Teardrop vs Skinny Drop Shot Weights (and When You Want a Closed Eye)

Drop shot weights come in more variations than the technique seems to justify, and most descriptions do not explain the difference in a way you can act on. There are really only two decisions: what shape, which is decided by the bottom you are fishing, and what eye, which is decided by how often you expect to change weights.

The shape decision is about the bottom, not the fish

A drop shot weight spends its working life dragging along whatever is down there. That is the whole job. So the shape question is not "which one do bass prefer" — they are not looking at it — it is "which one comes back when it finds a gap".

Skinny: the rock shape

A skinny weight is a narrow cylinder. When it drops into a crack between two pieces of chunk rock, the narrow body pulls back out along the same line it went in. That sounds like a small thing until you have lost four weights on one rip rap bank.

Fish it on chunk rock, rip rap, boulder fields, and anywhere the bottom is made of gaps. The trade-off is that a narrow weight is less stable on soft or uneven bottom — it will roll and tip where a wider shape would sit still.

Tear drop: the clean-bottom shape

A tear drop is wider at the base and tapers up. That base gives it a stable footprint, so on sand, gravel, hard clay and cleaner bottom it sits where it lands and stays put while you shake the bait above it. It also telegraphs bottom composition slightly more clearly, because more of it is in contact.

The trade-off is the mirror image: that same width is what wedges in rock. Fish a tear drop on clean bottom and a skinny in the rocks and you will lose far fewer weights than someone who picks one shape and fishes it everywhere.

Open eye or closed eye

This decision has nothing to do with the bottom and everything to do with your own patience.

Open eye has a pinch-style attachment. You lay the line into it, pull it tight and the line grips. Changing weight takes about three seconds and no re-tie, which matters a lot when you are hunting for the right weight in unfamiliar water. The cost is that a hard hookset into a snag can pull the line free, and you come back with a bare tag end.

Closed eye has to be tied to. That is slower, and it means committing to a weight for as long as that leader lasts. In exchange it does not come off, which is what you want when you have found the right size and you are fishing a specific piece of structure repeatedly.

Most people who fish a lot of drop shot end up carrying both: open eye while they are figuring out the day, closed eye once they have.

Then the size

Shape and eye decided, size is the last question. We make drop shot weights in 1/8, 3/16, 1/4 and 3/8 oz.

• 1/8 oz — shallow and clear, where you want the rig anchored but not nailed down.
• 3/16 oz — a sensible everyday starting point.
• 1/4 oz — the workhorse for most depths and conditions.
• 3/8 oz — deep water, wind and current. This is the heaviest we make.

Worth being precise about why wind pushes you heavier, because it is commonly explained wrong. A 1/4 oz weight reaches the bottom in twenty-five feet in a stiff breeze without any trouble. The problem is the bow that wind puts in your line between the rod tip and the water. That bow means your shake does not translate cleanly to the bait and a bite registers a beat late. Going heavier straightens the line and gives you back the contact — it is not about sinking.

One thing to unlearn from Texas rig fishing

On a Texas rig the weight rides against the bait, so weight choice affects what a fish feels when it picks the bait up. On a drop shot the weight is below the bait on a dropper tag and stays on the bottom. A fish that inhales the bait is not lifting or dragging the weight at all.

That is why "go lighter so the fish does not feel resistance" is Texas rig reasoning, and importing it into drop shot fishing leads people to fish weights too light to stay in contact. On a drop shot you are choosing weight for your feel, not the fish's.

Getting the rest of the rig right

The weight is one part of it. Two other choices change how a drop shot fishes at least as much.

Leader length

The gap between hook and weight sets how far off the bottom your bait sits. Twelve to eighteen inches is the everyday range. Shorten it to six or eight inches when fish are pinned to the bottom in cold water. Lengthen it to two or three feet when they are suspended over deeper structure or riding above grass.

A longer leader also slows everything down, because there is more line between you and the bait absorbing your shake. If your presentation feels mushy, shorten the tag before you blame the weight.

Nose hook or Texas rig the bait

Nose-hooking with the point exposed gives the bait the most freedom and the best hook-up rate, and it is the default on clean bottom. Texas-rigging the bait weedless costs some action but lets you fish the same rig into grass and wood without collecting salad every cast.

Tie the tag properly

A Palomar with the tag end passed back down through the hook eye is what keeps the hook standing out perpendicular to the line. If the hook hangs limp the bait does not sit right, and no weight choice fixes that.

When to change weight, and when to move

A lot of anglers change weights when they should change spots. The signal to go heavier is specific: you have lost the ability to feel bottom composition, or your line is bowing enough that a shake at the rod tip does not reach the bait. Both are contact problems.

The signal to go lighter is different — you can feel everything, but the bait sits too anchored to move naturally on a slack line.

If you have contact, the bait is moving well, and you are still not getting bit, the weight is not the problem. Move.

Common questions

Does the shape really matter, or is it marketing?

It matters in rock and is close to irrelevant on clean sand. If you fish rip rap and rocky points, a skinny weight will cost you fewer weights over a season. On sand flats either shape is fine and you should buy on price.

Can I use a drop shot weight on other rigs?

They are built for a dropper tag with a line-gripping or tied eye, so they are not a substitute for a worm weight that slides on the line. Use them for what they are.

Why do I keep losing open-eye weights?

That is the trade-off you chose. The pinch grip is designed to release under enough load, which is what saves the rest of your rig when the weight snags. If you are losing them without snagging, the line probably is not seated fully into the pinch — or you want the closed eye.

How heavy is too heavy?

When the rig stops responding to a light shake and you are dragging an anchor with a bait tied above it. If the bait no longer moves when the rod tip does, come down a size.

Quick reference

• Rock, rip rap, boulders → skinny
• Sand, gravel, hard clay, clean bottom → tear drop
• Still dialling in the day → open eye
• Dialled in and fishing hard cover → closed eye
• Shallow and calm → 1/8 to 3/16 oz · Deep, windy or current → 1/4 to 3/8 oz

For sizing across every technique, see the tungsten weight size chart.