Here's the Shaky Head Scenario...

[playmaker47]

I really have been dying to fish a shaky head worm. I have all of the jigheads i will need and have tons of finnesse worms to fish them with... Here lies the problem... everythign I have heard about this technique is that it is mostly used on spinning tackle, 6'6" to 7' rod and 6 lb mono line or so... the problem with this is most of the fishing that I do in tournaments is where there is tons of brush and heavy cover and that is what 90% of the fish are caught around. Line down to 6 lb would be almost insane, plus fish in the 6-7 lb range are not uncommon. What should I do here? Should I go with a usual casting setup with heavier line and fish it like i would with jigs or other plastics... or should i go with a spinning setup with say a braided line or so? Answers to this should determine what i go buy setup wise.. so some suggestions in ROD, REEL, and LINE would be very helpful! Thanks  !

[jayhawkfishin]

I fish the spot remover on a loomis mbr783c, chronarch 50mg, and 10 pound mono or floro.  I have no problem casting with this combo, i personally like using a baitcaster for shaky head fishin. However in your situation braid may be a good choice with the thick brush and large fish.  

You can always get a heavier jighead and fish it on one of your normal rods.

[dodgeguy]

i have fished it on 65 lb suffix braid and caught fish on it.

this year i am fishing it on 12 lb cajun red cast on a 6-6 mh bass pro shops extreme spinning rod with a pflueger 6040 spinning reel.i fish in heavy cover and have used cajun red cast in heavy cover fishing worms with no problems.the reason i'm switching back to red cast is last year i used braid and the year before i used red cast.i didn't realize it until i totaled my fish caught (i keep a record of every fish and conditions) and found that i caught twice as many fish on red cast compared to braid.

[Randall]

I use a baitcaster, 7ft medium action rod and 10 to 12 lb fluro line 90% of the time. I catch fish over ten pounds out of grass and brush with no problem by just keeping steady pressure on the fish and not trying to horse it out after it is hooked. If you pull too hard against the fish it will pull back just as hard and break the line but if you just reel slow and steady you don't need a heavy rod or line to get the fish out in most cases. Spinning tackle and braid will work but the braid will not have the sensitivity that fluro does when shaking it on semi slack line so you may feel fewer bites on braid. Braid will also cut more easily on rocks if there are rocks around.

[flyphisher #]

I fish them on both casting and spinning rigs. In heavy cover i like a 6'6 MH spinning rod with 12 lb P-line premium with great success. Other times I use a 6'6 medium action casting rod w/ 10lb test.

[tbird]

The shakey head techniqe was not intended to be used in cover as you describe , I would choose techniques more cover friendly.

[playmaker47]

The shakey head techniqe was not intended to be used in cover as you describe , I would choose techniques more cover friendly.

I thought of this but this particular lake wooden cover and brush is pretty much the only place that you can find enough fish to place in tournys... i know other techniques are much better suited to this type of cover... but that is why i wanted to try the shaky head, because everyone else uses the heavy cover power fishing techniques and the fish are very pressured and maybe seeing something different like a shaky head could hit a home run...

[mike bat]

if i where you ..... i would keep a spinning rod and a shakey worm rigged .... every time i saw a open area where i could pitch that shakey worm i would ....  id stay with the lite flour line and id just toss that bait everywhere i could ..... now anytime you fish a lite line you are running the risk of loosing the bass .... this is true ..... but this shakey worm tatic is made for lite line and a lite spinning rod ..... now could you toss this bait on a caster with 15lb test ,,,,, YES ..... but this shakey worm has a place and time like every other bait in your boxx .....  id look for sandy banks or even more open banks .... man every where i saw an opning id toss that thing ..... now one thing to keep in mind ,,,if your a tourney guy ..... Is the placment of certin baits at certin places /// that in mind i think if you are fishing timber and need a slow stelthy bait ..... i look to a jig,, every time mainly in timber or laydowns ..... reason is i like a jig on a stout line ( 15-20lb flour or co-poly ) ..... just try it out eighter way .... see what works for you .... this shaky head worm thing IMO is for when you want to spoon feed a fish that isnt hungry ..... great bait ,,, but there are tons of great baits and they all have a time and place ...... also i do believe the lite line will get more bites when fish are moody ..... this is just IMO again ,,,try this bait eighter way or bolth .... let us know how you do and how you like this tatic ..... the main thing here is how you fish this bait .... ;D

[dodgeguy]

The shakey head techniqe was not intended to be used in cover as you describe , I would choose techniques more cover friendly.

technically you are correct.but i know plenty of guys who have adapted it to heavier cover fishing.it's great for dropping in holes in weedbeds.this requires heavier line.i also know guys who dropshot in weedbeds with braid with great success.the key is to stay open minded.this could save the day when nothing else works.

[Banor]

The shakey head techniqe was not intended to be used in cover as you describe , I would choose techniques more cover friendly.

technically you are correct.but i know plenty of guys who have adapted it to heavier cover fishing.it's great for dropping in holes in weedbeds.this requires heavier line.i also know guys who dropshot in weedbeds with braid with great success.the key is to stay open minded.this could save the day when nothing else works.

Can I get away with agreeing completely with both views here?  I would say this... if you are doing either DS or Shakey in heavy cover with heavier equipment you are not doing either in the manner that defines them.  Both have been widely considered to be finesse techniques in light to no cover.  On the flip side dodgeguy is right on point with being open minded and adapting techniques to fit situations.  Any successful angler should be adept at this.

To give my opinion on the original question directly....if I personally were going to concentrate on brush and in heavy cover I would not use a shakey head.  I'd probably use a jig and pig or something heavier of that nature and pitch/flip to holes.  That's just one man's opinion.

B

[Brad_Coovert]

While I have not fished shakey rigs in shallow, heavy cover, I have fished them in deeper wood cover using 15 lb. line and baitcasting gear.  I was using the Reaction Innovations heads with ZOOM Trick worms.

Brad

[hi_steel_basser]

I fish shaky heads on two different rods. My first is a BPS Johnny Morris spinning combo, with the 7' c-rig rod, and 10lb p-line flouroclear. My other is a G Loomis IMX rod, 6'6", ML with an Accurist reel and 12lb. Berkley vanish. Anything heavier seems to be too stiff to handle the lightweight jigheads.

The shakey head techniqe was not intended to be used in cover as you describe , I would choose techniques more cover friendly.

Some of my best fish have come while shaking a jighead through the limbs of laydowns.No 6-lbers yet, but lots of 2-3lb fish. As long as you check your line often, and keep the knot in good shape, you will be amazed what 10 and 12 lb. test will hold.