How to suspend spawn sacks off the bottom using drift balls
Spawn sack drift balls are small balls made of Styrofoam that are colored with a variety of fluorescent colors. Spawn sacks are heavier than water and will sink to the bottom. Adding a drift ball or two to the shank of your fishing hook will float most spawn sacks. This will allow you to suspend them off the bottom placing the spawn sack into the fish's strike zone. When using a typical bottom fishing setup several things will determine how far off the bottom the bait will suspend. The length of the leader between your fishing hook and the weight on your fishing line will influence the height of the bait from the bottom. If there is any water current, as in a river or stream, will usually pull the bait closer to the bottom. Wave action will cause the bait to raise and lift with the current flow and back flow of the wave.
Step 1: Select a drift ball. We use size 6 or 8 octopus style hooks for this type of fishing. Tie the hook directly to your leader material.
Step 2: Penetrate the drift ball with the point of the hook.
Step 3: Slide the drift ball around the bend of the hook and over the eye of the hook. You can add a drop of adhesive glue to the bottom of the drift ball to secure it to the hook shank. Try not to get any glue on the leader material as it may affect the breaking strength of your fishing line.
Step 4: The spawn sack is added with the hook barb and point exposed. The exposed hook will improve hookups with the fish. The drift balls are made of soft Styrofoam and do not interfere with hooking the fish. Most drift balls will be destroyed when a fish bites the spawn sack.
