Shaky Head Problem

[5/0]

Would like some help here! Getting ready for a club tourney in a couple weeks and decided to test my shaky in the bath tub. It sank to the bottom and laid flat. If I tried to hop it, it would fall and fall over flat. I was testing a 3/16 Frenzy head with both an Original Trick worm and a Robo Fat Worm. Both were 6” and the result was the same. What am I doing wrong here? Hoping for some ideas!

 

Joe

[Michigander]

What was the bait behavior you expected?

[Russ E]

if you want a shakyhead to stand up when it is sitting still there are 2 options.

use a floating worm or use a standup shakyhead jig  like the megastrike.

the only time I care if the bait stands while sitting still is in cold water.  Then I usually use a floating worm.

the megastrike heads are expensive and tend to snag a lot in rocks.

standard trick worms do not float. 

 

my preferred shakyhead setup is an owner ultrahead jig with a trickworm. 

with this setup the worm sits at about 45 degrees while dragging or shaking it.

 

[5/0]

50 minutes ago, Michigander said:

What was the bait behavior you expected?

To have them stand up when hitting bottom and stand up after hopping, at least for a bit. I thought this was the standard way they are fished. Am I wrong here?

 

35 minutes ago, Russ E said:

my preferred shakyhead setup is an owner ultrahead jig with a trickworm. 

with this setup the worm sits at about 45 degrees while dragging or shaking it.

The megastrikes are pricy, wanted to use what I’ve got. I do have a few of the owners, but the are ball heads and not the shaky or stand up heads. We’re you referring to these?

What are other options in floating worms?

Thanks to you both!

[Russ E]

1 minute ago, 5/0 said:

To have them stand up when hitting bottom and stand up after hopping, at least for a bit. I thought this was the standard way they are fished. Am I wrong here?

 

The megastrikes are pricy, wanted to use what I’ve got. I do have a few of the owners, but the are ball heads and not the shaky or stand up heads. We’re you referring to these?

What are other options in floating worms?

Thanks to you both!

The owner utrahead is a ballhead with an offset eyelet. It also have a flat spot on the head to aid in standing up.

Z man makes a floating worm, I beleive it is made of elaztech. Bass pro and zoom both make flaoting worms that look about the same as a trick worm. if a worm has salt it usually sinks.

 

I am usually not all that concerned about a worm standing up when it is sitting still. I am usually slowly dragging, hoppig or shaking the shakyhead. That keeps it standing.

[MIbassyaker]

21 minutes ago, 5/0 said:

To have them stand up when hitting bottom and stand up after hopping, at least for a bit. I thought this was the standard way they are fished. Am I wrong here?

 

The megastrikes are pricy, wanted to use what I’ve got. I do have a few of the owners, but the are ball heads and not the shaky or stand up heads. We’re you referring to these?

What are other options in floating worms?

Thanks to you both!

2 minutes ago, Russ E said:

The owner utrahead is a ballhead with an offset eyelet. It also have a flat spot on the head to aid in standing up.

Z man makes a floating worm, I beleive it is made of elaztech. Bass pro and zoom both make flaoting worms that look about the same as a trick worm. if a worm has salt it usually sinks.

 

I am usually not all that concerned about a worm standing up when it is sitting still. I am usually slowly dragging, hoppig or shaking the shakyhead. That keeps it standing.

 

Yes, that's my solution:  Owner finesse ball ultra head + elaztech worm.  Z-man has the Finesse wormZ.  There is also the Strike King 3x finesse worm which is virtually the same, but are getting hard to find. 

 

These worms will stand up regardless of the head, but acutally work best on something like the owner ball head, which doesn't have a screwlock.  They can be pulled off the hook more easily than regular plastic though, so sometimes a little superglue is in order.

[Michigander]

3 hours ago, 5/0 said:

To have them stand up when hitting bottom and stand up after hopping, at least for a bit. I thought this was the standard way they are fished. Am I wrong here?

The bait's behavior is a mixture between the head and the bait. Your bathtub test might have given you a false impression because there's no traction for the head to grip onto. This is compounded if the head you are testing with is less stable (ball head) compared to what that Megastrike has going on.

[Bluebasser86]

The odds of your bait falling and landing perfectly to sit with the bait presented up, even with a "standup" style head, is so small it isn't worth it imo. If you want the bait to stand up, you have to go with a floating worm. I don't worry about it personally and catch a lot of fish on a shakyhead. Not many prey animals stand up from the bottom and try to make themselves seen, but bass still have no problem finding them.

[mc6524]

Randy Howell finesse jig works great.  I’ve also used a football finesse jig which I like because you can get some side to side movement of your bait as well

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Every body of water will have some bit a current which will make you bait stand up and move more than you witnessed in your bathtub. 

 

Also lake bottoms are uneven which will result in baits standing a bit more than your flat bottom tub. Even a pool has water circulating if you move your tests to there.

[plawren53202]

I was just yesterday throwing a standard Zoom trick worm on some nondescript shaky head yesterday in my local pond, and it was having no trouble standing up enough to stay up off the bottom.

[ChrisD46]

A 3/16th oz. Buckeye Lures Spot Remover in Black or Green Pumpkin is what you want as a good starting point for Trick Worms / Finesse Worms of your choice ... I like a Z-Man Elaztech  7" Finesse Green Pumpkin and a 7" Finesse Junebug worm currently - the combination of the Spot Remover shaky head jig along with the Z-Man 7" Finesse worm will stand up effortlessly !

[WRB]

On February 2, 2020 at 9:50 AM, 5/0 said:

Would like some help here! Getting ready for a club tourney in a couple weeks and decided to test my shaky in the bath tub. It sank to the bottom and laid flat. If I tried to hop it, it would fall and fall over flat. I was testing a 3/16 Frenzy head with both an Original Trick worm and a Robo Fat Worm. Both were 6” and the result was the same. What am I doing wrong here? Hoping for some ideas!

 

Joe

Did you have the shaky jig tied onto your line? Line tends to act like a rudder keeping the jig hook upright with slight tension as the jig sinks. If you dead stick the jig with slack FC line the jig may roll over and lay flat on the bottom. As long as you keep controlled slack and shaking the line imparting action to the jig the worm should stay off the bottom.

Roboworms are nuetral bouyancy as most hand poured worms are.

Tom

[CountryboyinDC]

I agree with the many comments that say what you're seeing in the bathtub may not translate into what the bass see on the bottom of the lake or river.  If you do want the stand up presentation, the Buckeye shaky head is the ticket.  To my mind, it's more like a Neko presentation.  The Megastrike is another of my favorites, but that's more because it doesn't fall on its side like some of the others (Owner shaky head included) are wont to do.  I still like the Owners, mainly because they don't get hung up so much and have a screwlock I like.

[5/0]

7 hours ago, ChrisD46 said:

A 3/16th oz. Buckeye Lures Spot Remover i

I do have some of these also. Will try them and see what happens.

From the comments it looks like I’ve just got to experiment and see what works for me. I have caught fish on the Frenzy, so the bathtub experience may be just messing with my mind.

 

Joe

[ryanerb]

On 2/3/2020 at 5:49 PM, 5/0 said:

I do have some of these also. Will try them and see what happens.

From the comments it looks like I’ve just got to experiment and see what works for me. I have caught fish on the Frenzy, so the bathtub experience may be just messing with my mind.

 

Joe

Yeah, you can try at the lake in 6 inches of water if your clarity is good enough.... 

Or get a clear plastic storage tub, poor some dirt and rocks at the bottom, and re-test...

 

Worth doing some more 'experimenting' than just the bath to be confident of your 'results'...

 

But I love your thinking and love this thread!

 

Let us know what you find out!

 

[deadadrift89]

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Megastrike_Shake2_Pro_Model_Shakey_Head/descpage-MSPROMD.html

These have great standup like @Russ E said. I prefer the screw lock type keeper on mine.

[Chance_Taker4]

My favorite shakey head setup is as follow: The Woo Tungsten shakey head jig with a Grande Bass Air Tail rattler or Zoom Trick Worm. With the Woo jig head it will fall more vertical and stand on its head for a few seconds before falling flat. If you use the Air Tail worm though even when the rig is laying flat the tip of the tail will float slightly. Plus when you hop it with either worm it will settle head first again before slowly falling flat.