Professional bass angler Chris Zaldain has coined drop shot fishing finesse swimbaits as drop swimming, and as the name implies, it combines the depth control attributes of drop shotting with the swimming action of paddle tail swimbaits. We give you a detailed view of this overlooked pairing, which relies on thin-tailed paddle tail swimbaits. A soft and subtle tail section is required so the bait engages in a natural swimming motion at slow retrieve speeds or even when worked at a standstill. See Zaldain’s full-length drop swimming tutorial.
This system presents bass and other gamefish an ultra-realistic minnow profile near the bottom where they’re more conditioned to finesse worms and fluke-style baits. A slow and steady retrieve keeps a finesse swimbait pinned near the bottom better than a jighead while working the bait in place yields a seductive struggling action. The Wired2Fish staff has experienced excellent results with both thanks to Chris sharing his drop swimming secrets.
