(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
New York pro Jamie Hartman burst onto the Elite Series radar screen like a lightning bolt in 2017, with five top-12 finishes in his rookie season. He caught fish north and south and everywhere in between, and while versatility was a key to his success, a dropshot might’ve been his No. 1 tool.
Many anglers avoid finesse techniques in tournament situations, but Hartman believes that the dropshot forces pressured fish to bite, especially in mucky or mossy bottoms where a jig or soft-plastic gets buried. “This is an in-your-face technique,” he said, and while it’s good year-round, he especially likes it in warm water.
While it’s a known weapon in northern smallmouth territory, Hartman likes it equally well when fishing for green bass, but he noted that you can’t necessarily use the same rig or same techniques for both species. Regardless of which type of bass he’s chasing, the key is a high-quality spinning reel with a smooth drag that never binds. You want to set it heavy enough so that you can set the hook firmly, but with enough slip that it won’t break the line. He starts with it comparatively heavy, then backs off as he fights the fish, never using the back-reeling technique.
Leader length makes a big difference, he said, and he varies it according to how far he’ll be casting or pitching the bait. The longer the cast, the more that the line will lay on its side, and you want to set the leader so that your soft-plastic is not on the bottom. With smallmouths, he’ll try to stay in contact with the lure on the drop, but won’t keep a tight line. He’ll key on grass edges, holes in the grass, and other distinct targets, using what he calls “power-shotting” – getting it to the target, shaking it briefly, and then on to the next one. “You don’t want to be crazy with it,” he implored. A light shake will create plenty of action and too much will result in a lot of sinker bites.
He uses hi-viz yellow braid as a main line. It allows him to see the line moving away when a fish grabs the bait. It also provides for a perfect hookset, not a hard one, but rather just reeling down and “pull into him.” With an ultra-sharp Owner hook and braid, it usually hits home. With smallmouths, he wants to keep what he referred to as “top pressure” on the fish. That means keeping just enough pressure on him so that he doesn’t come up to the surface, and using the trolling motor to get the boat over him to ensure the same. He’ll only start to land the fish when he feels that he has complete control over him, and then he’ll go the passenger seat to get down low. You may prefer to use the driver’s seat or the front deck, and Hartman acknowledged that landing position is a matter of personal preference.
With largemouths, he’ll go with heavier line, often as much as 12-pound test diameter, and he’s likely to go shallow, including laydowns in water as skinny as 2 to 4 feet. In that shallower water he’ll utilize a shorter leader to get more bites. At least 80 percent of the time he doesn’t feel the bite and with the heavier lines he urged anglers to not “be afraid to do an aggressive hook sweep.” You don’t want to snap the line – that’s when it breaks.
If you want to learn some of Hartman’s other dropshot secrets and specifics, including the special way he nose-hooks a worm and why he believes it adds fish to his livewell, check out his full video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
