Most anglers think of the Shaky Head as a springtime bait, but those who fish highland-type reservoirs or even deep, rocky areas of other types of bodies of 
water know that it works year-round. And don’t even consider river smallmouth. Never throw a Shaky Head in a clear-running stream (unless you want to battle hard-fighting brownie). Shaky Heads have plenty of applications past the postspawn. Here are a few.
Highland Reservoirs
Highland reservoirs such as Center Hill in Tennessee are deep and clear with plenty of bluffs and rocks. And best – it’s full of smallmouth bass.
“Shaky Heads are great during the springtime,” said Billy Stanton, tournament angler and guide on Nashville area lakes. “But I’ve thrown them during the last eight jackpot tournaments and weighed in all of my fish on them, so they catch a lot of fish during summer, too.”
Stanton said he’s been fishing points and focusing on the 30-foot zone. He makes a cast and feeds line, then slowly shakes his rod tip or simply works it like a plastic worm. Slow is key, he says, to get the bigger bites. “A lot of times I cast it and shake it a little and let it sit there for 30 seconds. It can be a very subtle bite,” he said.
Stanton fishes his Shaky Head on 8-pound fluorocarbon and a 6-foot 8-inch medium-heavy Gloomis Mossyback rod. He likes the backbone of the medium-heavy action and the fast tip for a little give for long casts and deep water. Lately his Houdini worm color of choice has been watermelon redflake, but smoke and red pepper also is a good choice.
Vertical Structure
While the drop-shot and jigging spoon get the majority of the press when it comes to vertical structure like dam faces and bluffs, but the Shaky Head may be your best bet, especially if the fish are not right up against the rock. A dam or bluff attracts smallies, spots and largemouth because it attracts baitfish with algae growth and is a great place to pin baitfish against. The deep water is the last bit of the equation.
(Left: Billy Stanton fishes his favorite dam on Center Hill.)
Much of the time the baitfish hold away from the dam or bluff and Stanton uses a Shaky Head to catch the bass feeding on them. He also catches those fish relating close to the dam or bluff, but backs off if the fish aren’t there in the numbers he expects.
“Sometimes now I’m seeing shad at 20 feet in 50 feet of water off the dam face,” Stanton said. “I’ll pull back a cast or so away from the dam and just skim the Shaky Head back. If they’re right on the dam face, I especially focus on the nooks and crannies.”
Stanton casts to the dam face and feeds a little line, then engages the reel and keeps a close feel on the line. Most fish hit on the fall, he says, but after the Shaky Head sinks below the level of the bass he reels it up then gives it subtle action with his rod as he slowly cranks it in.
Rivers/streams
The Shaky Head is one of the best lures to throw in moving water. Glen Wheeler, an Arkansas Buffalo River hillbilly (and outdoor photographer), grew up fishing the river and says he has three lures he takes on every trip.
“I take a Rebel Teeny Wee Craw, a YUM Dinger and a Shaky Head,” he said. “If I’m going to be there as it gets dark I’ll take a Jitterbug, but it’s the Shaky Head that gets the most use.”
I asked him where the best spots to throw the Shaky Head were in rivers like the Buffalo, and he said: “The bend just past the old Harp still, the big pool they pulled poor Uncle Jesse out of the night Aunt Dot pushed him off the Highway 7 bridge, and the gravel bar whe
re I got to second base with Mary Ann Mulldoon in the seventh grade.”
I pressed him harder.
“Anything that breaks the current is a good place to throw it,” he said. “Rocks and stumps or laydowns are great. It’s perfect for probing laydown trees for smallies. And you’d be surprised to see the size of the largemouth we get out of areas like that.”
Outdoor writer Jeff Samsel’s son Nathaniel knows the power of the Shaky Head on rivers. He topped all of the adults on the Spring River in far northeast Arkansas when he pulled out a smallie nearly four pounds. (He’s the good-lookin’ kid in the picture with the smallie I’m talking about!)
A group of three adult “fishermen” had toyed with a few smallmouth bass all day until Nathaniel remembered his Big Show Shaky Head kit and tied one on for the last river stretch of the day. Not only did he catch this great smallmouth, but he also caught five more a little smaller, a rock bass and a rainbow trout. He insists it wasn’t the bait, but the fisherman. He’s probably right, but the Shaky Head is a great bait anytime.