It wasn't winter when Alton Jones won this year's Paducah Elite 50 event. Was this Texas power-fisherman flipping a jig? Was he cranking? Nope. He was splitshotting a Yum Houdini Worm in mid-June. That said, it's during the cold months – when bass tend to get slow and fussy – that he thinks a splitshot rig really shines.
"Splitshotting is an extremely effective technique anytime the bass are relatively shallow during the winter," he said, "and it's a technique that seems to have been forgotten by many fishermen."
Dropshot Precursor
Jones noted that the splitshot rig was actually a predecessor to the dropshot rig, and like the dropshot, it was popularized by western anglers before it migrated East. "Unlike a dropshot, which so many anglers now use, the splitshot rig never really gained widespread popularity with the general fishing public," he said.
"It's very much of a finesse approach, and I think it requires more skill on the angler's part to fish it effectively. The weight is usually lighter, so it's harder to feel what's going on, and wind and current are bigger factors."
The splitshot rig is simple tie. It's a finesse worm (or other plastic) rigged weedless on a small, light-wire hook with one to three splitshot added a foot or so up the line. It's fished on light spinning tackle.
He uses a 4 3/4-inch Yum Houdini Worm. "You need a small, straight worm that has no added tail action," he said. Because it's a finesse tactic, he sticks mostly with natural colors like green pumpkin and watermelon. He also pointed toward junebug, black-and-blue and cotton candy as favored colors for splitshotting.
How He Works It
Jones works the splitshot rig somewhat like a Carolina rig, except with much shorter pulls and no lift. He keeps the rod low and pulls either sideways or down. "The weight should stay in contact with the bottom at all times," he said. "You don't want to move the bait more than 6 inches at a time. When the weight slides, the bait should glide, and then it should settle before gliding again."
Prime areas to explore include manmade structures like bridge pilings and riprap, rocky banks, bare sandy points and the outside edges of weedlines – always in water that's at least relatively clear. "I prefer water that's between 0 and 14 feet deep," he said. "If it's deeper than that, I'd rather fish the same baits on a dropshot or some other rig."
But when he used the rig to win the E50, he used it because it was the only finesse bait he could work through the rocks. "One of the challenges was that rocks and the current really wanted to hang up your bait," he noted. "I tried dropshots and Texas rigs and jigheads, but I hung up too much.
"I finally figured out that if I used real light line and a splitshot rig it would come through fairly well. I used three small splitshot instead of one big one to spread out the weight and keep it from falling down in the cracks in the rocks."
He noted that splitshotting is for the most part a numbers game, not a big-fish technique. Therefore, it's important to consider how and when it should fit into a tournament strategy. "If I expect very difficult fishing, possibly because of weather, I'm likely to spend some time splitshotting. There are times when I don't want a steak but I would take a snack, and when I sense that mood in the bass I'm going to be thinking about a splitshot."
Winter Is Best
Small fish in a river or lake also suggest splitshotting. At the Paducah E50, for example, Jones knew that 2 1/2-pound fish would be valuable. "There also was a lot of current at that tournament, and splitshotting really works well in current," he said. "The current really whips the bait around a lot, without you moving it much at all."
During winter the rules are a little bit different. He catches some better-quality fish on the rig this time of year, and said splitshotting often is a good tournament technique in winter.
"There are times throughout the year when I will choose to fish a splitshot Houdini Worm, but winter is when this technique is truly at its best," he said.
Notable
> Splitshot gear notes: 6' Berkley Series 1 medium-action spinning rod; Mitchell 308X spinning reel; 6-pound Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon line; three No. 7 splitshot 12-14 inches above an Excalibur TX3 1/0 hook; 4-inch Yum Houdini worm (good colors include cotton candy, junebug, green pumpkin and smoke/red flake).
