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T
hrough the years, bass fishing has changed.
Some of this change has been driven by
technology, while other changes have been caused by the fishing pressure.
Many years ago, you could grab a Texas-rigged worm or
put a spinnerbait in your hand, start chucking and winding,
and you could put bass over the side all day long.
Today, finesse tactics need to be part of your mix
when you hit the water. Yes, there will be trips that you
can chuck and wind all day, but you will also need to have a
few finesse tactics in your tackle box that you can pull out
and use when your day gets tough, and it is extra hard to
generate bites. One of the finesse tactics that I rely on in
tough bite situations is a shaky head presentation.
BASS FISHING FROM THE PAST
Let’s look back, the beginning of the shaky head craze. Jeff Kriet introduced the bass fishing world to this new bass technique. It happened on a Saturday morning on April 3, 2009. Jeff taped a segment called Day on The Water, where B.A.S.S. would invite one of their Top 150 (now this would be known as the Bassmaster Elite Series) anglers to waters they had never fished.
The pro angler was given eight hours to show how they would break down the water and catch bass. On that day, Jeff was assigned to Lake DeGrey in Arkansas.
Early in his day, he started fishing a jig and a stickbait looking for signs of bass. Spending the morning trying to get his first bite, he decided to pull out a shaky head setup and the rest is bass history.
During Jeff’s afternoon of filming, he was able to put more than a dozen bass in his boat. A few weeks later, that particular Day on The Water segment aired during the Saturday morning ESPN B.A.S.S. block. It was a shot that started to send shock waves through the bass world as anglers were introduced to this new finesse tactic called shaky head fishing.
THE ORIGINAL GEAR TO FISH A SHAKY HEAD
When introducing the shaky head tactic, Jeff fished with a 7-foot, medium-action spinning setup that was teamed with a 200 sized spinning reel spooled with a 6-pound fluorocarbon line. He mainly fished two different sized shaky heads at that time, a 1/16-ounce
and a 1/8-ounce jig head. He would fish the 1/8-ounce size roughly 80 percent of the time and the 1/16-ounce jig head the rest of the time.
To start, the only bait that he fished was a Big Bite Bait’s Squirrel Tail worm. The key to this worm was that the tail was made of floating material, so as Jeff fished, the bait’s tail was suspended up off the bottom. The key to getting bites was the tail movement.
When Jeff would get his bait in what he felt was a key position, he would let the bait sit but would slightly move the rod tip, putting action into the tail. Many times, this slight movement is what triggered bites from reluctant bass.
SHAKY HEAD FISHING RELOADED
Now fast forward 15 years and look at how shaky head fishing has changed. The first thing to come to mind, and the biggest thing that has changed finesse fishing today, is the introduction of braided line.
At first, everyone was fishing 6- to 8-pound fluorocarbon line. This had its pluses and minuses. Yes, anglers were using a lighter line and getting bites, but they were also breaking off more easily. To succeed, they had to be far more diligent in how and where they were fishing.
The introduction of the braided line was an instrumental component of bass fishing. The late Aaron Martens was the first pro to step up and embrace the braided line option. He was the pro that anglers saw change out his fluorocarbon line choice for braid, but he also teamed his braid with a fluorocarbon leader. Thus, a new standard
was created and set going
forward. This is the pattern
that we are all typically using
today.
LEADER ADJUSTMENTS
Here are a few things I have done with my leader choice through the years.
I always start with a braid to fluorocarbon leader matched to the conditions in which I am fishing.
The first setup I begin with is my go-to. It is a 7-foot, medium-action Denali Lithium Pro (L843SH) teamed with Lew’s 200 Hypermag spinning reel. I will spool the reel with a 12-poiund Sunline Xplasma Asegai braided line paired with a 10-pound Sunline FC leader.
I use that first setup for most days, but there will be times when the bite is extra
Summer 2024
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