Vicious Line Questions and Answers

Q: What are the Vicious line diameters?

A:

Q: What is the breaking strength of Vicious lines?

A: Vicious line will break 100% of the time at least 2 pounds over its rated strength.  90% of the time it will break somewhere between 3-6lbs over its rated strength.

Q: What kind of promo deals are available to get line into stores that don’t presently carry it?

A: Promo deals are worked out on a store by store basis.  Report your suggested promo deal to Tom Coss for factory approval.

Q: What packaging applies to what size spools? Specifically, the dispenser boxes.

A: Only the Ultimate copolymer in 600 and 1000 yard spools come in the dispenser boxes.  The 500 and 800 yd fluorocarbon spools will also fit these boxes.  Some retail customers use the same box for dispensing both types of line.

Q: What about the Ultimate Copolymer line, what is high-tech about it?

A: Low stretch.  The industry average elongation (stretch) for copolymer line is 35%-45%, but the average elongation (stretch) for Ultimate copolymer is 18%.

Low stretch gives added sensitivity.  The line of distinction between fluorocarbon and copolymer is being blurred by technology.  Fluorocarbon still sinks and becomes significantly less visible under water, and should still be used by those customers who require these properties.  For those customers who do not require fluorocarbon properties of sinking and invisibility, Ultimate copolymer can simplify their fishing by being more of an all-purpose line.

QUICKDROPS - Refining The Art of Dropshotting

It was 1997 when my bass fishing world turned upside down, literally. This was my first realization that hooking a soft plastic lure above the weight can be deadly on bass. Hearing of the dropshot popularity in Japan gave me the confidence to give it a serious try in Washington State for smallmouths. Although I anticipated the benefit of being able to twitch a worm in place to attract curious smallmouths, I didn’t realize that dropshotting would change my entire approach to bass fishing. It became more than just a specialty technique used for deep vertical presentations; dropshotting has transcended into an alternate concept that can be adapted to practically all fishing conditions and situations.

Since discovering many ways to apply the dropshotting technique under different conditions and seasons, my success rate in landing more and bigger bass has greatly improved. My bank account balance has also noticed a remarkable improvement!

Where Dropshotting is Effective

Water clarity plays a key role in success with dropshotting, so this must be taken in consideration before choosing dropshotting over other methods. If bass can easily see your offering, then dropshotting should be considered a viable tactic.

Assuming water clarity is favorable for dropshotting, you want to present your lure where bass can see it but not detect your presence. Long casts and stealthy approaches tip the odds in your favor. Dropshotting is effective anywhere bass are located, to include structure or cover that bass are relating to, such as on top of gravel bars, underwater humps, next to deep weedlines, under docks, or even suspended above thermoclines. Stealth and location are not the entire equation, you will take full advantage by using a rig that places your bait just above a bass where it can easily be seen regardless of the depth the bass are utilizing.

What’s My Line

Because most of my dropshotting occurs in clear water, I use the lightest line I can get away with. Often this is 6 pound test even for big largemouths if I am fishing fairly open, clear water.  10 pound and even 8 pound line is a big handicap in open water because dropshot bass normally can take their time and inspect your rig closely before striking. Fluorocarbon tips the odds even more in your favor, and the sensitivity and abrasion resistance of fluorocarbon are important advantages. When using monofilament I prefer McCoy Clear because it is also low stretch, very sensitive, and small diameter.

When dropshotting weedlines and tulles for big bass, I prefer 12lb to 20lb fluorocarbon and in punching mats and thick cover I prefer 65 pound braid.

Gamakatsu Hooks

Nose-Hooking. It is important to match your hook size to the line and bait you choose. For much of my dropshotting in open water with 6 pound test, I use a tiny #4 Gamakatsu dropshot hook. The hook is strong enough to land anything your line will hold, and the thin wire diameter and sharp point offer advantages that larger hooks cannot. Light wire hooks give your bait more movement, and require only tightening your line for the point to penetrate past the barb in flesh. When your hookpoint catches the tooth patch of a bass, the #4 is such a small diameter that it can slip through the tooth socket of the bone patch. A thicker diameter hook will not penetrate bone with light line, and results in the bass pushing the hook out of its mouth while executing head shakes.

Wacky-Hooking. For wacky dropshot rigs I use the Finesse Wacky Wide Gap hooks, and match the size to the thickness of the worm. I try to stay with small sizes and I accomplish this by using rubber O-rings and a Wacky-RigR tool.

Texas-Rig. When fishing in cover, I Texas-rig the soft plastic bait with various style of hooks depending on the size and model bait I am using. These include the Gamakatsu G-lock hook, and for punching mats I use the new straight-shank Superline Worm Hook or the EWG Monster Hook.

Seasonal Considerations

During the prespawn bass tend to seek emerging crawfish and larger juvenile fish, and during the spawn they tend to let their reproductive instincts dictate their location.  Postspawn bass position themselves by their protective instincts followed by their active feeding once the water warms and food is more available during a period where their metabolism is peaking. Summer’s typically find bass activity shallow during low light periods, and deep or under thick vegetation mats during bright sun. Fall brings another feeding flurry in locations where water quality favors peak metabolic activity. Winter typically finds bass in a reduced state of activity, and in much deeper depths. The dropshot rig can be fished in all these situations providing an alternative presentation which could be the key to changing a tough bite into a successful day!

Adjust Your Thinking

The two biggest obstacles to understanding how dropshot rigs can be fished under different conditions is the lack of independent thought, and not understanding why dropshot rigs attract bass in the first place.

The dropshot rig is different than other rigs because the soft plastic lure is in-between your rod tip and your weight. When moving your rod tip the attraction of the lure is more pronounced than if the weight was between your rod tip and your lure. With a dropshot rig, even if you do not move your rod tip, you have the ability to present your favorite soft plastic bait at a predetermined distance ABOVE the bottom. No other presentation effectively accomplishes this. As you can see, a dropshot rig does two things that no other rig can compete with, namely “liveliness” and “suspending” above the bottom. Think of a baitfish from the perspective of a bass. Those that become dinner have the same two features as a dropshot rig. Struggling baitfish that display movement at some distance above the bottom do not last long when predatory bass are around.

DropPunching

Change is difficult, so making the commitment to learn different ways to fish a dropshot rig can be a big hurdle. This is where the ability to exercise independent thought allows savvy anglers to cash in on the dropshot rig. Take for example fishing a weed mat. Watch any television show or read any magazine article and you will approach this situation by pitching a heavy tungsten bullet weight with a plastic crawfish to punch a hole in the mat. After your lure crashes to the bottom you then lift the bait back up to the undersurface of the mat, and pump it up and down a couple of times, then quickly move on. What if the bass aren’t reacting favorably to feeding or reaction strikes? Wouldn’t you like the ability to drop a Senko on these fish, or maybe a lively minnow imitation? You can do this with a dropshot rig by texas-rigging your soft plastic (so it is weedless), and then dropshotting it with a one-ounce QuickDrop dropshot sinker. The teardrop shaped QuickDrop punches a mat right where you cast it, and pulls your lure through the hole made by the QuickDrop. Now you are showing bass a presentation that they haven’t seen before, and nothing makes a bass more likely to bite than a lifelike rig they have never been hooked by before. I call this “DropPunching.”

DropSwimming

In another example, think of fishing in the summer on a lake where the water stratifies. Most baitfish remain above the thermocline depth, and bass suspend to be near their food source. How do you catch these bass? Many would grab a crankbait or jerkbait, and try to excite the bass into rising and attacking their lure. If this doesn’t work, try offering an alternative presentation that may appeal to the bass in a different manner. A dropshot rig on 6 pound test Sugoi Fluorocarbon with a Basstrix Flashtrix minnow and a 1/16 oz QuickDrop may get these bass to bite when it is worked horizontally through the school of bass. This “DropSwimming” technique has been winning tournaments in the Pacific Northwest for years, and it can do the same anywhere bass feed in water with good visibility. If you need to fish a little deeper you can quickly adjust your weight by swapping to a 1/8 oz or 3/16 oz QuickDrop.  With 8 sizes available up to 1 ounce in size, you can DropSwim any soft plastic from the surface to the bottom, in shallow or deep water. You can DropSwim slowly for finesse presentations, or you can DropSwim quickly as if you were fishing a crankbait or a Carolina-rig. Use your independent thought process and the unique qualities of a dropshot rig to dictate the next tournament winning tactic that others will mimic years from now.

 Dropshotting as a Fish Finder

I first learned about the Carolina Rig in 1975 while fishing the BASS Nationals on Clarks Hill Reservoir. My tournament partner for day 1 had a 1-ounce egg sinker above his 4 inch worm (with two exposed hooks) separated by a long leader. He used the rig to make long casts and quickly reel it across the bottom until he contacted the top of a rock ridge. Then he would stop his rig and let the worm drift to the bottom and the bass would eat it. The sinker was his underwater eyes to find the structure that held the bass, then the worm did the rest. A heavy dropshot rig can work even better to find rocks, brushpiles, dropoffs, and other key features, especially when using the dropswimming presentation.

Once you find the ridge or dropoff with your heavy dropshot rig, you now have the ability to entice the bass that are present with a presentation that is different and deadly. Think of it this way. How many times do you find you have to make the perfect cast to hit the sweet spot in order to catch a bass with a light dropshot rig? Try using a bigger weight and make longer casts and quickly swim your rig along the bottom until the weight tells you that you are on the sweet spot. Then work the dropshot rig to entice the bite.

DropDrifting

DropDrifting is also a natural, but few have considered using it. This technique provides bass a new look at your favorite soft plastic bait anywhere there is water movement due to current. Both rivers and tidal water are suitable for dropdrifting. Bass as predators become fat by eating more calories than they burn trying to capture their dinner. Current concentrates baitfish, crayfish, and other tasty morsels and delivers them to bass waiting at the current seams or where cover and structure funnel water into a narrowed area. To capitalize on this feeding behavior you want to present your imitation prey in a natural manner that bass are expecting to see. A dropshotted craw jumping off the bottom as it is swept down current, or a soft plastic minnow dropshotted above the bottom becomes an easy meal if it is drifting naturally. The key to cashing in on this technique is to attach a QuickDrop that is just heavy enough to lightly touch the bottom as the current sweeps your rig to the bass. The quickclip on a QuickDrop makes changing sizes fast and easy so you can change sizes as current conditions also change. The hydrodynamic shape, and full swivel keeps line twist and snags to a minimum.

Wacky DropShotting

While wacky rigging a Senko or worm is common knowledge, it amazes me how few understand how deadly the same rig is combined with a dropshot! Adding a QuickDrop below your wacky rig gives a unique action to a plastic bait. Imagine allowing your Senko to drop to the bottom with a half-ounce QuickDrop, and then giving a quick snap with your rod tip to make your Senko jump up off the bottom as high as your QuickDrop and leader length allow, then you slack line and let it flutter back down. Hold onto your rod.  The same rig with a lighter QuickDrop allows you to drift the wacky rigged bait with current, which keeps your lure wiggling every time the QuickDrop hits a rock or skips along the bottom. All you have to do is follow your line downstream with your rod tip and you will feel every bite and load the boat.

Wacky Dropshotting can also be used to invoke a reaction strike in deep water with a vertical presentation. Particularly in the late summer and fall a wacky rigged Senko expressed to the bottom with a half-ounce QuickDrop can produce a vicious strike the moment it hits. The fast drop and smash into the bottom can make resting bass react and attack.

Sight fishing is tailor made to use a wacky dropshot rig. No other rig can be fished in one spot with so much action as a heavy QuickDrop on a wacky dropshot rig. If you aren’t using this method you are missing out on the hottest sight fishing method there is. Bedding bass will not tolerate a wacky bait dancing in one spot in front of their nose. A heavy QuickDrop keeps you from pulling the bait out of the bed before the strike. My heaviest tournament bass was a 9-pounder that I caught using this method after trying fruitlessly with other methods first. I have won several tournaments sight fishing for smallmouths with this rig, and now it is my first choice for sight fishing.

The Ugly Side of Dropshotting

Line twist. Traditionally dropshotting had been relegated to vertical presentations due to some unpleasant qualities of this rig, particularly line-twist. In long casts and horizontal retrieves line twist can be a nightmare because of improper weight shape and design. Line twist also occurs with vertical presentations, but most find it more manageable in this case. Even with fluorocarbon line, annoying twist can almost be completely eliminated if you use the correct weight, hook your bait properly, and understand how to play a bass on a spinning reel. QuickDrops are designed to eliminate twist caused by the weight, and this will be explained later. Spinning reels increase twist if you reel while your drag is slipping, or even letting fish take line with the drag instead of backreeling. Giving line by backreeling is the best way to minimize line twist caused by a spinning reel. Another factor increasing line twist with spinning reels is closing the bail automatically. Close the bail by hand and you will reduce twisting. Nose hooking your soft plastic produces most of your line twist. Be sure to hook the worm perfectly in the center of the worm, and most importantly make sure your hook is as close to the nose of the worm as possible. The farther from the tip of the worm you place your hook, the more line twist you get when retrieving your bait back to the boat to make a cast. Fix these things, and use a QuickDrop, and line twist becomes a problem of the past.

Line Clips. Weak line clips that exist on many dropshot weight brands can be frustrating. They are time-wasters, and costly in lost weights. Any time you hear of someone tying an overhand knot at the end of their line, they are using a poor quality dropshot weight. Weak clips open up on a hard cast, and your weight parts company with your line. Some line clips are made with too stiff of wire, and these cut your line on a hard cast, or even when rigging.

Snags. Snags happen easily in rocks with round weights, and when using weights with half the swivel buried in the lead. A fully exposed swivel has two hinge points that allow the weight to snake over rocks if the weight is properly shaped. Cylindrical weights are snag resistant, but they don’t telegraph by feel the bottom composition, so you don’t know if you are fishing productive areas or wasting time. Plus cylindrical weights twist your line on the cast, while sinking, while fishing, and while retrieving. They also do not provide a stealthy, compact package.

Yes, the Weight Makes Difference

The more I learned about dropshotting, I came to the realization by 1998 that round weights and cylindrical weights were not the best design, and they limited how and where I could dropshot. Since I couldn’t find what I needed on the market, I made my own teardrop shaped weights, and QuickDrops were born. Sure, anyone can catch a dropshot bass using a spark plug for a weight, but not without getting frustrated and certainly not as effectively as using the right way. The more your dropshotting skills improve, the more you will demand the best weight, and likewise the more you use the best weight the faster your dropshotting skills will improve.

QuickDrops Shape. The unique teardrop shape is the biggest advantage QuickDrops has over any other weight on the market. The reasons are many. The taper of the weight allows it avoid snagging in rocks or in weeds, yet maintain a low center of gravity which provides many other advantages. The low center of gravity along with the long taper allows you to feel small movements of your bait without having to lift your weight off the bottom. The large surface of the bottom allows you to feel if you are fishing over rocky bottoms, sand, weeds, or soft bottoms. No other shape gives a better feel for the bottom. The shape also makes it easy to hold the QuickDrop in your hand while making underhanded pitches under low hanging docks and tree branches.

The shape is also one of the secrets for reduced line twist with QuickDrops. The molds that produce QuickDrops are computer designed to obtain the perfect balance and shape, and because of the quality of the metal molds and because they are made in the USA, QuickDrops are consistent in quality. The shape and balance make QuickDrops both aerodynamic and hydrodynamic, which reduces line twist. They cast perfectly straight without twisting, they sink straight (more on the importance of this later), they drift straight, and they retrieve straight. Even the design of the molds helps prevent twisting because QuickDrops are poured with the sprue in the center of the bottom. Other weights have seams or uneven sides which cause twisting when retrieved or when drifting.

Sinking Straight. When fishing in deep, cold water the dropshot rig continues to be deadly, but not for many. The problem isn’t that the bass aren’t biting, but that the angler doesn’t feel the bite and never knows it occurs. The best way to feel a light bite is to use small diameter line and make sure your weight drops perfectly straight from your rod tip all the way to the bottom. If your weight sinks in an “S” pattern in 40 feet of water, there is no way to feel a bite that only moves your line sideways by two inches. QuickDrops sink exactly where you drop them.

QuickDrops Line Clips. These clips though similar in appearance are very different than most. The clip is made with a flexible wire with excellent spring that grips your line without cutting it. The length of the clip is slightly longer than many, which allows the same size clip grip line as small as two pound test or as thick as 25 pound fluorocarbon. No knots are needed on the end of your line, and QuickDrops will stay on your line when you make that hard, long cast.

QuickDrops Swivel. The size of the barrel swivel is important to make a smooth transition between the line clip and the taper of the weight. The small barrel on the QuickDrop swivel helps to keep the weight from snagging weeds or in rock. It is also important to note that the full swivel on a QuickDrop is outside the lead instead of half sunk into the lead. This provides two swivel points which greatly reduces line twist. It also provides two hinges for more freedom of movement. This allows the QuickDrop to slinky over obstructions, greatly reducing snagging.

Not Just for Bass

The qualities of QuickDrops make them a wise choice for many other types of fish than just bass. I have caught several IGFA records on QuickDrops, including an IGFA World Record for walleye (6 pound line class). QuickDrops work great for steelhead and salmon while drift fishing or boondoggin. QuickDrops have produced trophy trout, kokanee, crappie, perch, bluegill, shad, burbot, catfish, and many other species of fish. The list keeps growing.

Parting Thoughts

Remember that dropshotting is much more than a vertical presentation. With the right tools and an independent thought process you will discover a whole new way to approach your fishing and achieve greater success. Instead of following the pack where the view never changes, be the lead dog. You will take your fishing to a much higher level, and your success and enjoyment will follow. Ciao

Marc Marcantonio, March 27, 2008

Drop Shot Knot

By Tom Coss

The Drop Shot technique is the latest craze in bass fishing.  One ‘secret’ many anglers do not know is the proper method to tie and rig the Palomar knot recommended for this technique.  The following instructions should help:

1)      Hold the hook with the point facing up.

2)      Insert the doubled line down through the hook eye and complete the knot.

3)      Again, holding the hook so the point faces up, insert the tag end of the line down through the hook eye, positioning the loose line on the side of the knot that is away from the end of the wire that is bent to form the hook eye.

4)      Pull the tag end of the line downward until it tightens and the knot pops through the hook eye.

NOTE: You must get the right combination of line diameter and hook eye size to permit this to happen.  It requires a little larger hook eye than usually found on hooks as small as those used for Drop shotting.  One hook I have found with a large enough hook eye to pass a Palomar knot tied with 6# line is the Owner J-Hook, but I am sure there are others.

This tip is important because this rigging technique relieves the stress on the Palomar knot that occurs if the knot is tied and used in a position where the two lines coming from the knot are pulled in opposite directions, as with fighting a fish.  This technique will reduce the line breakage that can occur with the Drop Shot method.

Good fishing !!

The Odz Wacky Jig Head

Over the years many new and innovative products have come out of Japan and the “Wacky Jig Head” is one of the latest and greatest to come to my attention. Many times since Gary Yamamoto’s Senko hit the market I have heard fisherman state that they wished their favorite baits would sink with that same seductive action. Well now that wish has come true.

The “Wacky Jig head” with its short shank and wide gap has just what the doctor ordered to get those baits to sink with that seductive wiggle. No longer does the bait have to retain the necessary weight to make it sink. The “Wacky Jig Head” comes in several weights from 1/48 to 1/16 of an ounce.

This might seem a little light, but it’s just right.

Rigging can be done in the traditional manner by hooking the bait in its center or by hooking the bait (a worm) in this case in the front 1/3. To accomplish this : start the hook towards the tail side of the front 1/3 of the worm. Don’t go all the way through. Instead make a deep skin mount and turn the hook right back out. This will make your worm fall in a lop sided” U” shaped posture that produces a great wiggling effect. When retrieved in a jigging fashion the worm will now wiggle with double the vibration that you will feel up through your rod handle. 

Below is the traditional wacky rig (top).

And

The super shaker wacky rig below

T O M    C O S S    F I S H I N G

1773 Grant Street, Santa Clara, CA 95050

Phone (925) 699-1699, FAX (408) 748-0987

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(06/23/06)

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