Shakey head fishing ?

O.K. I fancy myself as a pretty good finesse fisherman. I have caught a few fish on the shakey head but never get bit on it like I hear others just wacking'em with this lure. I've used the football heads, spot remover heads, round heads and all weight sizes also. Plastics of all kinds and colors, depths from shallow to 30 feet. Light line and flouro or low-viz mono's. What am I doing wrong and how can I gain confidence in this bait because I have none right now. I know guys that fish the big C that tell me if they could only take one bait with them on their fishing trips it would be the shakey head. I fish other finesse baits with good success at times. Alright, nough said, School me.

I don't use it much either. I've found that I tend to use a 3/16 to 5/16 oz. weight. After you feel the bottom, I just use my index finger under the line, in front of the line guide on a baitcaster and just twitch the line lightly to give it the minimum action. I don't care for spot removers. I think that the hook turns sideways in their mouth when you set the hook. In turn missing a hook up. I forget which ones I use when I use that technique. Good luck, keep using it. I'm sure you'll find you're nitch with it.

Hey Buddy its all about staying with the bait and learning how it acts an feels,that goes with all baits-Ill never forget the year i stuck with the sliders all year long did not fish anything else an it was a good year--when i did get back to a jig it felt like bitching out an anchor lol--RangrMac can tell you he fish with me alot throwing that slider--I always wonder if i need to give it some time again hagd man :)

[QUOTE=mhall;310290]O.K. I fancy myself as a pretty good finesse fisherman. I have caught a few fish on the shakey head but never get bit on it like I hear others just wacking'em with this lure. I've used the football heads, spot remover heads, round heads and all weight sizes also. Plastics of all kinds and colors, depths from shallow to 30 feet. Light line and flouro or low-viz mono's. What am I doing wrong and how can I gain confidence in this bait because I have none right now. I know guys that fish the big C that tell me if they could only take one bait with them on their fishing trips it would be the shakey head. I fish other finesse baits with good success at times. Alright, nough said, School me.[/QUOTE]


First, I am a power fisherman who picked up on the shakey head a few years ago just to get bites when nothing else was working. I don't use it all day, but when I get in an area where I think I should be catching fish and I am not, I will use it just to see if any fish are there. I normally fish it in 10-15 feet of water, and that's deep compared to what I normally fish. I keep it simple and use an 1/8oz ball head with a green pumpkin Zoom finesse worm. No other sizes of heads and no other worms. I use it on spinning tackle with 8 lb original Stren. When I fish it, I just constantly shake the rod tip lightly, reeling in the slack line as the bait moves. Most of the time, there is no hard thump, the fish just starts swimming with the bait. Spotted bass seem to play with the bait a lot before they inhale it, so you have to give them a little more time before you set the hook. Like a lot of things, I think people have made the shakey head more complicated than it needs to be. There may be days when the fancy jigheads and hand poured worms out produce my setup, but most of the time I think simple is better.

[QUOTE=biggw;310299]Hey Buddy its all about staying with the bait and learning how it acts an feels,that goes with all baits-Ill never forget the year i stuck with the sliders all year long did not fish anything else an it was a good year--when i did get back to a jig it felt like bitching out an anchor lol--RangrMac can tell you he fish with me alot throwing that slider--I always wonder if i need to give it some time again hagd man :)[/QUOTE]

Hey George,
I remember one month when we wacked em good on that little ole lake in Richmond. It was a fun time for sure.

Oh by the way I have never been mad enough at an anchor to bitch it out.

Rngermac

Sounds like you ARE doing everything "right" which means you just need to stick to it. I use a spring type round head 3/16 to 1/4 oz with either a sprayed grass flirt or junebug roboworm. this technique is all about fishing patiently. works best with bright sun and low wind (fish are tight to structure then) and is even better if fishing around submerged wood. i would tell you that frequently "less is better" - get it on the bottom and drag or "shake" it SLOWLY. it is my confidence bait - mainly because it can find and boat just about any size of bass. i prefer flourocarbon but would say it is not mandatory (it sinks faster, is less visible but more importantly in deep water, it is MUCH more sensitive). a very sensitive rod does help esp when you get to >20ft depth. BTW i notice you posting a lot about cedar creek. i have NOT done well with the usual finesse worms noted above at cedar creek while using shakey rig. i have found the gambler 5in paddle tail to be better - displaces more water and appeals to largemouth better i believe. at cedar creek i favor staying with a traditional 7-10in ribbon tail worm on a texas rig. i think the largemouths there respond better to something that displaces more water than the finesse shakey. just my 2 cents -> good luck! let me know if i can help any other way.

[QUOTE=UYKY;310303]Sounds like you ARE doing everything "right" which means you just need to stick to it. I use a spring type round head 3/16 to 1/4 oz with either a sprayed grass flirt or junebug roboworm. this technique is all about fishing patiently. works best with bright sun and low wind (fish are tight to structure then) and is even better if fishing around submerged wood. i would tell you that frequently "less is better" - get it on the bottom and drag or "shake" it SLOWLY. it is my confidence bait - mainly because it can find and boat just about any size of bass. i prefer flourocarbon but would say it is not mandatory (it sinks faster, is less visible but more importantly in deep water, it is MUCH more sensitive). a very sensitive rod does help esp when you get to >20ft depth. BTW i notice you posting a lot about cedar creek. i have NOT done well with the usual finesse worms noted above at cedar creek while using shakey rig. i have found the gambler 5in paddle tail to be better - displaces more water and appeals to largemouth better i believe. at cedar creek i favor staying with a traditional 7-10in ribbon tail worm on a texas rig. i think the largemouths there respond better to something that displaces more water than the finesse shakey. just my 2 cents -> good luck! let me know if i can help any other way.[/QUOTE]

You've got me confused with somebody else, maybe BIGGW he fishes Cedar all the time. I've only fished Cedar one time and that was with BIGGW, and we had a nice day. Thanks anyway for all the tips though and thanks to everybody else that chimed in I appreciate it, and I'll keep trying.

I also just started using the shakey head this year. I used the 1/8 oz ikey head type heads, and 8lb fluoro, i fished it anywhere i would normally throw a worm, i caught the my two biggest bass this year using the shakey head. I would just throw it out, and shake the rod tip for awhile, pick it up, and move it, and shake it again. Did this till i felt i wasnt in the strike zone any longer, recast to another spot, and do it again. Sometime's i caught good number of fish, and other times couldnt buy a bite.

[quote=RngerMac;310302]Hey George,
I remember one month when we wacked em good on that little ole lake in Richmond. It was a fun time for sure.

Oh by the way I have never been mad enough at an anchor to bitch it out.

Rngermac[/quote]

Oh by the way I have never been mad enough at an anchor to bitch it out.
lol Charlie ummmm that reminds me i did bitch at some one about an anchor :D

[QUOTE=biggw;310314]Oh by the way I have never been mad enough at an anchor to bitch it out.
lol Charlie ummmm that reminds me i did bitch at some one about an anchor :D[/QUOTE]

Whoops, I remember that lol

I use Spot Removers 1/4 and 5/16. I use P line Floro clear in 10 lb and either Zoom Finesse worms or GITEM warlocs. You just have to learn the touch, it took me a while to get the hook set down and when to set the hook, it takes time and practice to master this,but it is a good technique.

I started using one this year after watching my back boater miss fish after fish after fish early spring on Barkley. I had a great deal of luck with it in the spring and early summer, but not so much later in the year. Its very simple, I don't fish real deep or do anything special with it. I tried several setups and after trial and error (lost fish, ect) this works best for me.

6'4" Quantum KVD med/light jerkbait rod
Revo SX baitcaster (loves the light baits)
P-Line cx Premium 10 lb
3/16oz screw type head with a 3/0 hook (get them at Grandpa's in Clarksville, can't remember the brand. but out of about 4 or 5 different kinds, these work best for me)
7" powerbait finesse worm

I flip them anywhere i would flip a jig. They seem to work best on shallow ledges and wood cover.

hope this helps, good luck