Need help with shakey head

[braden]

I have recently started fishing a shakey head. I am using a medium spinning rod with 15lb braid and 8lb fluoro leader.  I lost a few fish at the boat, didn’t seem like I got good hook penetration, so I started setting the hook harder.  This morning I had 4 break off when I set the hook, very frustrating.  I was breaking right at the knot.  I am tieing an improved clinch knot and setting it with saliva.  Also the leader line is from a spool that is a couple of years old. 
 

Am I just setting the hook to hard?

Am I asking too much out of 8# fluoro, and do I need to go up in poundage?

Or is the leader line, just too old?

[BayouSlide]

Shaky head was my biggest producer yesterday, as it often is.

 

Medium spinning rod, 20# braid to a 10# leader now, though I used to use straight 10# flouro (Sunline Sniper is the only flouro I use).

 

I would suggest going to a 10# leader (I just use remainder of my filling spools) and switching to a Palomar knot. I reduced my knot problems to almost zero when I finally gave up on the improved cinch for flouro.

 

Also on spinning gear use jigs with thinner hooks (I use Owner shaky heads IIRC) so you don't need to jack 'em hard.

 

Tight lines and good luck ?

[FishTax]

Sounds like a line or knot issue. I use mono or copolymer on mine. I always hear that floro can have knot issues, but someone more experienced then me would have to explain that. 

Shaky head will catch them, stick with it and keep trying things, I'm sure you'll figure it out. Good luck!

[Jig Man]

I don’t use anything but 12# fluorocarbon on shaky.

[PaulVE64]

A light wire hook will pin a bass without even a hookset, it allows you to use that lighter line.

Im wondering what happened at the boat.

[padon]

go to 10 pound. use either a palomar or sandiego jam . ive had lots of problems with a clinch knot and fluoro.also youd be surprised with a light wire hook if you get the line tight and sweep and reel youll hook and land a very high percentage of fish.

[braden]

2 hours ago, PaulVE64 said:

A light wire hook will pin a bass without even a hookset, it allows you to use that lighter line.

Im wondering what happened at the boat.

2 possible things here.  I may not be rigging it correctly, maybe I should be skin hooking it?  Also, on some of these bites, they weren’t really bites, the line just got heavy. I didn’t even know I had a fish, so there was no hookset.

1 hour ago, padon said:

go to 10 pound. use either a palomar or sandiego jam . ive had lots of problems with a clinch knot and fluoro.also youd be surprised with a light wire hook if you get the line tight and sweep and reel youll hook and land a very high percentage of fish.

I may have been overcompensating with the hookset, since I lost a few at the boat. I was pulling hard, straight up to the 12 o’clock position. Sounds like I should try more of a sweeping hookset to the side?

[GetFishorDieTryin]

SHs are so fun and really get good numbers.  The drawback with a SH is that the knot is the first thing to contact cover, which means it takes a real beating when fishing rocks or even shellfish.  You can substitute the SH with a neko and get a similar look without damaging the line.

You need to be really OCD about checking the integrity of the line and knot, especially when fishing lighter leader around rocks. 

Ive got #50 Blue Label thats over 10yrs old, it turned cloudy but is still strong.  I think as long the line hasnt been exposed to sun or extreme heat it should be ok, but I cant say for sure.

There is excellent FC leader material out there, but its expensive.  Blue Label, P line Shinsei and Yo Zuri HD Carbon are all abrasion resistant and very strong.

A good abrasion resistant mono will fare much better then a FC main line and even some FC leader materials.  Mono has a higher knot strength and generally a higher breaking strength when compared to FC of a similar breaking strength.  

You could also try to find a SH that has line tie that will protect the knot and line a little better.  

[Bird]

I just spent a week at a lake that 1/8 Shakyhead/ Zoom speed craw was a big producer.

It certainly sounds like a leader knot issue.

Only leader knot I've ever used is the Alberto, it's never failed at the knot.

On spinning I throw 15# braid with 8lb sunline snyper flouro as the leader.

[GreenPig]

On standard SHs I run a Med rod with 10 lb braid to 10 lb FC and tie a SDJ knot. I also T - Pose it.

[fishingotaku]

Your gear sound about right. On my setup, I usually run 10lb braid to an 8lb fluoro leader. Though I've noticed it's really hard for me to catch using a shaky head, it might be because the local pond is really pressured.

[Deephaven]

If you break off at your knot....your knot is the reason you broke off.  It may not be the sole reason, but considering it was multiple I'd revisit what you use and how you tie it.

[fantasy19]

Your drag is too tight. 

[Cbump]

My guess is old line and too hard of a hook set on 8lb fc. 
Fyi I’ve used improved clinch for 30+ years on every line type and size from bluegill to 100+ pound sharks and never had problem. Tie a proper knot with quality line and there’s no way a little bass is breaking your knot. 
 

btw, make sure you aren’t seeing the hooking on slack line and popping It. 

[braden]

9 hours ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

SHs are so fun and really get good numbers.  The drawback with a SH is that the knot is the first thing to contact cover, which means it takes a real beating when fishing rocks or even shellfish.  You can substitute the SH with a neko and get a similar look without damaging the line.

You need to be really OCD about checking the integrity of the line and knot, especially when fishing lighter leader around rocks. 

Ive got #50 Blue Label thats over 10yrs old, it turned cloudy but is still strong.  I think as long the line hasnt been exposed to sun or extreme heat it should be ok, but I cant say for sure.

There is excellent FC leader material out there, but its expensive.  Blue Label, P line Shinsei and Yo Zuri HD Carbon are all abrasion resistant and very strong.

A good abrasion resistant mono will fare much better then a FC main line and even some FC leader materials.  Mono has a higher knot strength and generally a higher breaking strength when compared to FC of a similar breaking strength.  

You could also try to find a SH that has line tie that will protect the knot and line a little better.  

After the 4th break off, I switched to fishing a neko (for the first time ever). Glad to know I was thinking correctly on that one.

 

I may just try some mono, until I get my confidence up. The water is not very clear here. 

9 hours ago, Deephaven said:

If you break off at your knot....your knot is the reason you broke off.  It may not be the sole reason, but considering it was multiple I'd revisit what you use and how you tie it.

I was tieing the improved cinch and lubricating with saliva.  I have actually gotten a lot better at tieing it, and interestingly enough was really cinching it down REALLY hard, which may have been the cause of my problem.

6 hours ago, fantasy19 said:

Your drag is too tight. 

Interesting that you said that, 2 days ago, I  had a fish cruise by and I just dropped a lure on top of him. He took it, I set the hook, and I could hear the drag slip a little.  That was one of the ones I lost at the boat.  After that, I tightened my drag some, maybe too much.

[braden]

1 hour ago, Cbump said:

My guess is old line and too hard of a hook set on 8lb fc. 
Fyi I’ve used improved clinch for 30+ years on every line type and size from bluegill to 100+ pound sharks and never had problem. Tie a proper knot with quality line and there’s no way a little bass is breaking your knot. 
 

btw, make sure you aren’t seeing the hooking on slack line and popping It. 

You had mentioned old line. How often do you keep a spool of fluoro before you throw it out? I bought this particular spool of seagar red label over 3 years ago on closeout at Walmart.

[Cbump]

5 minutes ago, braden said:

You had mentioned old line. How often do you keep a spool of fluoro before you throw it out? I bought this particular spool of seagar red label over 3 years ago on closeout at Walmart.

I use line so much and have so many reels that I rarely have a spool more than a year or so. Almost all my reels are about halfway spooled with big game mono, then the fc. So I get about 4 reels out of a spool of 300yd sniper. If I don’t go through the 75 yards, I’ll leave It on the reel about a year. 
On my spinning rods I use 20lb braid to 10-15lb fc leader. About 6’ tied on with Alberto knot. 
 

8 is way too tiny for my liking. 

[paulmandude]

No mention of what shakey head. They’re not all created equal

And worm?

I’ve also heard reports of Walmart Seaguar line being terrible, doing the same thing you have issues with. To be clear: it was the cheap Seaguar line

[PaulVE64]

Big hook set, cranked down drag, 8# fluoro

 

Perfect storm

[padon]

you could certainly try some mono the stretch may help with breakoffs. but i still believe that a tightline sweeping hook set will help with not getting the fish hooked well. i like to push the hook through the plastic then pull it back into the worm. that creates a little channel for the hook.

[braden]

I would like to say thank you to everyone who responded, I found all of them to be very helpful. Thanks!

 

Just wanted to give y’all an update. Here is what I ended up doing:

 

1. Picked up some 10lb fluoro and some 10lb mono.  My plan is to try the fluoro first, but have the mono with me, if I start having break offs again.

 

2. Tried the San Diego Jam knot.

 

3. Got some new shaky heads (needed some more anyway, since I had lost so many). Went with owner ultraheads, they seem a little sharper than what I previously had.

 

4. I chilled out on my hookset.

 

I went out yesterday afternoon, but unfortunately I the fishing was real slow. I only caught 2, but at least I didn’t have any break offs.

 

Thanks again for all of the responses, I really appreciate it!

 

[braden]

I forgot to mention that I also loosened my drag some. I tried to go back and edit the post above to add that, but either I dont have enough posts to have that option, or I just don’t know how to do it.

[ChrisD46]

On 5/27/2023 at 11:22 PM, fishingotaku said:

Your gear sound about right. On my setup, I usually run 10lb braid to an 8lb fluoro leader. Though I've noticed it's really hard for me to catch using a shaky head, it might be because the local pond is really pressured.

*Go to the Ned rig !

[braden]

39 minutes ago, ChrisD46 said:

*Go to the Ned rig !

That is my number one rig.  It was getting hung up along the rip rap, so I was trying something new.  I do have some Z man ewg mushroom heads that I could have rigged up a weedless Ned, but I was trying to try something else, just to have another tool that I felt comfortable with.

[fishingotaku]

1 hour ago, ChrisD46 said:

*Go to the Ned rig !

I love the Ned rig, though my go to are weightless worms and drop shot!