Honestly, this summer has been a grind for me. Since we have been experiencing temperatures in the upper 80's and 90's, the water has really warmed up. For me, that has translated into tough and often slow fishing. I have found myself using a drop shot to get bites, maybe it will work for you!

A drop shot is nothing more than a weight at the end of your line and a small hook 6"-18" above the weight. I prefer to use 8 lb braided line with a 6 lb fluorocarbon leader of about 5'. I connect the lines with a double uni knot. My hooks of choice are Gamakatsu split shot / drop shot in size 1. I use a 6'9" Kistler drop shot special spinning rod that is medium action. I pour my own cylinder style weights and find that 3/16, 1/4, 3/8 ounces will get the job done just about all the time. I connect the hook to the line with a palomar knot and be sure the hook point is facing up when you finish tying the knot. As far as bait selection, let your imagination run wild. Most often I use 3-4" straight worms but small beavers, grubs, craws, tubes, minnow style baits, leeches, will all get bites. The drop shot is often considered a deep and clear water technique but if you don't try it in other situations your missing the boat!

In lake situations, I cast it out, let it sink, then shake it on a slack line. I let the fish dictate how much I shake it. Lately, a dead stick approach has seemed to work best but I have had days when I shook it as violently as I could without lifting the weight off the bottom too much.  In rivers or moving water, I cast it up current and work it back to me. Vary your weight size to the depth and current. If your constantly getting snagged, go lighter. If your not feeeling bottom, go heavier.

This technique works equally well for smallmouths and largemouths. Just a few weeks ago I landed a 5.46 smallmouth and two largemouths over 3 lbs for a nice tournament limit, all on a drop shot.

Give the drop shot a try, you'll be suprised how productive and fun it can be!

To double or even triple your chances of finding the right nymph the trout are eating, or give the trout more options is to use a tandem rig.  A tandem rig is when one nymph is tied on the end of your leader or tippet then another nymph is dropped off your main nymph about a foot and a half to 2 ft.

When fishing a tandem rig, I usually like to fish my bigger nymph as my first nymph then drop my smaller nymph off that.  If I'm fishing two nymphs the same size, then i usually make the second nymph the one i have more faith in or the one that rides a littler higher in the water column.

My rig usually goes something like this (this time of year when the water is low and clear otherwise, my tippets probably 5x all the way)-

3ft piece of 5x tippet off my leader, 2ft piece of 6x tippet off that, then my first nymph is usually a size 12-14 beadhead prince, bh hares ear or bh stonefly with 2 small black wingless split shots a few inches above, with another 18-24" piece of tippet. I tie that through the same hook eye as the first nymph (some tie directly on the hook) then another small split in the middle of this piece of tippet. Then I tie on my 2nd nymph usually being a size 16-20 prince, caddis larvae, or pheasant tail.

Once you've mastered the double nymph rig with a lot less tangles, try 3 by doing the same thing you did with your first dropper off of your second nymph.  With the 3rd though, I would leave out the small split halfway on the piece of tippet and maybe go with a soft hackle fly or something that will can cover 3 different fieeding lanes of the water column.

This should greatly improve your nymphing success since trout can be so picky as to where in the water column they are feeding and what nymphs or flys they are feeding on. 

Here's a few different things to try with your soft plastics to give the fish something new to strike:

1. Nose hook a stick or soft jerkbait with an offset bend Octopus Hook
     - I do this with baits like Senkos, Slug-o's and El Grande Match Hatch Sticks. The unique bend of the octopus hook, along           with the offset bend of the hook point, gives the bait a very different fall and unique action when twitched. 
2. Wacky rig baits off center
     - Hooking the bait a little more toward the front will still give it a vertical fall, but it will give it a different action. Try this when            the standard wacky rig just won't produce! Try adding a slip weight to mix up the action even more. 


Experiment with different hook styles and sizes and also with different weights when the bite gets tough. You never know what is going to trigger a strike!


-Nate

Swimbaits aren't something you hear a lot about in Pa, or even anywhere in the East. Swimbaits can be a very effective way to trigger a big bass to strike or it can even be used as a search bait. I'll share my techniques with you here:


Using Swimbaits as a search bait

When I fish a new body of water (especially when I'm not using a boat) I will throw swimbaits to search for fish. Even if you don't get a strike, these baits will pull lunkers out of hiding. Be prepared to follow up with another bait if you see a follower. I usually throw a texas rigged plastic (like a tube or worm) or a small jerkbait. 


You want to throw these baits around quick depth transitions, weed lines, structure changes and flats (especially during spawn). A good strategy to use is paralleling the shoreline or the areas mentioned above. 


Get those lunkers to bite!

Nothing is more effective at getting a lunker to commit than a swimbait. If you used the search technique and are still coming up short use this next technique to get the big one!


Look for a cloud of baitfish in or near deeper water and cast your swimbait to it. Let the swimbait fall under the cloud of fish and hold on tight. The bait should get nailed as, or just before, it hits the bottom. If it doesn't get picked up, slowly roll it across the bottom, just above the ground. Slow down your retrieve and let it hit the bottom occasionally. Big bass are smart - they are going to be watching the small ones chase the bait and will be waiting in the depths for a stunned fish to hit the bottom. The big bass won't be wasting energy chasing fish around so don't waste your time swimming your bait in the cloud. 


Styles and Rigging


With the hundreds of different styles of swimbaits out on the market today it can be hard to pick that perfect lure. The short answer is: There isn't just 1 perfect swimbait. 


When I am choosing a swimbait I like to keep things as simple as possible. I'll look at the area I am fishing and try and figure out which baitfish are dominant in that body of water. Once I figure that out, I'll find the swimbait that matches the baitfish both in size and color. Usually something as simple as all white will be enough to cover most situations. As far as size goes, I'll throw two sizes - 3 inch and 5 inch. Most baitfish don't get much bigger than this, so no need to waste your time and money on other sizes. 


I'll rig a swimbait 1 of 3 ways, depending on where and when I'm using it.


Texas Rig - I use this a lot when I'm throwing into bait clouds and also when I'm fishing beds during spawn. 
Weightless - Again, I'll use this when I'm throwing into bait clouds. I don't like to throw swimbaits weightless when I'm going to be cranking them as they tend to twist.
Weighted hook - I use these when I'm searching for fish and running the bait pretty quickly. The faster I want to move the bait, the more weight I'll use. 


Swimbaits are a great way to find some quality fish, so don't be afraid to use them. Just keep it simple and follow some of my techniques and you'll find fish! 

Have fun and stay safe out there!
-Nate