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Drop-shotting the ICW
 Keith Lusher
In the bass fishing world drop-shotting is a popular method used by lots for anglers who target bass on the bottom. In the saltwater world, not so much. For most speckled trout anglers a standard jig head on a plastic paddle tail serves as their go-to method of catching fish; it’s certainly my preferred way to fish. However, on my latest trip to the ICW with Danny Hunter of New Orleans Best Charters, I witnessed just how productive a drop-shot rig could be.
Southshore Bait and Marina
At the Boat Launch I met Hunter at Southshore Bait on Chef Menteur Hwy just after 5:00 a.m. It was a cold morning and Hunter had just finished purchasing 75 live shrimp and tossing them in the live well. As we made our way down the ICW toward the Chalmette Wall the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon. We arrived at our first spot and I started throwing my standard plastic on a 3/8 oz. jighead. Hunter was using an in-line drop shot hook. with a 1oz. bank sinker. He was using a 3.5-inch Finger Lure made by Blue Collar Baits. After his fourth cast, he set the hook on a 13-inch speckled trout and tossed it into the box. 
Danny Hunter reels in a speckled trout before netting near the boat
 Danny Huneter caught this trout on a Finger Lure rigged drop shot
After a few more casts Hunter had our second fish and I decided to watch how he was working the drop-shot rig so that I could do the same. Hunter was casting out and letting the weight sink all the way to the bottom. Then he would slowly drag the weight on the bottom raising his rod with every five or six revolutions of the reel. I did the same but came up empty and after Hunter put the third fish into the boat I decided to switch over to the drop shot rig. Immediately I saw results as I was able to feel the bite and set the hook on a 14-inch speck. “The drop shot rig presents the lure more naturally. With a jighead, you have an up and down motion, but with the drop shot rig that lure stays horizontal and remains in the strike zone for suspended fish,” he said. We fished near the wall for about three hours and were able to catch about 20 speckled trout although the new regulation making a keeper trout go from 12 to 13 inches made it tough.
 Keith Lusher flips a speckled trout into the boat in the MRGO
The keepers-to-throwback rate was about five-to-one on this day and I’d say we caught over 100 trout to get this limit. Hunter said it should remain this way until the new regulations start resulting in 13-inch keepers. “It’s going to be a grind for a while with lots of throwback trout but all-in-all I think we’ll get used to it and it’s going to result in more quality trout, he said. In the end we managed a 2-man limit of trout but more importantly, I learned a new technique that I previously only used while bass fishing. Drop-shotting specks will definitely be a method that I incorporate in the future when looking for stubborn trout during the mid-winter months!
Danny Hunter and Keith Lusher close out the day with a limit of ICW trout
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 Keith Lusher
I created NFR.com in the spring of 2012. Since then it has helped link Northshore fishermen to valuable information and has filled the void of absent information on the web about fishing on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Northshore Fishing Report has morphed into a brand name and can be found not only on the web, but on radio and newspaper. As NFR grows I will continue to work hard at keeping NFR local focusing on local anglers, reports, seminars, and fishing tournaments in St. Tammany and Tangipahoa Parish. I hope you enjoy the website and If you have any questions please email me at: Keith@NorthshoreFishingReport.com
Look for the Northshore Fishing Report publication every Thursday in The Slidell Independent Weekly Newspaper!
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Ron Hindman of Slidell joins the NFR Studio to talk about his 11-pound trophy bass he caught in the West Pearl River
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