Page 4 - Crappie NOW - May 2018
P. 4
by John Neporadny Jr
of Morrow’s favorite tactics to employ when
Barry Morrow was fishing a he needs to try something different. Morrow
tournament at Stockton Lake in Missouri, dotes on fishing with jigs, but when the jig
when he discovered a bass fishing finesse bite is off he switches to the drop shot. He
technique also triggered strikes from finicky also relies on the drop shot to catch crappie
crappie. passed over by spider riggers.
“I had been prefishing all week and “When you are spider rigging, you are
using jigs only,” Morrow recalls. “When my going over the cover or coming into it and you
partner got down there, he ended up using the get hung up and just sit there,” he says. “You
jigs and I thought I needed to do something can spider rig the cover and think you have
completely different. So we were jig fishing
trees and I just tied on an octopus hook on
a drop shot with a 1/4-ounce weight on the
bottom of it and fished it about 12 inches high. …Morrow moves closer to the
The bite was finicky enough that I almost had target and drops his rig straight
to swim it fast by the trees.” down the tree trunk.
So during the tournament, Morrow’s
partner fished with a jig while Morrow stuck
with the drop shot rig, which he believes
helped them finish 10th in the tournament. “It caught all the fish there or you are just not
gave us a whole different approach,” he says. getting bit. But, if you just slide off to the side
“I was just pitching it by the trees and letting it of that cover and drop shot it, it is an ideal
fall to get a live minnow reaction bite.” way to pick up fish that you thought were
Morrow would either pitch his rig to the not there. If you don’t do that, then you are
trees to let it swing back to the boat or drop missing out on some fish.”
the rig next to the tree and let it fall straight to The drop shot rig is especially effective
the bottom for a vertical presentation. “A lot for Morrow when he fishes the cedar trees on
of times when I would drop it straight down his home waters of Missouri’s Truman Lake.
by the tree, I would just bounce the weight “There is a time in the spring when the fish
off the bottom and let it sit there,” he says. “I move off the beds and start transitioning to
would then get a bite 8 to 10 inches off the the wood,” Morrow says. He resorts to the
bottom.” He believes the weight bouncing drop shot when the fish are in the cedars
off the lake floor stirred up bottom debris and because it allows him to keep his minnow or
created a feeding response from crappie. soft plastic lures tight to his line and makes
The drop shot rig has now become one it easier to bounce through the limbs or keep
4 Crappie NOW May 2018
