Shaky Head

[dr.crow]

Does the tail of a shaky head worm need to stand upright?  I have a bunch of different finesse worms and don't really know if they will or not.  How important is this aspect?  Can I use any finesse worm on a shaky head or does it need to be specific for this purpose?  Any thoughts on what the best worm for shaky head fishing is?  What about the squirrel tail that Kriet uses?  I'm thinking I might want to get some of those!

[aarogb]

    I don't think it "needs to" but it certainly helps with the action and look of the bait if it stands upright.  You can use any worm you want to on a shakey head you might get lucky and find something the bass haven't seen before and you can absoulutly kill the bass because they haven't seen it before.  IMO the best worm for the shakey head is the Roboworm Zipper Shakin worm in the Aaron's Magic color.  BTW haven't used the Squirrel tail yet so I can't help you there.  

    I hope this helps some!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

   

[Crestliner2008]

Caught my very first shakey head bass yesterday, as a matter of fact. Fishing from shore. Used a 1/8 oz. shakey head jig and an old Mann's Jelly Worm (7"). Water wasn't deep either - only about 6' - 8'. The bass was only about 2 1/2 lbs., but it gave me a world of confidence in this bait. The Jelly worm did sink and become a rather straight twitching object on the bottom.

I do think the raised tail would have been a benefit. Going to try that today with a different worm. The water clarity is very cloudy to murky with vis only about 2'. So this presentation should work well with the cold air & water temps we've been experiencing here in the northeast. Going to try a brighter color (methiolate) worm today as well.  

[Crappiebasser]

I have been using the Zoom 7" shaky head worms in watermelon seed. In cold water I down size to a 4" dead ringer on roboworm.

[Redhed]

what size line do you guys use for shakey head? and what length rod in MH?

[Tanker4lyfe]

my favorite shakey setup is a 7' med action W/ 8lb flouro. picasso shakey head and a zoom trick worm dipped in JJ's Magic.

and heres what i caught last month on it: she weighed in at 10.22

[Redhed]

d**n nice hog bubba.. why a medium and not a MH? also what colors of tricks do you guys like?

[6pointbuck2003]

I have always used the trick worms. they work. they will lay down but it seems to take a wile.

[Jake.]

d**n nice hog bubba.. why a medium and not a MH? also what colors of tricks do you guys like?

Shakey head jig heads are usually lightweight so a MH is a little bit of an over kill for them. You could get away with it, but a M/F or M/XF would be better for most situations. I will fish them on a MH in thick weeds or brush though.

[Tanker4lyfe]

JAKE: I will fish them on a MH in thick weeds or brush though

Even in the thick stuff i still stick with the med action and instead i go in and get them out. i seem to land more rather than horsing them out and either they break off or get off. as far as colors you only need 3 black/blue saphire, white, watermelon/red flake. also they trick is good because its natural bouancy it does stay up right but not forever it takes a few for it to begin to fall and i feel thats when it looks the most natural and when i seem to get the most hits. just my .02

[Btech]

I have used a 7in Trick Worm on one and caught a few dinks - So i think it really comes down to your Confidence and what you think will work.

Mine fall over every now and than and it still caught bass.

[Eddie Munster]

What's the best shakey head jig to get? Was thinking about the Picasso one from *** so I could rig it weedless.

http://www.***.com/descpageTERMPICASS-PSF.html

[5bass]

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] five.bass.limit.

[Sam]

To see if your plastics stand up on your shaky head rig, fill up the sink and put them, one by one, into the sink full of water.

You can easily tell if the plastics will stand up or not.  

[Bishop]

Personally I like to use a 4 inch Yum Forked Dinger on a spot remover most of the time. It seems that in my area most of the strikes come on the bottom instead of the fall quite often, when this is the case I prefer the forked dinger.  

It is short enough that as long as you dont "crawl" it over the bottom, instead making semi sharp "popping" motions it will stand veritcal on the bottom if you land on a semi-level spot when it falls. I feel like one of the plus's to this bait is that when you hit bottom on that first drop you can take your slack up with your rod tip just untill you actually feel the bait and then immediately slacklining it. This creates a very subtle flick of the tail without actually moving the bait on the bottom any meaningfull distance. This approach usually works the best for me. I find myself very often getting bit on the first wiggle or hop after hitting bottom. This could indicate that if I changed my bait style or weight up a bit I might get bit much sooner on the fall instead but it probably just seems more effective to me because I like fishing like this.

I may be missing strikes on the fall with this setup for one reason or the other. Either the yum bait falling too fast or too slow. I have not actually sat down and tested between Dinger and a Zoom finesse worm the actual fall rate.

However, if my partner or other fishermen have reported that they have been getting bit on the fall around docks and pole timber over anything other than shallow water, my go to shakey head bait is something smaller than the Yum dinger/senko type baits such as a zoom finesse worm or anything comparable. For some reason I just seem to do better with this bait when everyone else is catching fish on the fall.

A little info on the type of waters I normally fish this way.

Greer's Ferry & Norfork lakes

1. Alot of the standing timber we fish with this is setting in between 20 and 40 feet of water.

2. Most of the Dock's are in the 10/12 foot range all the way up to 50 or 60 feet deep on bluff walls.

3. Most often the water is EXTREMELY clear.

4. I believe the maximum depth of these lakes is between 250 and 300 feet.

5. No vegetation to speak of in the above. Mostly boulder,pea gravel, clay, chunk rock bottoms.

P.S. I tried to keep my post coherent but I'm dealing with 2 hungry kids and trying to fry some sausage for them at the moment so I might have failed miserably. Hope this helps some.

[Blues19]

I have used the zoom finesse worms and they work, but I have caught a lot more fish in less time on the shaky head worm by zoom.  I like the watermelon red color.  Recently bought the mag shaky head worm by zoom, and net baits T Mac and Super T mac, hoping for bigger bites.  Hoping the smaller fish will leave the super t mac alone, since its 9" long.  I would for sure use your finesse worms thought.  In the new Bass master they talk about using baby brush hogs on the shaky head.  Try everything!

[Micro]

my favorite shakey setup is a 7' med action W/ 8lb flouro. picasso shakey head and a zoom trick worm dipped in JJ's Magic.

and heres what i caught last month on it: she weighed in at 10.22

Man, in that milk you must have hit her on the head with the lure. You can't even see the bottom of your tube.

[CWB]

What's the best shakey head jig to get? Was thinking about the Picasso one from *** so I could rig it weedless.

http://www.***.com/descpageTERMPICASS-PSF.html

Give the evolution shake2 head a try. I think you'll be pleased.

[bmadd]

6'6 and 7' ML Fast action spinning rod 1500 sized spinning reel and 10 lb braid or 8 lb fluoro. 3/32 and 1/8 oz Picasso Shakedown jig heads. Roboworms or Zoom finesse/ trick worms.