I can’t be the only person who finds that failing eyesight and less than dexterous fingers make it frustratingly difficult to produce drop shot rigs. Trying to secure small hooks with a Palomar knot knot while using fine monofilament or fluorocarbon lines constantly results in a stream of swear words from me.
Tying larger hooks for rigging a drop shot for wrasse or other larger species is not a problem. It is relatively simple to pass the loop of trace line through the hook eye and complete the Palomar knot to produce the stand-off hook position. However using hooks of size 10 or smaller for Light Rock Fishing, LRF, does tend to exasperate me as I try to thread the fine line through what seems to be a constantly diminishing target hole. A bit like the proverbial camel and needle eye.
A simple method is available to construct a float stop drop shot rig.
Float Stopper Solution
After some thought I have managed to find a simple solution to my lack of dexterity, float stops.
These small rubber like stops are readily available in various shapes and sizes from UK and European tackle shops, in particular those that stock freshwater tackle. They make the production of the float stop drop shot rig simple and produce an effective rig.
A bit of experimentation has shown that the best ones to use are the small, cylindrical versions which I have found on the Aliexpress website. I use the small version which measure 7mm by 1.7mm and fit securely on 0.16mm flourocarbon line.
Making The Float Stop Drop Shot Rig
Producing the rig is a simple matter of threading the rig body line through the stopper wire and sliding the first stopper on the line, moistening the line helps to prevent friction damage.
The hook is then added, it prefer long shank Aberdeen style hooks, before the second stopper is slid on the line and pushed up against the hook and bottom stopper.
The stoppers will have sufficient grip on the line to hold the hook perpendicular to the rig body.
Completing the Rig
A simple loop at the top of the trace suffices as an attachment point for the main line link. The weight can either be of the drop shot design with the squashed loop or a normal weight can be tied on. Unlike the fixed, knotted, drop shot hook rig the height of the hook off the seabed can be adjusted by sliding the hook up or down the rig body. There is no need for the drop shot style weight.
Hooking larger species may result in the lower stopper slipping but it can be simply slid back into the required location. The stoppers can be fixed in position with a drop of rig glue but I have not found this necessary as yet.
