Title says it all for my UL spinning system, it’s an original 9’ 3 wt SC Avid blank built as a spinning rod. Split-T handle with a seat, nice balance, incredible fun. Excels as a UL bobber rod, but I use it for most anything. The “quiverability” of a 9’ 3wt blank is without peer when one wishes to shake an offering a bit. The actual fish catching part, on the other hand, is dreamy. Arguably the best idea I ever built-out for my love of UL fishing, whatever limitations it has are vastly outweighed by it’s enjoyable qualities.
So I decided to set the flyrod down for a bit, hit a pits, and see if the F’n’F bite was gonna happen today. Windy, but nice. Managed to get a few half-hearted takes on a 1/12 oz craft hair jig and finally hung a modest size bass.
Wasn’t all that enthralled with the progress and the practice of meditating on a float across such a sunny conditions just wasn’t very compelling for long. Decided to switch it up with some my own bizarre approach to dropshotting (really more like dragshotting) and save my eyes. Bait of choice was an obnoxiously green PetsSmart Anemone worm which makes a surprisingly good lure. This aquarium ornament has super stretchy silicone, great action, and stays on a hook better than any plastisol bait I’ve ever poured. Small fish today, but they ate it…
I like both J’s or circle hooks on UL dropshot and while using traditional weights doesn’t offend me, I’ve taken to using nail weights (yes, literally) as they skid across substrate better and even let me swim the baits for a bit. Often incorporate regular d-shotting techniques, however, this rig has a diverse potential and I like to mix it up and cover water.
Elastic baits are dandy, but being an experimental tackle maker it’s never long before the “wonder if” thing starts gnawing. In this case, the wondering was about whether those dyed chamois strips and feathering ideas would be feasible for a dropshot rig. And why not? They make good trailers across all my tackle be it jig & pig bassin’ or micro-leaches for flyrod suckers. Got as much action as elastic and in some ways much more natural texture to the material.
Got a few more bass of about the same size and some stocker ‘bows which had apparently been dumped in a few weeks ago. Small trout, but fun and was nice to see them go for the chamois nymph.
Started the day kinda late with a blank slate due to it being late March which is hard to predict around here on gravel pits. Mulling over it, I’m definitely going to pursue more dropshot chamois ideas and size a few “heads” to run some of these dyed strips off of. The modularity of them is nice. While I just played with a circle hook (#8), one can see the potential for treating the rig more like a head + trailer system and at some remarkably diminutive sizes.