Shakey Head Jigs

[RuddyDuck]

I've never tried them, but bought a few jigs and some finesse worms this winter and thought I would give it a try this year. Is it mostly a clear water deal or are there other conditions where they work? What jigs/baits and rod set ups do you guys like for it? Thanks.

[beeflover]

Hey Ruddy, shakey head is a term invented 10-20 yrs ago when a jiggy worm became all the rage in pro bass fishing. The jig and worm was a standard bass tactic as far back as the mid 60's even before texas riggin. Al Linder probably threw this when he was a teenager.

Its caught more fish in MN that any other bait in history!

If your tossin this bait and you get hung up to much, go to a lighter jig. If it's windy or as you try deeper water go heavier with the jig. If you fish in an area with a lot of rocks buy cheap jigs.,

Toss it into holes in heavy weeds beds or edges and shake the thing on slack line.

If it hangs on the weeds let it hang and shake it right there.

Hang on to the rod and reel!

And as a further bonus if they don't bite the worm put on a craw, grub, creature, swimbait or fluke.

[RuddyDuck]

Then I guess I've been unknowingly using it for quite awhile as I use a jigworm quite a bit! I use those mostly along weed edges and let it drop down and pop it off the weeds as it falls. I also do hop them on the bottom sometimes. I use the mushroom style jig head for this and not the ones labeled "shakey" heads.

I assume the shakey heads are designed more for working along the bottom? These are the ones I was wondering about how to fish.

[RK]

I kind of think of shakey heads and jigworms as two different things...

Shakey head is more of a bottom contact bait - the worms is usually Texas-rigged and the head is a little heavier, with a somewhat heavier hook. It's kind of meant to be hopped on the bottom. As a technique, it's been around quite a while.

Jigworming as it's been practiced in MN for decades has more midwestern roots. It started around the Rockford IL area when some members of a local bass club that congregated around the local sporting goods store/marina started experimenting with light line and a lure manufactured by Ted Green of the Mar Lynn lure company called The Reaper, which had been designed by Kansas native Harold Ensley in the early 1960s. They matched it with an early stand-up jighead design they called a 'horse hoof head.' The design was refined by the late Tony Portincasso (who seldom gets the credit he deserves as an angling innovator) among others into the original Pow'r head stand-up jig. It was a revelation for fishing weedline bass in the midwest.

(By the way, that Rockford bass club included a couple kids from Chicago who would go on to have something of an impact on the fishing business - Al and Ron Lindner...)

Eventually, as different types of plastics evolved, and spinning gear and monofilament line got better jigwormign evolved into a very effective finesse weedline technique. I first encountered it at Camp Fish in 1985 or 86.

Unlike shaky head fishing, jigworming is more about fishing the drop than bouncing on the bottom. It's best on weedlines, and worms are fished on a light jighead with an exposed, light wire hook. The original jigworm head, and still one of the best, is the Mushroom Head invented by Connie Peterson at Gopher Tackle. Outkast's Money Jig and the Northland Jig Worm head are similar, and all variations on Connie's original design.

As I said, jigworming is all about the drop. Fish as light a jighead as you can get away with (I use a 3/32 oz 90% of the time) for a slow fall. Pitch it to a weed edge, and let it fall on a semi-tight line. With a light head, the jig will settle on weed stalks rather than blasting through the weeds, so if you hang up, a short snap of the wrist will pop it loose. Then let it fall again. A jigworm popping off a cabbage stalk then dropping is really a trigger - you get a lot of bites right after you pop it free of a weed. A lot of the time, especially if fish are right on the weed edge and hitting on the drop, I don't even retrieve the thing after the initial drop... I just reel in and cast again.

You really, really have to watch your line when jigworming. A lot of hits are just a line twitch, or the line just slowy starts to move off to the side. Sometimes it just seems to hit bottom before it should. If the fish are 'off' you'll sometimes not even see the line move - all of a sudden it'll just feel like your jig dropped into a bowl of oatmeal when you go to pick it up. When in doubt set the hook - if it's a weed you can just go on fishing, and if not, it's fish on... I've had a lot of guide clients who were convinced they were snagged on a weed up until the second the 'weed' jumped...

As an aside, fluorocarbon has been a godsend for jigworming IMHO. It's more sensitive, but to me the real benefit is that it sinks, which means it doesn't lie on the surface and blow around like mono did. It allows me to keep fishing a lighter jig even on windy days.

Anyhow, both techniques work, but they aren't the same thing. I think jigworms work exceptionally well in clear water, where fish can see them from a long ways away and will come up for them. Shakey heads might work a little better in darker water where fish hold a little tighter to cover? The one time I do use a shakey head style jig in clear water is slithering little straight-tailed worms through the weeds during bad cold fronts - almost like the old Charlie Brewer Sliders... But that's a whole 'nother story.

So there...random brain dump/history lesson on a morning when I really don't feel like getting work done

[Deitz Dittrich]

Dude- you have forgotten more fishing knowledge than I will ever know.

[JP Z]

Yeah...........what Deitz said. You have any insite on super secret Bluegill colors???

But yeah I have always consider Shakey heads to be more of a bottom hopping presentation. Jigworming is usually in my case weed related lift and fall, etc.

[RK]

I'm a veritable font of useless knowledge...

Actually I kind of get into the history behind some of the lures and techniques we use. There are some great stories there, and some of the ways they're connected are pretty fascinating. There are always guys in the background that probably don't get the credit they deserve too, like Tony Portincasso and Bill Binkleman - Binkleman especially.

About the time the Rockford guys were experimenting with the Reaper, Charlie Brewer Sr. was refining his 'do-nothing' worm down in Tennessee, and Danny Westfall was out in Phoenix developing his Westy's Worm, which is still a staple on clear Western reservoirs. They're all variations on a theme tuned to the geographies where they evolved, but all made possible by the same things - better rods and reels, monofilament, and soft plastics. I think it's kind of cool how these different regional techniques overlap and converge over time.

Also part of why I often find it funny when a 'hot new' technique catches fire... In an article about bass rigs for tough conditions, Rich Zaleski from Connecticut (yet another unsung innovator who taught me a lot of what I know about finesse fishing, especially grubs) described a drop shot rig, complete with an illustration. That article was published in Fishing Facts magazine, in 1990...

[RK]

Yeah...........what Deitz said. You have any insite on super secret Bluegill colors???

Haha.. The color really isn't anything special. Just Chris's Smokey Bluegill with a little peachy orange and light green mixed in.

[RuddyDuck]

It is funny how what is old is new again in the world of Bass fishing.

I was looking at the Zoom and SK finesse worms that I bought for the shakeys and thought they sure do look alot like the old original Creme worms from the 70's n early 80's. But back then those got old as the curly tail worms came out and then those got old as the Auger Tail/Curly tail worms came out and those aren't as in vogue now as Creatures and such are the hot things, but finesse is in style now and it is funny how those old Creme worms don't look so old anymore! Kind of a vicious cycle(I even forgot to mention the old jelly worm/paddle style worms in there!)!

RK, thanks for the info on the differences between the two techniques, it was helpful. I can see the shakeys working when maybe a texas rigged worm isn't producing for me. Something a little for subtle and that you can fish slow. I'll keep using the jig worm for the sharp weedlines and dropping it down along them like I have in the past.

Speaking of other old tactics and gear, I'm still waiting for the 5'6" pistol grip rod to come back in style, you think a pro has to be bringing one of those back any day now!

[Todd S.]

Ruddy duck, funny you mentioned the pistol grip was just thinking the same thing. I have a loomis SBR752 spinner bait rod. Just like a pistol grip but but there isn't a bulge on the end. It's a great rod for close quarter spinner baiting, docks, over hanges, edges of pads. Not very good for long casts, but awesome for short accurate casts.

[mwal]

RK Love the old reference's I remember buying reapers and spoon plugs and hellbender's from fishing fact's magazine. If you want drop shot technique's that really work check out Zalinski's bass blogs's and his last invention before retiring the ribster. Beats any drop shot bait hands down. I use shakey heads in stained water all the time especially in cold front conditions in known fish locations.

Mwal

[RK]

Rich has had a number of good innovations with Lunker City. The Lunker City grub is an awesome cold front bait. Love the Ribster. Got some late last season. I'll be ordering some Grubsters before the season starts too.

[delmuts]

Ruddy. I know they are out there. I bought one last year from BP. Won't use it often as we have very few docks around here, but it certainly is nice for up close fishing.

[RuddyDuck]

For Shakey heads, do you guys prefer the worms that float a bit or doesn't it matter? What Brand of finesse worms float the best?

[Deitz Dittrich]

Yes- its kinda nice if the tail floats a bit, but its not a make or break.. I kinda like the big bites Squirrel tail.. But there are a lot of good worms out there that work good. Its more about where you cast it and how you work it than than the plastic used in this case I think.

[RK]

RD -

I don't think too hard about it. To me straight tailed vs an action tail is more of a decision.

On a shakey head, I like straight tails in clear water as they fall a little faster. The KVD Finesse Worms from Strike King are pretty good, but there are a million options that are similar.

Sometimes a subtle action tail works well though. The old Mister Twister Phenom worms are actually really good on a shakey head, and they're about $3/pack, which is nice.

For jigworms, I do like a swimming tail - it slows the fall, and I think the vibration does call fish in and helps them find it around cover. I've used 7" Power Worms since they first came out. I do sometimes bite them back to 5 or 6" though. Other than occasionally using 4" worms after a cold front, I seldom use anything else. I buy them in bags of 100...