Entry 271-2
Mark Rose and His Second-Best Year of Fishing with Strike King’s New Lures
Editor’s Note: Mark Rose of Marianna, Arkansas, an up-and-coming pro on the FLW circuit, has committed himself to the sport of tournament bass fishing. This week, Rose will tell us about his second-best year ever of fishing with the new lures from Strike King.
Part 2: I Like My Tails Straight
Question: Mark, if you have to choose one lure that has helped you the most this year, which lure will you pick?
Rose: The two lures that have helped me the most are the Strike King Shaky Head jig and the Strike King Football Head Jig. On the FLW tournament trail, we have bigger fields of competitors than the Bassmaster Elite Trail. We fish 3 days before FLW cuts the field.
So, fishing for 3 days with 200 of the best fishermen in the nation puts a lot of pressure on that body of water, and that’s without considering the fishing pressure from local fisherman. I felt like every bass on the lake probably has had two or three lures rubbed up against its nose. Catching a limit of bass each day is a major accomplishment. So, I’ll take a 1/16- or a 1/8-ounce Strike King Shaky Head jig on 8-pound-test line and go to work. I can catch five fish every day with that line and lure.
We visit a number of clear lakes on this tournament trail, like Lake Norman and Beaver Lake, where catching a limit of bass every day can put you in the money. 
I’ll use the Strike King 3X Finesse Worm and the Strike King floating worm on my Shaky Head jig. When I’m looking for a kicker fish, I’ll bet on the 1/2- or the 3/4-ounce Football Head jig with a Rage Craw trailer.
Question: What’s the real secret to fishing the Shaky Head jig?
Rose: The secret is there is no secret. You just tie it on and fish it. I fish this bait on 8-pound-test fluorocarbon line with a medium-action rod and a high-speed spinning reel around any type of cover I see, including a laydown or a brush top. Once I set the hook on that 8-pound-test line, I don’t jerk that bass out of the brush like I will with 60-pound-test braided line. I’ll probably have to work the bass out of the bush rather than pulling it out of the bush. When I need a bite, or I can’t quite figure out what the bass are doing, I can put Strike King’s Shaky Head jig and the Finesse Worm or the floating worm on my line and get strikes.
Question: What size head do you like?
Rose: For general fishing, I prefer a 1/8-ounce jig, but for skipping docks, I’ll use a 1/16-ounce Shaky Head jig. 
If I’m fishing in deeper waters, I like a 3/16-ounce Shaky Head jig. In either situation, I prefer the green-pumpkin color.
Question: Mark, most people fish a shaky-head worm in open water or skip it under docks. However, you fish it in brush, and most people don’t fish a shaky-head worm in thick cover. Why do you fish it this way?
Rose: I’m fishing on lakes with a large number of competitors. Even if you’re not tournament fishing and just fishing on the weekends, most lakes get a lot of fishing pressure. Those big fish holding in cover have seen all the big jigs, the tubes and the creature baits dropping into their homes. But dropping a 4-inch worm into that cover is like pitching a piece of candy to a mob of kids in a schoolyard. Using this small 4-inch worm on a Shaky Head jig, I can follow right behind other fishermen and catch bass they’ve missed with their bigger baits. If there are smallmouths or spotted bass on the lake, I’ll fish Strike King’s 4-inch Finesse Worm, but if I’m fishing strictly for largemouth, I’ll use the 7-inch Finesse Worm.
Question: Why do you prefer the Finesse Worm or the floating worm instead of the Ribbon Tail Worm?
Rose: The straight-tail worms don’t hang up as much in grass or limbs, they move better through cover than a Ribbon Tail or a crooked-tail worm, and skipping them under docks is easier. I prefer to fish the straight-tailed worms because I can skip them, drop them into the limbs of a bush or a laydown or work them across and in grass. Using straight-tailed worms, I never have to lay down my rod or pick up another rod as I’m fishing down the bank. There isn’t any other worm as efficient as the straight-tailed worm.
