Shakey head or drop shot

[DumBassFishin]

Ive been wanting to learn how to do these for awhile but i gotta start with one. Which one should i learn first? (i prefer numbers over size and i do most of my fishing may-august) thanks

[sprint61]

Why not both? Both can be fished on the same setup and you can use the same finesse worms for both.

[papajoe222]

If I might inquire; How proficient are you at fishing jigs and T-rigs?  A shakey head is, after all, a jig and a great way to learn and gain confidence in fishing jigs. If jigs are one of your strengths, learning to drop shot will add another type of presentation to your bag of tricks.  For a beginner that really wants to learn, I'd suggest the jig. For someone that is more interested in just catching, I'd say drop shot.

[Puggz]

Shakey head is a bit tough to fish in deep water, drop shot doesn't work so well in shallow water...

VMC make nice shakey head jigs and I've gotten best results with a plastic that floats (IE Havoc).

As said before, they are quite different, therefor you need to learn both.  Good news is that you can do both with the same rod/reel setup.. at least to start.

 

[DumBassFishin]

Well I always fish from the bank. So usually shallow water. 

Ive never used a jig but I've caught most of my bass on a t-rig

If that changes anything

Im thinking shakey head just because dropshot doesn't seem like a bank fishing rig, unless I am wrong. 

[blckshirt98]

1 hour ago, DumBassFishin said:

Well I always fish from the bank. So usually shallow water. 

Ive never used a jig but I've caught most of my bass on a t-rig

If that changes anything

Im thinking shakey head just because dropshot doesn't seem like a bank fishing rig, unless I am wrong. 

 

1 hour ago, papajoe222 said:

If I might inquire; How proficient are you at fishing jigs and T-rigs?  A shakey head is, after all, a jig and a great way to learn and gain confidence in fishing jigs. If jigs are one of your strengths, learning to drop shot will add another type of presentation to your bag of tricks.  For a beginner that really wants to learn, I'd suggest the jig. For someone that is more interested in just catching, I'd say drop shot.

I couldn't disagree more about drop shot not being a shallow water technique.  I fish 100% from the bank, and since I started bass fishing about 3 years ago I've fished a drop shot probably 90% of the time, and have caught 95% of my fish that way.  I've only tried to force myself to fish other techniques this past year.  Drop shotting is my #1 shallow water and "go-to" fallback technique when I'm not getting bit on anything else.  It works best for me when I'm casting across to the far side of a narrow cove or standing on a point and casting shallow to the sides, but generally I'll make 30-45 degree casts to each side then move and repeat.  The trick is to almost treat it like bait fishing where you want to cast your bait out, and barely tap the rod/twitch the tip, I'll usually go 5-6 minutes between casts as I slowly tick the rod, pause, tick, tick, reel in a bit, tick the rod, pause, pause, tick, pause, reel in a bit, tick, tick, pause, tick, pause, etc.

[WI_Angler1989]

I agree with the previous post, why not both? The only thing that's specific to either one is the shakey head's jig, dropshot hooks and the dropshot weight. You can use the same baits, fish in the same places and they both are subtle finesse style presentations. 

If it's time this the issue, then pick one to try (or both) and run with the one you prefer. In the end though, every technique has a time and place in fishing so it's never a bad thing to learn everything you can. 

[smalljaw67]

If you are a casual angler fishing from the bank I would recommend the shaky head first and I'll tell you why I believe that. The first thing is that it is easier to set up the shaky head, just tie on the head and attach the worm and you're ready to go. The second thing is equipment, any medium power rod will work well with a shaky head, you can use it for a drop shot but having a rod that is too stiff makes the drop shot less effective because you end up moving the weight too and the fish will often feel weight and spit the worm, so a drop shot specific rod makes it easier to do. The third thing is water itself, fishing from the bank means you will be searching for fish more than fishing fish you spot on a depth finder, and the shaky head is a much better search option than the drop shot, and yes, you can also drag a drop shot but it isn't as effective fishing it like that as the shaky head is. So there is my take, the shaky head you learn first and then go for learning the drop shot.

[buzzed bait]

agree with smalljaw on why to start with the shakyhead from the bank.  and they're pretty dang productive on my local ponds too.

[DumBassFishin]

ok thanks what size(s) jig head and what worm should i start out with?

will just a regular zoom finesse worm do the trick?

[Worm Man 2020]

Dumbassfishin,

You caught a BASS over 15 pound!!!!! Wow, don't try anything new. Keep doing, what your doing, most Pro anglers, not to mention regular weekend fisherman in the world, have never caught anything near that size....

Here is what you are looking for:

Drop shot: When weeds and plant life, cover the bottom. That is the step-up, that will hold your bait up above weeds. Use plastics that float.

Shakey Head: when the bottom is not, so full of weeds/plant life. Jigs, T-rig, and finesse rigs same type. (NOW, Not saying, fish will not see bottom rig in grass)

Tight lines

[ww2farmer]

Between the two, I drop shot WAY more than I shaky head, but I do use both. 

[Airman4754]

A Shakey Head works very well in deep water. 

[THE_Vue's]

Drop shot with a off set wide gape hook and a tear drop sinker.  That is a blast to fish from the bank.  You can cast that a mile depending on what weight you want and what length you want.  I wish I learned this way sooner but if you want easy can't go wrong with a senko. LOL

[Puggz]

On 2016-02-17 at 1:15 AM, blckshirt98 said:

 

I couldn't disagree more about drop shot not being a shallow water technique.  I fish 100% from the bank, and since I started bass fishing about 3 years ago I've fished a drop shot probably 90% of the time, and have caught 95% of my fish that way.  I've only tried to force myself to fish other techniques this past year.  Drop shotting is my #1 shallow water and "go-to" fallback technique when I'm not getting bit on anything else.  It works best for me when I'm casting across to the far side of a narrow cove or standing on a point and casting shallow to the sides, but generally I'll make 30-45 degree casts to each side then move and repeat.  The trick is to almost treat it like bait fishing where you want to cast your bait out, and barely tap the rod/twitch the tip, I'll usually go 5-6 minutes between casts as I slowly tick the rod, pause, tick, tick, reel in a bit, tick the rod, pause, pause, tick, pause, reel in a bit, tick, tick, pause, tick, pause, etc.

Fair enough but I fish from a boat and in shallow water as soon as a bass spots the boat, its gone!

[THE_Vue's]

On 2/17/2016 at 5:08 PM, DumBassFishin said:

ok thanks what size(s) jig head and what worm should i start out with?

will just a regular zoom finesse worm do the trick?

The zoom will do the trick, as for weight I personally would throw it with 1/4 ounce to 1/2 depending how far you want to throw.  Just make sure you find a jig head that is plenty weedless.  BTW are you using baitcaster or spinning reel?  `

[corn-on-the-rob]

I understand that most of fishing is preference/opinion but, man, there are a lot of absolutes being tossed around in this thread...

[Airman4754]

The Zoom worms need to be in current or moved to really keep that solid standup appearance that works best. 

The best standup jig head out there are the Megastrike's. As for worms you can go the Z-man route, but Elaztech is a real pain to screw into the head. The Kicker Fish Hightails are a normal plastic that will float completely while you dead stick it.

[Worm Man 2020]

On ‎2‎/‎17‎/‎2016 at 5:08 PM, DumBassFishin said:

ok thanks what size(s) jig head and what worm should i start out with?

will just a regular zoom finesse worm do the trick?

Just a thought, since your comfortable with Texas rigging, maybe try Carolina rig (1/4 oz. bullet weight, before swivel about 9-12 inches up the line) with floating worm, t-rigged/weightless on the hook end. and drag along bottom, makes worm do cool things, above grass/junk like a drop shot.

Good Luck, remember just try to have fun.....