Drop Shot Fishing on Lake Mendota
Lake Mendota · Wisconsin · Midwest
Lake Mendota sits at the northern edge of Madison, a 9,842-acre natural glacial basin with a mix of hard-bottom flats, rocky points, weedbed edges, and deep main-basin structure reaching 83 feet. Clarity tends toward the green-to-moderate range due to algae blooms in summer, though spring and fall offer cleaner windows. Both largemouth and smallmouth bass share the fishery, with smallmouth dominating the rocky structure and largemouth holding tight to the weed edges and shallower bays.
The drop shot suspends a soft plastic bait above the bottom on a fixed line, keeping it in the strike zone longer than any other rig. Originally a West Coast technique, it now dominates clear-water and finesse situations nationwide. Works vertically over structure or on a long cast.
Drop Shot Setup for Lake Mendota
| Rod | 7' medium-light to medium spinning rod, fast action |
| Reel | 2500–3000 size spinning reel, 6.2:1 or higher |
| Line | 6–8 lb fluorocarbon main line or 10 lb braid + 8 lb fluoro leader |
| Weight | 1/8–3/8 oz tungsten drop shot weight (heavier in current or deep water) |
| Hook | #1 or #2 Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap, 6–18 inches above weight |
Seasonal Tactics on Lake Mendota
Lake: Smallmouth stack on rocky points and gravel flats in 6–14 ft as water temps climb through the 55–65°F window; Picnic Point and the rock piles along the north shore are historically reliable pre-spawn and staging areas. Largemouth push into Mendota's shallower bays — Cherokee Marsh and University Bay — once surface temps hit 58–62°F, setting up for one of the more consistent shallow-bite windows of the year.
Drop Shot: Target staging fish on points and drop-offs in 8–20 feet. Nose-hook a 6" Roboworm or Berkley PowerBait MaxScent Flat Worm.
Lake: Warm-season algae blooms push dissolved oxygen levels down in deeper water, concentrating bass on weedbed edges in 8–15 ft and along the rocky drop-offs that hold cooler temps. Smallmouth suspend over main-basin structure in 20–30 ft during the hottest weeks, requiring a drop shot or finesse presentation to consistently connect.
Drop Shot: Go deep — 20–40 feet on main lake structure. Shake in place with minimal movement. Shad colors dominate.
Lake: Falling water temps in September and October trigger a hard feed as bass pack on shad and cisco forage near main-lake points and the edges of dying weed lines. Topwater and swimbaits run productive through mid-October, and smallmouth on the north-shore rock piles can be some of the best fishing of the year before turnover muddies the bite.
Drop Shot: Follow baitfish to secondary points and pockets. Faster retrieve works as fish get more aggressive.
Lake: Ice-cover fishing for bass is limited and largely incidental to the perch and walleye crowd, but late-fall pre-ice largemouth in the 5–10 ft weed zone on the south shoreline will take a slow-rolled swimbait or a 3/8 oz football jig crawled along the last green cabbage edges.
Drop Shot: Slowest presentation of the year. Dead-stick a 4" finesse worm at the bottom. Let it sit 10–15 seconds between shakes.
Best Conditions
Clear to stained water, pressured fish, cold fronts, post-spawn suspended bass, deep structure in summer
Use a Palomar knot and leave the tag end pointing up to keep the hook riding correctly. Most anglers tie it wrong.
More Techniques for Lake Mendota
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