How To Fish A Shakey Head

[jr45]

I was going to try and learn how to fish a shakey head. What works best on this set up. What weight line works good and what techniques are there? Thanks as always.

[CPBassFishing]

Rod- 6 foot to 7 foot medium or medium heavy action spinning

Reel- spinning reel with a good drag

Line- 8-10lb fluoro or braid, depending on water clarity and cover.

Jigheads- there are hundreds of shaky heads on the market but I keep it simple- a dirty jigs finesse shaky head with a 5/0 hook, 1/4 oz, or an 1/8 oz megastrike shakeE2 head.

When and where to fish a shaky head- I find this technique works best when the fish are on the bottom or suspended no more than a foot above it. drag it VERY slowly until you hit an obstruction, then shake away. Once you have cleared the obstruction keep dragging.

Bait selection: I typically throw a 6" or 7" finesse worm on the dirty jigs 1/4 oz head, and a 4" or 5" on the 1/8 oz megastrike. I like Roboworm straight tails and PowerTeam Lures finicky ticklers.

Good luck fishing, a shaky head is a great way to catch fish when the bite is tough.

[gotarheelz14]

As with all presentations, the lure you will be throwing (in this case jig head + soft plastic = lure) will determine what rod and reel you should use.

 

Before proceeding, let's make sure we understand one thing, when we say "shakey heads" we can actually be talking about two completely different things. For instance, about two summers ago, I threw  1/2 oz shakey heads with MAGNUM Zoom trick worms, hopping them as fast as I could along the bottom. Two of my bigger fish for that year came on that shakey head, a 7lb and a 6lb largemouth. I threw this presentation on a 7'6" Heavy Rod with 50 lb braid. 

 

I assume, however, that when you say "shakey head," you are probably talking about the more finesse type of presentation that is most often associated with this technique. If this is the case, you are probably talking about 1/8th oz to 1/4th oz jigs plus 5-8 inch flat sided worms, craws, hula grubs, etc. If this is the case, you will probably be looking at the following set up:

Around a 7ft, Medium powered rod with an extra fast or fast action. You will probably want to pair this up with a 2,000 or 3,000 sized reel. the line can be anywhere from around 6-12lbs.

 

I prefer the medium sized rod because it allows me the most sensitivity and control over this weight range of jig head (around 1/4th oz jighead) and lure. It also gives me enough of a backbone to REALLY set the hook on a fish. This is especially important with many of the shakey head jig heads out there, because the way they are designed often causes them to either get stuck in a fish's mouth, or not go through completely on the hook set. For this reason, I like to have a good enough backbone to drive that jig head through the fish's mouth. Also, I almost always set the hook upwards instead of sideways so that the head of the jig head does not interfere with the actual hook. Don't ask me how I know this, as I cannot tell you the number of fish I have lost on a shakey head setting the hook diagonally rather than straight up.

 

As far as line, I mostly go with 8lb fluorocarbon as it gets the bait down to the bottom, and gives me an incredible feel of the ground composition. I think fluoro is especially important with shakey heads as a finesse presentation because you will often want to work them on kind of a slack line so that your bait creeps and shakes along the bottom. In my opinion, fluorocarbon's sensitivity, ESPECIALLY on a slack line as is the case here, simply cannot be matched. 

 

Now, if you want to go with a super light, finesse type of presentation for your shakey heads, you can go with 1/16th oz-1/8th oz jig heads and really small finesse worms. When the bite gets tough and I need a fish, a 1/8th oz jig head with a zoom finesse worm is a killer combo and it almost never fails to produce for me. If I am throwing this light of a lure, however, I will usually go to my Medium Light powered rod, with an extra fast tip, 2000 size reel and 4-6lb fluorocarbon. This is also a great setup when fishing rivers that have a lot of small fish. 

Anyway, in conclusion, the presentation you are employing should dictate what size rod, reel, and line you are throwing. That could be anything from a 7'6 Heavy rod with 50lb braid, to a Medium Light rod with 4lb fluorocarbon line. 

 

PS. I know you didn't ask about jig heads, but it should be worth mentioning that there are a wide arrange of jig head options. I mostly use the flat, "spot hopper" type of jig head that stands worms perfectly up. Other good options are round ball, or football jig heads. This is another topic for discussion when talking about jig heads. 

Good luck and have fun!

---Carlos

[Christian M]

Shakey head fishing is one of my go to techniques. IMHO, a 7' Medium power fast action rod is the way to go( I use a 6'10" tech spec ), definitely agree w/CP on reel selection, you need a smooth drag as you'll be using light flouro ( I stick with 6-8#) & thin wire hooks.

There was recently a great video posted up specifically on shakeyhead fishing. Do a search & check it out, it covers all the bases.

[200racing]

i use 12lb seagar leader on 30lb powerpro

 

 these heads in 3/16 

http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Round-Head-Pro-Jigheads/product/10204998/

cheapest quality head ive found.

 

i have spent quite some time looking and with setups in the clear creek in my yard. what ive learned is with a sinking worm a standup head doesnt stand for long before it flops over. a ball head never really goes vertical but holds the worm off the bottom. all the time and is much less snag proof.

 

i much prefer a worm with buoyancy as you can pause it and slight water currentd will wiggle that worm more subtle than you can ever do. i shake pause shake back to the boat and have many many fish nail it on the pause. 

 

i fish everywhere ecxept over rip-rap as those hole just eat shaky head and way in thick grass( i work edges and sparse grass with it).

 

 

 

on traditional plastic worms i take a knife and make a cut on each side at about a 45 angle making additional bite to hold the worm.

 

i have been slamming these on this lately but the tear up so easy where the worm slides on the hook im constantly biting 3/8'' off to make it hold again. its 1 or 2 fish and done for the worm its self.http://www.basspro.com/Zoom-Mag-Shakey-Head-Worms/product/10205886/

 

 

 

 

tried these today and really liked them. 

http://www.basspro.com/Strike-King-Super-Finesse-Worms/product/90833/

they just need a little super glue to hold the on the jig head. but i see the potential for 100 fish easily out of a bag.

 

 

the big bites squirrel tail works but is a brim magnet and you lose that tail bulb so fast it maddening

[Revival]

Awesome info!  I am also trying to learn this technique.  I just got some Roboworms to try out.

[floridabassman]

I use a medium action spinning rod with 10 pound flouro. I mainly use trick worms or finnese worms .

When it comes to fishing it i mainly just hop it over rocks or structure.

[Basseditor]

I have done well lately with quarter ounce spot removers and Grandebass Rattlesnake'O. I fish it on 7' MH rod. Bait caster, not spinning, with 15 or 20 lb Invisx.

I don't fish many clear water lakes, as you can tell by my setup. I could use lighter line I know, but I tried 12 lb test the other day and broke off a big one. It seems every time I go light, I break off. I guess if I was in really clear water, I'd use lighter line.

Years ago I fished with mostly light line (6 lb. test), but I find I get as many bites with 15 or 20 lb. test flouro, so why take chances and lose a big one. Those big ones often take the Snake'O really deep, so the line rubs on their teeth.