More than 100. That’s how many soft plastic shapes and baits we find for fishing a drop shot on TackleWarehouse.com. Like most other categories of soft plastic offerings, there is no shortage of options for fishing a drop shot. But I still like to play with profiles, shapes, scents, colors and more looking for more options to bolster my drop shot catches throughout a year of fishing. I keep slender worms in various sizes, bulkier stick baits and shorter smaller profile baits on deck to give the bass several different looks with a drop shot.
Recently I’ve been playing with smaller profile subtle drop shot plastics for fishing in clearer water or when the fish seem real lethargic like now. I recently came across the Berkley Powerbait Twitchtail Minnow and decided to fish several different scenarios with it.
The Twitchtail Minnow measures just 3-inches, about half the size of the baits I normally fish on a drop shot. It has a nice minnow profile with a 1/4 inch molded head of a baitfish, but the body tapers down into the tail before spading outward into a paddle shape. The design gives the tail a twitch and vibration with the ever-so-slight movement from the angler or even just the movement of the boat or underwater currents. I found just trying to hold the rod still gave the minnow a really great subtle action. And the bass seem to approve.
I’ve fished the bait on lighter drop shots with 3/16-ounce weights, 10-braid with 8-pound fluorocarbon leaders. This is my standard setup for fishing in open water deeper than 15 feet. The bait casts well but more importantly, you’re going to get a lot of fish out of one bait depending on how you rig it. One thing I hate about using long slender plastics on a drop shot is that as you’re fighting the fish, they have a tendency to throw the worms off. That can be frustrating having to rerig a new worm after every single fish.
The Twitchtail Minnow because of its Powerbait material holds a hook better. Whether nose hooked or Texas rigged on a light-wire hook the bait had good action and held up well. I’ve hooked and landed several bass on the baits including all three species of black bass. The bait apparently has the right action for the coldwater bass I’ve caught in the last couple of months.
Berkley offers the Twitchtail Minnow in 15 colors. I’ve only tested Clear Bluegill and Breen Clear Chartreuse but I really like the bluegill color a lot because the fish have been reacting well to it. The baits come 12 to a pack so you can expect to catch a bunch of bass on a single bag.
If you’re looking for some smaller profiles for your drop shot box, I’d grab a few packs of these. Scent, good action and good colors have put some nice bass in the boat for me this winter. Check out the colors offered and pick up a few packs by clicking on these online retailers:
