Entry 233-4
Greg Hackney’s Lure Choices
Editor’s Note: Strike King pro, Greg Hackney of Gonzales, Louisiana, has fished his entire life and fished professionally for about 5 years. A regular on both the BASS and FLW circuits, Hackney is ranked No. 14 in the world for 2007 on www.bassfan.com.
Part 4: The Advantages of the Shaky Head Worm
Question: What’s another one of Strike King’s new lures that you really like to fish, and why?
Hackney: I’m a real fan of the new Strike King Shaky Head lure. First of all, the Strike King Shaky Head isn’t too big and not too small. And, it has the right size hook. I’ve found, with some Shaky Heads, that other lure makers will put the wrong sizes hook in their jigs. Ninety-nine percent of the time I’ll be fishing the Shaky Head on 8-pound-test Gamma fluorocarbon. Whether I’m fishing the lure in cover or where there’s no cover, 8-pound fluorocarbon is the right line for the Shaky Head worm. Normally I’ll be fishing a 1/8- or a 1/16-ounce weight and a medium-action Quantum rod.
If you have a big hook in that Shaky Head, you can’t drive that big hook into the fish’s jaw with 8-pound-test line. If the hook’s too small, and you catch a 5-6 pounder, the hook’s not big enough to go around the fish’s jaw. 
Strike King put a No. 3/0 really-sharp hook in the Shaky Head worm. The barb isn’t too big on this hook either, which increases the penetrating power of this hook. If I only can have two colors for my Shaky Head, those two colors will be green pumpkin and watermelon. I probably can fish in any color of water with those two colors of worm. The only other color I may use will be June bug. However, 99% of the time, I’ll be fishing green pumpkin and watermelon.
Question: How do you fish the Shaky Head worm?
Hackney: If the fish are holding on the bottom, I’ll be shaking the bait quite a bit. I like to shake the bait on a slack line and then let it sit still. 
This tactic is the main one I’ll use when I’m fishing for spotted bass. Now if the bass are suspended on boat docks or trees, I expect to catch most of the fish on the fall (when the bait falls from the surface to the bottom). In that case, if I’m fishing for those suspended bass, I want to be able to control the fall of the Shaky Head. The colder the water, the slower I want my Shaky Head to fall. The hotter the water, the faster I want my Shaky Head to fall. If the bass are holding at 3-4-feet deep, I may use a 1/4-ounce Shaky Head, because I want to get a reaction strike. I want the worm to fall past the bass really fast, so they’ll dart out and take the worm. In the colder water, I want the bass to look at the worm a little longer before they attack it. So I may use as light as a 1/16-ounce lead head.
