Why a shaky head?

A buddy of mine regularly fishes a big worm in deep water (over 20 feet) and uses a large shaky head rather than a Texas rig? He says the shaky "stands the worm up". Truth? I can't imagine it would do any different. I tried it out in my pool and I'm not seeing it.

bottom composition plays a big part imo but once the water reaches 90 degrees i seem to get more bites on a shakey head.

With a shaky head there is a chance (mostly with the flat head designs) it will stand up..........with a Trig there is zero chance. I use a Trig in most situations due to there being grass or wood around (the shaky head I use hangs up too much). If it is rock, clay or gravel with little to no wood, I have a shaky head on. But like most things fishing, confidence in what you're throwing means a lot.

Think outside the box. A shakey head has a hook shank that is inside a spherical or oblong lead head. A TX rig has a bullet weight slip-type sinker. This is going to give you way different actions and application uses. A TX rig is typically used the flip, pitch, and drag, while a shakey head is primarily used for casting and dragging on the bottom.

Can they be used interchangeably in many situations? Sure.

Can the be used interchangeably in all situations? No.

Also try using a floating worm if your trying to get it to stand up. Xcite Maximus is a good one IMO. Not all shakey heads stand up.

You also need to keep in mind how they act differently once you hook up on a bass. With a TX rig, the bullet weight is able to slide away from the hook. With a shakey head (or jig) because the weight is permanently attached to the hook shank, it can give the bass more leverage to throw the hook.

Think about it, if you had a hook in your face and you had to shake it off, do you think it would be easier to shake off a weightless hook or a hook with weight that is permanently attached? The weight would give you leverage to shake it loose.

solid informative reply thank you

I don't throw one, but I have heard very few shaky heads actually stand up, especially with a long worm on it. I heard David Dudley say that almost no shaky heads stand up, of course he was pimping his brand of head and swears it stands up. Every time I try a large shaky head and big worm, I get it hung up and break it off, so I stick to other techniques.

There are a couple of brands out there that are a heavy shaky head with a flat bottom. Xcite, Yum pumpkin ed, and 6th sense. I did a pool test with large worms on the Yum shaky head and the Xcite, and the V&M large straight tail worms stood up the best. The Yum and the Strike King fell over every time. These are large 10 inch straight tail worms.

Not that much if you get a good hook set. I don't think you fish a shaky head much. Am I right? I haven't noticed a bass throwing a shaky head any easier than a Tx. rig.

Not to be argumentative, but Cole's comments lead me to believe he's fished shakey heads quite a bit. Spot on, IMO.

Btw, I couldn't agree with you more on the Yum and 6th sense. 6th sense is probably my favorite of the 2.

https://youtu.be/0faa5flSTN4
Just watch that. It will show you exactly what your asking.

Nice Chance! Just about what I thought when I tried them in my pool. Unless you're working it pretty fast, they'll fall over just like a T rig. I do like the action of them moving pretty fast, but always thought a shaky head was as little movement of the bait as possible. Live and learn. I'll give it a shot. After my last trip out with one dink in 4 hours I'm ready to try anything!

the plastic makes it stand, not the head. I don't use jig heads or floating worms btw.

I think shaky heads work better than Trig at times, because you can detect the bite better (weight directly attached to hook) and tend to fish them slower on lighter line.

Agree, they don't actually stand up; but, when slowly dragged and stopped, they have a different rise and slow fall of the soft plastic you can't get with a Trig.

it's physics. same reason they can throw a fb jig or a crank easier, obviously to a lesser degree because the head isn't as heavy

Set the hook better and you won't have issues.

I catch a lot of good fish on a shaky head with a zoom trick worm flipping when normal flipping type baits don’t seem to be working well. I’ve been playing with the new 6th sense shaky worm on their shaky head. It stands up pretty good

These work well too. Lots of buoyancy make them stand up on a mag shaky head. Caught two fish last Sat at CB on the 16" worm that weren't 16 inches!!

TWO under 16 at CB???? Armageddon must surely be near!!

x2

Xcite baits is based in Pilot Point. They make a shaky head in 5/8oz with a 6/0 hook and the Maximus worms. They work well together and the worms will stand up on their own (no salt). Plastics that have salt in them will not be buoyant enough to consistently float.

The way the shakyhead stands up is when there is gravel or rock on the bottom. In the pool or mud bottom there wont be much difference. But when the jig head gets dragged across the rock or gravel it hits the rock and pivots the head flipping the tail up. Texas rig wont do that. Similar to how a football head works in dragging it compared to a texas rig creature. The t-rig kinda slides along the bottom or is moves with the hopping or twitching of the rod. A shaky head just has a different action being dragged, and when it is just slightly hung in a small rock or gravel you can shake the line in place and really get some unique action.

I think it’s just a confidence thing. If you feel you are gonna get more bites on a shaky head then that’s what you should probably be throwing. If I’m fishing structure deep, then I’m throwing shaky head but if I’m up shallow and fishing cover then I throw t rig. Just my two cents.