Entry 230-5

James Niggemeyer and Strike King’s New Products

Part 5: The Shaky Head

Question: James, why do you like the Strike King Shaky Head jig with a Strike King Finesse Worm?

Niggemeyer: There’s not a lot you can say about this jig-and-worm combination except that it’s the go-to bait for most tournament anglers on the professional-fishing circuit. When you need to catch one last bass to make a limit, the lake has heavy fishing pressure, and/or there are poor fishing conditions, you can bet on the shaky-head worm to prevent you from coming into the weigh-in scales with an empty bag. Even when fishing is extremely tough and very-few people are catching fish, I almost always can get a limit of bass fishing the Strike King Shaky Head and the Strike King Finesse Worm.

I like the design of the head, the flat eye and the way the hook’s positioned in the head of the jig. These elements are important because you want the shaky-head jig to stand on its nose and lift that worm up off the bottom so it appears to be feeding on the bottom. You also want a good spike on the jighead to hold that worm against the head of the jig and on the hook. You may get several bites on that jig, and the bass can pull the worm down the hook, if you don’t securely anchor the worm to the jig. This shaky-head jig has the best of all the component features any fisherman wants in a jig.

Question: How do you fish the shaky head?

Niggemeyer: I fish it several-different ways. I cast it out and let it fall all the way to the bottom and then tighten up my line and shake the slack in my line. When many anglers hear the word shaky head, they think they really have to shake the head hard. But if you go underwater, you’ll never see anything on the bottom shaking and jumping like someone who has stuck his or her finger into a live electrical socket. So, when I shake the slack in my line, I really don’t want the jig to shake as much as I want it to quiver. There are times when the bass seem to prefer that you just drag this lure across the bottom and don’t even shake it at all.

Remember that just because the lure is called the shaky head, doesn’t mean you can’t catch fish without shaking it. As you drag the bait across the bottom, that jighead will come into contact with rocks, stumps and an uneven bottom. So, every time that lead-head jig changes the type of surface its crossing, it will send vibrations up the hook, which will cause the worm to shake.

Remember that you can’t fish the shaky-head worm too slowly, but you can fish it too fast. The shaky-head worm doesn’t fall to the bottom like a Texas-rigged worm does. Because the head of the jig is round, the bait will glide and dart as it falls. When a fish sees that erratic action of the bait falling, they’ll be attracted to it, making you catch numbers of bass fishing the lure on the fall.

I’ve noticed that most of the time when I’m fishing the shaky-head worm, I’ll either get a bite on the fall or in the first 10 seconds that the lure’s on the bottom. Because of the erratic action that the shaky head produces as it falls, it really gets the bass’s attention. Once it hits the bottom and stands up, they get more zoned-in on the lure. Then if it starts to quiver and shake, they just have to eat it.

 

 

Contents:

• Part 1: Don’t Go Fishing Without a Rage Tail Craw
• Part 2: How and Why to Fish the Rage Tail Shad
• Part 3: Take the Red Eye
• Part 4: Let’s Play Football
• Part 5: The Shaky Head