Ask The Pros

I keep losing fish using the shaky head technique?

Question:
I'm having trouble with losing fish when fishing the shaky head technique. What am I doing wrong? Is there a right way to set the hook when using this method?

-Kelly

Answer:
I don't do anything special when setting the hook on a shaky head now, but I did see some potential issues in the past. Here's what I did to fix the situation:

Let me first say this, the shaky head technique is a "finesse technique" in most applications. An angler uses light line, a light action fishing rod and a spinning reel. I came across the issue that most shaky head hooks on the market were a little too beefy. The heads were made from "jig" hooks. Therefore, I downsized the size of the hook and made sure it was a light wire hook, and I had better success. I believe you may not be penetrating the mouth of the fish because your tackle is too light and the hooks you use are too large of a diameter. I helped one of my sponsors(Fin-Tech Tackle) develop a shaky head that uses a light wire 2/0 Mustad hook. Plus it has the Title-Shot retainer to make sure the whole hook gap is exposed on a bite. It works for me!

So, try keeping your hookset and rod/reel/line the same, and downsize your hook.

Thanks for a good question.

Dave Wolak