through the hook eye from below.
2. Tie a loose overhand knot in the doubled line above the eye — loose enough that you can pass the hook through the loop in the next step.
3. Pass the hook through the large loop at the bottom of the doubled section, pulling the hook all the way through. This is the step that creates the correct hook orientation.
4. Moisten the knot with saliva or water. This reduces friction and heat during tightening, both of which weaken fluorocarbon.
5. Pull both the standing line and the long tag end simultaneously to seat the knot. The coils should draw smoothly and evenly around the eye. If they bind unevenly, the knot isn’t seated correctly.
6. Leave the tag end long — 12 to 18 inches, depending on how high above the bottom you want the bait to sit. This is the leader to the weight.
7. Attach the drop shot weight to the end of the tag line using the weight’s line clip.

The key is leaving enough loop of doubled line in step 1 to pass the entire hook through. People who tie a loop that’s too small and can’t get the hook through it will try to skip step 3, which produces a knot that doesn’t seat correctly and doesn’t give the right hook angle.

Understanding the Drop Shot Rig Setup

The appeal of the drop shot is precision. When you lower it to the bottom in 20 feet of water, the weight touches bottom and the bait sits 12 to 18 inches above the sediment — exactly in the zone where pressured bass suspend when they’re not actively feeding. You can hold the rig in place, shake the rod tip slightly, and keep the bait moving in one spot indefinitely. That’s different from every other bottom presentation, which requires the bait to be moving forward to stay animated.

Clear water, heavily pressured fisheries, and post-frontal conditions are where the drop shot earns its reputation. In these situations, fish have seen every crankbait and spinnerbait pattern in the shop, and they don’t respond to fast-moving presentations. A small finesse worm trembling in place 18 inches off the bottom is a different stimulus entirely, and fish that have ignored everything else will eat it.

Equipment Choices That Matter

Fluorocarbon is the right line for drop shot work — 6 to 8 pound for most situations, lighter in extremely clear water. Its low visibility matters on pressured fish, and its lack of stretch gives you better feel for soft bites. Some anglers use 10-pound braid to a fluorocarbon leader, which gives you the sensitivity of braid with the low-vis benefit of fluoro in the leader section.

Hook size should match the bait. A 1/0 or 2/0 on a 4-inch finesse worm; a smaller size 2 or 4 for a 3-inch worm. The bait should be nose-hooked so it hangs naturally with some of the tail free to move. Don’t Texas-rig the plastic on a drop shot — it kills the action.

Natural colors — green pumpkin, watermelon red, Roboworm’s Morning Dawn and Oxblood — tend to outperform flashy colors in the clear water situations where the drop shot excels. Slightly brighter colors work better in stained water where the fish have lower visibility.

Common Problems

Too-heavy a weight kills sensitivity and makes the bait less responsive to subtle rod tip shaking. Use the lightest weight that keeps you in contact with the bottom — 3/16 ounce in calm, shallow conditions; 3/8 to 1/2 ounce in deeper water or wind.

Not checking the knot after every fish is a mistake. Drop shot hooks set aggressively, and fluorocarbon near a knot that’s been stressed repeatedly will develop micro-fractures that aren’t visible but reduce breaking strength significantly. Retie after every large fish and periodically throughout a day of heavy use.