4 Killer Drop-Shot Baits You're Overlooking

In clear waters where subtlety and finesse are the weapons of choice, a drop-shot baits are your best friend. The shaky, free-floating action drop-shot rigs bring to the game are irresistible to bass, even when they’re not biting.

Despite the growth in popularity, most anglers only use a few different baits with a drop-shot rig, such as smaller finesse worms and stick baits. While these baits are tried-and-true, here are a four more baits that work on a drop-shot that you need to truly bring your finesse game to the next level.

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Creatures Feature

If you need any convincing that creature baits are perfect for drop-shot rigs, look no further than the unique body styles and action-packed appendages featured in many creature baits on the market. With a seemingly built-in drop-shot design, though, hardly anyone uses them this way. Rigging a bait like a Rage Tail Space Monkey offers something that many bass have never seen before, which often times entices a strike when conventional drop-shot baits don’t.

Tube-ular, Dude

Tubes are great drop-shot baits due to their baitfish-like profile, variety of color patterns and straight up ability to draw strikes consistently. They’re typically only ever used with an internal jighead, though, causing many to miss out on their drop-shot potential. Hooking a tube through the nose on a drop-shot and working it around deep points or brush will cause bass to absolutely crush your bait time and time again.

Take ‘Em for a Swim

Many anglers use swimbaits as cast-and-retrieve searching baits, but they can be super effective on a drop-shot. Not only do they do an excellent job of imitating baitfish, but their paddle tail actually presents bass with an enticing action when you twitch the rig or slowly and steadily drag it along the bottom.

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Grub a Dub, Dub

Not only for smallmouth anglers anymore, grubs are quickly becoming one of my favorite drop-shot baits. This is because when they’re rigged on a drop-shot, grubs are a bite-sized snack that bass can’t resist. Furthermore, grubs can basically imitate nearly sort of natural prey you’ll find in a given lake and with the sheer variety of grubs available, you’ll have no trouble matching the forage. Bonus Tip: Try a green or brown color pattern to imitate a crawfish, or a white or silver one to imitate shad.

Photo credit: Flickr