“Tony Stacy Catches Summertime Bass on Mister Twister’s Worms and Super Lizards and Crappie on Mepps’ Spinners”

Part 2: The Big Drop Shot

Editor’s Note: Tony Stacy of Andalusia, Alabama, a tournament bass fisherman in the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League (WBFL), a part of the Forrest L .Wood (FLW) tournament circuit, is an avid fisherman, who is on lakes and rivers 2 to 3 days every week.

Question: Tony, you’re using the Mister Twister Comida on a drop-shot rig. Tell me how you’re rigging the Comida on a drop-shot rig?

Stacy: I put a hook on the line about 10 or 12 inches up the line. I tie a lead sinker to the bottom of the line. Then I hook the Comida onto the hook and rig it Texas style. I allow the point of the hook to come out of the Comida and then barely skin hook the point back into the lure. I’ll often use weights as heavy as 3/4- to 1-ounce on the bottom of my drop-shot rig, depending on how deep the water I’m fishing is. I’ll often use it on a spinning reel. I generally fish this rig around brush piles in 10 or 15 feet of water. I also fish it on the edges of drop-offs and ledges and on points.

Question: On what pound-test line are you putting this drop-shot rig?

Stacy: I usually fish it on about 8-pound test, if I’m fishing the outside edges of the brush, drop-offs and points where I know I won’t break-off.

Question: What colors do you like?

Stacy: I like the watermelon/red flake and the baby bass.

Question: Are you using this tactic when you’re tournament fishing?

Stacy: Yes, I primarily fish the Comida on a drop-shot rig in lakes like Lake Martin and Lay Lake in Alabama, which have large populations of spotted bass. The spotted bass really like the Comida rigged like this and fished out in that open-water rocky structure.

Question: How big are the spotted bass you’re catching using this technique?

Stacy: Some of them will weigh as much as 3 pounds.

Question: Tony, you may very well be the only man in the world using the drop-shot tactic to fish a worm as big as the Comida. Why did you start fishing with that technique?

Stacy: Most people who fish drop-shot rigs use little worms and small baits. I think that the fish become accustomed to seeing little baits suspended-up off the bottom like most conventional drop-shotters use. So, I decided to use the big worms instead of the little worms to give the rig a different look. The Comida’s got a lot of wiggle in it, too, and you don’t have to make much action to cause that worm to dance.

Now if you think about it, many people are Texas-rigging the Comida and letting it fall and then dragging it to the bottom. Other anglers are fishing the Comida rigged wacky style and just letting the Comida fall to the bottom. Most of the time, bass are seeing the Comida either falling or being drug along the bottom. What the fish haven’t seen is that big worm suspended about 10 to 12 inches up off the bottom and just hanging there and occasionally twitching. Now we know that bass will hit the Mister Twister Comida, and I think by presenting it in a new and different way I’m getting more bites and catching more fish than the people who either Texas-rig it or let it freefall wacky style.

Question: What size hook are you tying on your line?

Stacy: Either a No. 2 or a No. 3.

Question: How else are you fishing the Comida on a drop shot?

Stacy: I fish it quite a bit around grass. I’ve found that drop shotting the Comida along the edge of grass puts the bait in the bass’s strike zone at a level where the fish can see it and eat it for a long time. Often, I’ll just hold the bait really still, so the Comida only moves with the current. I’ll also fish it down through holes in the grass. If a bass is holding on the edge of a hole, sees that Comida fall through the grass on a drop-shot rig, doesn’t take the Comida on the fall, then it can sit there and look at the Comida for a while before it moves up to the Comida and inhales it.

I think many anglers who are missing some fish-catching opportunities with the Comida by not trying to fish it differently than everyone else is fishing it. Most people assume that drop shotting is successful only in deep, clear lakes and with little-bitty lures. But I’ve found out it’s just as effective, if not more effective, when you use big worms like the Comida.