idea for lock jaw Rockfish
 

You know it is bad when you are reduced to watching fishing shows on TV. :eek:

Show called " City Limits " was on and saw a neat idea that most likely will work in our waters. They were up north.

The boat was over bait and Rock ( Stripers up there ) but the Rock were not biting. The guy put over a drop shot rig. Basically a single hook bottom rig. On the hook - he put a Gulp minnow type plastic. The fish hit this almost right away. It was a good way to get a lure down deep - right in the fish's face.

Years ago when the Rock size limit was 14 inches - we used a similar rig in Kent Narrows. Anchored up current of the draw bridge - we used a regular bottom rig with 3 to 4 ozs. White Mister Twister grubs in 2 or 3 inch size were put on long shank #2 hooks. The rig was lowered to bottom - then walked back close to the bridge. Double headers were normal - now/then a big Perch would be caught.

I bet a 5 or 7 inch Bass Assasin would work just as well. Might be worth trying on a tough day when the Rock refuse regular tactics.

It definitely would not hurt. The more ammo and tricks you have, the better your chances. Many tricks used on fresh water fish will apply to salt water fish...........Gary

Good advice. Drop shot rigs can be good around the bridge in low current situations too. It's considered an old-school technique by some of the guys I've fished with.

That same method - putting the sinker on the bottom and the bait up the line then dropping right down beneath the boat - is killer for live-lining high-current areas. Essentially, you're using the sinker to bounce along bottom so it doesn't hang as easily, and the bait swims up free and right in the strike zone. In my talks this spring I'm showing video of that technique in action.

I watched that as well and Mike is one crazy SOB that's for sure. Although they did not get there limit of 2 rock over 28" they caught a lot of fish. That drop shot really worked for him so now we have something else to give a try, maybe but I still like my BKD’s with a ½ Burgess poes jig head.

By the way I have caught stripers on spinner baits before that is what I used when I first got started fishing for them because that's all I had and didn’t know any better.

Remember Barry on Tidalfish (Evil Dic), he drew up a diagram of a rig he uses. It's no long online.

Another idea to add - tie a swivel below the plastic and above the weight and use a low pound test to attach the weight. If fishing the rips for instance - which no one would dare do now to keep from molesting poor, poor fish - if the weight snags it'll break off and your rig will come back. Some plastics plus the jig head are pricey, and a simple lead weight can be cheaper. A charter captain I fished with in DE did this when drifting rockpiles for flatties - we'd loose the lead but not the rigs.