Calif Bill wrote:

I just returned from a months vacation in Italy. Thought about you, Rodney.
Was in a fishing museum on Lake Tresimento on the Umbria , Tuscany border.
They had pictures of a close relative to the drop shot rig. Was a weight on
the bottom and a float to the surface on a line. Off this line was the main
line with a couple of hooks, so they could give action to the hooks and be
off the bottom. This rig was dated 100 B.C.

Heck it was just because they couldn't tie a drop leader rig :-)

Thanks for the history lesson Bill

It's like the "new" circle hooks,, they were used 3 thousand years ago
by the Eskimos, they were just rediscovered :-)
--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Long Shot "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, Decoy Activator
and the EZKnot http://www.ezknot.com