Deep Drop
Deep Drop needs a rod that is as stiff as rods get and bends through its middle. In the words printed on a rod, that is an extra-heavy rod with a moderate or moderate-fast action, 5'0" to 6'6". A short, extra-heavy rod keeps the weight close to the angler and lifts against several pounds of lead and drag without the tip folding.
A weighted bait lowered to the bottom in 1,000 feet of water or more, then held there while the boat drifts. No casting happens, so rod length and casting weight are irrelevant and lifting power is everything. The rod has to carry several pounds of lead plus the drag of the water for the length of a drift, then lift a heavy fish through that same water without folding. A circle hook sets itself against the pull, so the angler reels and never swings.
Letting the Fish Set It
A circle hook — a point curved back to catch the jaw's corner as line tightens — is designed to slide to the corner of the jaw and turn there under a steady pull. Swinging at the bite pulls it out of the fish before it can turn. The angler leans and winds; the rod holds a constant bend and never spikes the pressure. That is a requirement about how the rod behaves while a fish pulls, not about how fast it springs back.
Nothing is cast, so casting weight and length stop meaning anything. The rod carries a steady weight for the length of a drift and then lifts against it. Lifting power is the entire requirement, and it is felt down near the handle instead of at the tip.
That is what the extra-heavy rating and the moderate or moderate-fast tip above are for. A short, extra-heavy rod keeps the weight close to the angler and lifts against several pounds of lead and drag without the tip folding. Length lands between 5'0" to 6'6". That is short, because none of it is cast and every inch past the reel is leverage working against you.
5'6" extra-heavy, moderate action stand-up
- Length
- 5'6"
- Power
- extra-heavy
- Action
- moderate
- Casts
- 32-200 oz
- Line
- 80-200 lb
Nothing about this rod is about casting, so the usual questions do not apply. It is short because the weight has to stay close to the angler and close to a fighting belt. It bends through the middle because the job is lifting a heavy fish through deep water, not moving a hook. The rating covers several pounds of lead plus drag, which is why no freshwater rod in the world substitutes for it. It has exactly one use on this site.
Cannot cast, and nothing under two pounds will bend it at all.
2 Baits Fished This Way
These share a hook type and a weight range, which is why one rod covers them. They do not share conditions. Check what water each one wants before you tie it on.
Rigged squid deep-drop bait
- Weight
- 64-160 oz
- Size
- 8-14"
- Hook
- circle
- Water
- clear
- Depth
- 1000-2000 ft
The standard bait for daytime swordfish, where the fish are near the bottom in deep water and nothing shallower reaches them. Lower it under thumb control until it reaches bottom. Take up a set amount of line to hold it just above. Let the drift carry it, and watch the tip for a slack-line change.
Pointless on a short drift or in a hard current. The bait sweeps up off the bottom before it is ever near enough to a fish to be eaten.
Deep-drop jig
- Weight
- 16-48 oz
- Size
- 6-12"
- Hook
- circle
- Water
- clear
- Depth
- 800-1800 ft
Useful when bait-stealing fish make rigged baits impractical. The drift also has to be slow enough to keep the jig near vertical. Drop to bottom. Lift the rod through a long slow arc, then reel in the slack as you lower it again. Repeat for ten or fifteen turns of the handle before dropping back.
Wrong in a fast drift that puts the line at a steep angle. The jig never reaches the bottom it was meant to work.
The One Fish Caught This Way
A method this specific has one target here, and the rod requirement above is really that fish's requirement written from the other direction.
Fished in offshore water. It is not a starting point. The gear is specific, the conditions are narrow, and doing it at all usually means a boat and a day committed to it.
Swordfish
- Water
- saltwater
- Mouth
- hard
- Fight
- extreme
Daytime swordfish hold near the bottom in deep water, and a weighted bait lowered to them is the only thing that reaches that depth.
The only method this site has for swordfish, so there is no fallback on this page. When it is not producing, the answer is a different day, not a different rod.
Where It Goes Wrong
Swinging to set a circle hook, which pulls the hook out of the corner of the jaw instead of into it.
Using less lead than the drift needs, which sweeps the bait up off the bottom where the fish are not.
Reeling against a locked drag on the way up, instead of lifting and winding down on the recovery.
Where This Decision Goes Next
Every method this site covers
Nothing else here is fished like this one. The table shows what else there is.
Find the rod for deep drop in your water
Five questions, four of them skippable. The rod requirement above holds for any fish; naming yours, and the water, turns it into a specific rod — and tells you whether one you already own will do.