How To Fish a Shaky Head Worm: Catch More Pressured Bass
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This technique is a great staple and a solid foundation for slower finesse fishing presentations. A piece of lead or tungsten on the head with a hook in it matched up with any version of a straight-tailed rubber worm – that is as simple as this rig gets. Try not to overthink it. That being said this technique does shine in the summer, and although its name is rather one dimensional, the Shaky Head cannot only be shaken.
Best Shaky Head Rod and Reel Setup
As a finesse technique, one the lighter presentation of a shaky head with the necessary lighter tackle. As we know, casting lighter or weightless baits is always more comfortable, so one should look to a spinning setup for the shaky head.
What Rod Should You Use for a Shaky Head?
A 6’6 – 7’ spinning rod will do just fine for a shaky head. A medium power will match the weight of the bait perfectly, and a faster action will help with setting that hidden hook point.
Shaky Head Reel Setup
12 lb braid spooled onto your favorite spinning reel and a 10-12lb fluorocarbon leader and you all set. A great tip I have always used especially when I tend to fish fast is to fish the Shaky on straight fluorocarbon.
Anglers often tend to pull the bait out of the strike zone too quickly with braid because it is so direct – with fluoro, its slight stretch and fuller volume dull the movements of the worm slightly giving it a slower more natural look.
We've spoken a bit more about line application for the shaky head.
Best Shaky Head Worm and Baits
The shaky head is reasonably versatile when it comes to bait selection. Longer, thinner finesse worms are best suited to this technique and there have been many baits designed purely for this technique. These finesse worms provide the best action on the fall and their profile matches the size of the jighead.
I keep the color choices quite simple and will cast two variations for clear and dirty water. In the clear I will either throw a green pumpkin or watermelon red-colored worm and in the dirt – Junebug or black/blue.
Best Shaky Head Weight
The jigheads will vary from 5/16-¼oz with the 3/8oz size used the most frequently and in my opinion, is the best all-round size for a lot of the straight-tail worms you will be throwing on it. These are normally matched up with any of the straight-tail worm versions.
Where to Fish a Shaky Head?
Shaky head fishing shines in the summer when bass have moved to their deeper summer areas to stay cool and follow the baitfish – also when fishing gets tough and a slower more deliberate movement can get you bites.
Rock or any hard bottom transitions is what I am looking for when hunting with a shaky head. The changing in rock composition to another – chunk rock to boulders, gravel rock to clay, clay to sparse grass. In clear, semi rocky to rocky impoundments these rocky areas will hold baitfish because they are often the only forms of structure.
The shaky head will also work great around isolated cover points such as docks, brush piles, or general vegetation. Similar to where you'd throw a Texas rig.
How to Fish a Shaky Head for Bass
Imparting action into this bait is especially important and often just simply and minimally changing how you make it move in the water, can be the difference between having an amazing day or losing confidence in a bait you’ve already plucked up the courage to try and understand.
A slow pull or rod drag is a highly effective method for dredging deeper areas or creeping the worm over or through the structure on the bottom. Bottom contact is very important – and the deeper I have to fish the heavier the shaky head I will use.
It is after all called a ‘shaky head’ and a very controlled shake, so as to not move the bait forward but cause enough vibration in your line to get it to pulse on the spot will provide two very important attractions. One – consistent shaking even though the bait is not being moved and two – it keeps your bait in the strike zone for as long as you want.
The last and ever rarely used technique for this is to fish the shaky head on a baitcasting setup. For this, I like a higher-end combo, one geared around maximum sensitivity. I like to use 10 lb fluorocarbon and a longer rod in the 7’ range.
Make long casts and wait for the resistance to get like I mentioned before – weird! Very often the bites on this bait are very subtle or normally just feel ambiguous, spongy, or like you have hit a clump of underwater weed.
I like to jerk the shaky head off the bottom like a lipless crankbait and let it fall. 3 or 4 quick violent jerks and then kill the lure completely for about 20 seconds. As offbeat as this might sound, it has caught me some of the biggest bass in my career!
Wrapping Up
The versatility of a Shaky is often overlooked and in truth, it can catch some of the biggest bass you will ever manage to hook. It can be a great way to teach fishing principles and get children to really pay attention to line watching and instill good slow fishing presentations.
A piece of lead or tungsten on the head with a hook in it – that is as simple as this rig gets. Try not to overthink it, give it time in the water to work its magic. I can be cliché and state that confidence in this bait will increase your comfort in fishing it and thus you will catch more fish, but in short – this bait helps you find confidence. People always say how fishing with confidence is key, and we yawn because they rarely tell you what to throw when that confidence is gone. If you are not throwing a Shaky Head, tie it on and learn – you will not regret putting in the time.
