The hole in the vegetation wasn’t all that big, but it was impressive. The cabbage grew nearly to the surface all around this void which left a dark eye staring back at me. It looked similar to spots I had fished again and again. It looked just like the simple kind of structure that a bass would utilize to ambush unsuspecting prey. I moved in as close as I dared without spooking any fish that might be present and neatly dropped a lightly weighted PowerBait worm into the center of the circle. I watched as the lure drifted out of sight into the darkness of the hole. I never felt a thing when the fish picked it up, but I couldn’t help but notice the distinct twitch in my line. When I set the hook a scrappy two pound bucket mouth immediately headed for the surface. It broke the top of the water with the enthusiasm of a bronc at a rodeo, shook its head a few times, and slid back down. I watched unhappily as my hook dislodged and flew back to the boat. As the ripples faded away into calm, I reeled in my worm and pointed my Minn Kota down the shoreline in search of another likely looking spot to drop in on. When it comes right down to the nitty gritty, bass are real suckers for a falling bait. Because of this, the “drop-in” strategy is a presentation I use throughout the entire open water season. I don’t always look for holes in the weeds to work the drop-in magic. Some lakes just don’t have that kind of weed structure. Instead, I will look for other subtle areas to try the slow drop fishing approach. At certain times of the year, I find that spinnerbaits will attract a lot of attention from bass. I look for good weed edges that visibly drop off into deep water. I will cast the a single spin bait up along the break and let the blade spin away as it sinks out of sight along the deep weeds. After it falls, I will lift it up and drop it again in new water. Docks are another great area for the drop-in approach. Since I am not extremely good at skipping lures under docks, I find that tight mouthed fish will come out from their hiding place to suck in a lure presented correctly. Wacky worms and finesse worms are ideal for this type of presentation. Although I like to hook them through the middle of the worm, if the casting situation is tight, I will hook the worm weedless so I don’t end up catching something on the dock if my cast is a bit off its mark. With the slow drop presentation, you don’t have to be exactly perfect with your casts. All you have to do is get close to the dock to be successful. The tantalizing crawl to the bottom is often more than a hungry bass can resist and they will break cover to pig out on an easy meal. I fish a lot of plastic at the deep weedline in the midsummer period. Although I am often short on the patience necessary to wait out a slow drop, I find that a lightly weighted lure will usually out fish a lure that falls quickly. The slow drop for weedline fish can be achieved several different ways. One method is to simply use a light weight. I try to stick to a 1/8 or 3/16 ounce bullet weight or jighead. The size of the plastic also needs to be considered. A seven inch worm will drop slower than a six. Four and five inch Power Hawgs drop slower yet. In simple terms, the more bulk you have on your plastic, the slower it will fall. There is a point where slow falling baits don’t work. If you are fishing ultra clear water where the fish are over 20 feet deep, it just takes too long for your bait to reach the fish level to make it a realistic approach. However, after you locate fish, it may be worth the wait to work them over with something that falls slowly and tantalizingly. Dropping in on bass is not a new concept, but it is one that is often ignored. In today’s philosophy of covering water, it is hard to slow down enough to make the drop-in method work. This presentation is very effective and can be utilized more often if anglers just remember to keep it in their fishing repertoire. The next time you get on a tough bite, try something a bit more subtle. Instead of beating the water to a froth, try dropping in for a friendly visit … and then stick some lip.
Jerry Carlson of St. Cloud has fished the Annandale area lakes for many years. He is the author of “Details for Locating and Catching Fish.”
