Stop Making This Mistake When Using A Shakey Jig Head! 

Excellent tip, and one I’ll use. You’re a highly accomplished pro, Matt and yet modest. I know I’m not the only one who appreciates this quality, so often lacking today. Thank you for so graciously giving credit to another pro.

Great tip and good on you for giving Larry credit. Wouldn't mind seeing a video from you on how and when you fish the shaky head, and when you don't.

Matt, trim a rotation or two off that pig tail. It helps out alot. I was taught that tip years ago. Some brands the pig tail is made to long.

You put Larry Wayne Nixon's and Matt Stefan's brains together and you get the Einstein of bass fishing. It was a great tip to begin with and you tournament proved it. How much better can it get!

Great tip Matt. I met Larry years ago. Awesome guy . Great fishermen!

I never liked the shakey head because I was always losing fish. I used the vmc shakey head with the screw on keeper. Now I have a good idear to give it another try on a different jig head

I started pegging my Texas rig sinker. After hearing Larry Nixon. Say the same thing about the sinker not pegged. And it’s not tight against the worm. Now I peg the sinker a inch or two away from worm. Big difference n hook ups. Thanks The General

Great video. I don't fish a shaky head nearly enough, and it is something I'm going to be working on next year as it is a productive bait on several lakes on our tournament trail. As others have said, I'd love to see a video on where and when you pick up the shaky head vs other presentations.

Eye opener for me. I have always used the Spot Remover Pro and haven't missed too many fish but henceforth I will be using the regular Spot Remover. Thanks!

I’ve wondered this for a while about the screw locks on Swimbait hooks and everything else. Well said

I agree totally!! No lie!!I was throwing baby brush hog on 1/8oz pro model and was catching fish but somehow was loadingup on hook set as I usually do and started missing a bunch of good bits, sometimes reeling then halfway in then losing them and my bait was still hooked into the plastic... didn't kno why I was missing fish... got broke off had to tie on the regular one and I swear didn't miss another one, haven't put it to the test yet but i am soonI, I'm pretty sure your right on

Very interesting!!! Very good point. Makes sense, it's like using a fat bodied worm on a round bend worn hook. Stay Safe & God Bless!!

Golden nuggets like this is why I enjoy your channel. Never thought about that issue. Thanks for sharing

I don’t know if I lose more fish, however, putting on certain plastics like Zman is super difficult with the pigtail. Because of the composition of the plastic, I find it easier to go with the bar bait retainer

Good tip I actually stopped using Shakey heads because I was losing so many fish and yes I was using a head with the pigtail I will use your tip to regain my confidence in Shakey heads Thanks Matt

I was at lake chicot in lake village ar one day fishing. I was coming up to the bridge separating the lake and I saw two guys in a boat throwing Carolina rigs. One was catching a bass on almost every cast. The other guy was getting bit the same but catching maybe one out five bites. When I got closer I recognized the voice and the laugh. It was Larry Nixon who was doing all the catching. He is the General.

Dude, you just blew my mind. I use a shaky head A TON as a co-angler, and it's probably my go-to technique for catching fish. I've had trouble with this same thing at times, and this makes perfect sense. Thanks for sharing this tip, I'm going to have to try a different head next season.

great point, Matt. I’ve been using the Frenzy nail SH for past 2 yrs and love it. It’s not a screw in, and I don’t lose too many baits. 👍

Makes perfect sense. I've not had great luck with the pigtail attachment and am going to try your suggestion. Thanks for sharing.

Interesting. I myself haven't had any problems with screwlock style keepers on shakeys .. and I rarely lose a fish on a shakey head. I use spot remover pro and owner ultra head

The Gamakatsu Alien head has been my favorite for years. Plus the hook is razor sharp

Also I find that if you open up the hook 1to 2 degrees and hook the worm 🪱 on the side , that way you don't have as much plastic to go through. Works for me. Been tournament fishing 30 +

Matt great job Larry Nixon told the same thing Matt we have been lucky knowing a great person like Larry Nixon and proud to call him friend

Great tip I'll be changing up my shaky head from now on thanks again

Good info! Of course that is about all I have in my boat, the Pro Models! I have caught quite a few fish on them up to 6 lbs, but agree with you on the worm wadding up on the hook. I had a high school kid out in a tournament, he hooked a big fish, it jumped several times before coming unhooked. The gap on his hook was tiny! Now I have to use these up or sell them!! Thanks again.

Vmc rugby head. It has a wide gap hook and you can Tx rig the finesse worm. Best of both worlds!

Hey Matt, one trick with that screw lock keeper take a pair of wire cutters and one of the wire comes out of the head is straight and the very first loop. Cut it there then thread your warm on! Has worked for me for years.

Yes, have lost fish, but didn’t even think about that ? Thanks, another great tip 👍👍

I use the Strike King Tour grade shakey head with the barb holder, works great! But I do have some pig tail heads and I just cut down the spring to 2 curls and the worm still holds good but breaks away with a fish on.

Great tip, that's the problem I've been dealing with never though of that 👍

I discovered that a couple of years ago,and I’ve now got a few favorites, 1 is the ZMAN SMH, and XZone has a tungsten which also has a longer shank hook and smaller pigtail. I’m definitely going to get the ones you have with the simple prong to attach the plastic to 😜👍👍👍👍🍀🎣🍀 congrats on your Top channel endorsement from Randy B. and Best Success in 2023 🍀🎣🍀

Good info Matt makes sense.Do you think you could modify "straighten out" the pig tail with a pair of needle nose pliers?

Great tip! My next batch of shakey heads will have the screw type keepers replaced with trimmed down straight wire keepers used for Ned heads.

Good pointer.

Very interesting thanks for sharing I would have never known I've been using the scree lock type

Thanks Matt, I am not counting a shaky head as a strength, but will definitely try it.

I use weighted screw EWG with my swim baits and regular with my flukes, and I don't seem to lose many. Same with a need rig. The shaky head pro is like a need rig to me, except for the angle of the hook. Both work great for me, but I've also never used the original shaky head, so I couldn't tell you if it makes a difference for me. I just know what I have used has worked. Thanks for the video though. I'm going to buy a pack and try them out.

Try a tube on a shakey head especially non-hollow body tube like the googan doob tube. I love using that for smallies in Wisconsin

Exactly the reason I only use shakeys without a keeper at all. True blue TX rig right on the shank. I prefer the style with a small wire barb on the shank as a keeper rather than the extended lead. The fat lead keeper tears up the bait so I can use less plastics and have a great hookup ratio. Thanks for a great video!

Love any story involving Larry Nixon. Still have a couple Larry Nixon Signature Bomber 6A crankbaits I won't use...

Matt, I never thought about this! I was using the screw-on bait keeper thinking it was a better way to keep my bait on. Time to switch back to the way I was fishing. Merry Christmas my friend.

I like the shove ons by gambler giggy heads bro , but u have to watch cause some have too thin of a hook , they have a spike with 2 small flanges

I completely agree with you, but there are a few shakyheads that have the screw lock keeper that have a bigger bite in the hook. One is the shakyhead made by Yum, it has an ewg hook on it and works really well. Another good option is the old school original made by Strike King that has the barb on it built into the lead, it gives you more bite from the distance of the head to the hook point because there is no screw lock in the way. But with that style like the spot remover, I agree it makes sense to stay away from the screw lock.

Crazy I'm seeing this this morning. Just yesterday I spent 5 minutes in my boat trying to find heads with the screw locks because all I could find were the ones with just the pegs. 😂

Great info , I will listen to Larry N . To Thank you.

That really makes sense 🤔 never thought about that. Thank you for sharing 👍

Great tip, thanks !! It is crazy that I bought this shaky head before even buying the pig tail one, because I thought it would be more effective. I didn't think of how it will release the plastic, of course. :)

I like the ones like Aaron designed for Picasso and Davis baits. You can snip that pigtail in half and it will work much better. The Gammy Trickyhead is good too. BTW Zappu just released a Power Inchi Wacky hook that is promising for bait caster Weedless Wacky rigs. It has a strong 5-6 strand stiff weed guard that to me feels like it would need to be thinned by half. The Hook Up has them now.

Pretty new to fishing and don't want to lose a ton of plastics so this was a great video LOL. Good to know once I am all about max hookups though. Thanks for the video sir!

That's way you test new products . Thanks Matt . Wow Larry Nixon .

If I use a screw lock I try and use a thinner worm unless I have a fairly large hook gap. I really like fishing with the SMH jig head because the angle that the keeper holds the worm makes the hook get better penetration

I started out using the Spot Remover, but have now switched to the Davis Baits Shakey Head. I switched on Blaukat's video recommendation.

I have heard of this problem but I don’t have it as much as Ive heard it discussed and what I’ve noticed is I always use a Trick Worm which is a very thin worm which I think helps for me. I think the corkscrew style works fine but if you have thicker worm or more stout plastic the worm is made with it exacerbates the issue you’re speaking on. That being said I can totally see how it could be a problem for some folks.

I like the pro model

I think Larry's right! I've both types and don't like the pig tail. I will cut it completely off or use a portion of the tail to make a rough spike to stick the head with. If you just thread it on and use a dental rubber band to make it weedless.

The fin-tech with the swinging keeper looks promising, a little expensive but promising. Going give that a shot too. Thanks for the tip!

I started cutting the pigtail down to one curl and it seemed to make a big difference

Okay Matt, I just placed an order using your link to TW Happy Holidays my friend🙏🥳🍀🎣🍀

Great tip, Matt!

Thanks for the tips...

I’ve used the spot remover with pig tail for years. Never had an issue. But it could also be the plastic I use just works well with the 3/16 oz. Unsure.

Hell, Matt I never thought of it but that makes sense. Perhaps we could trim down the pigtail a bit so it will hold in place but still release when hit.

Huh! That’s a really great tip! Thanks!

Good God Man that's some really good content! Thanks for that, I've been there and just didn't put one and one together.

I got a story, today at the river, I told fishing buddy I'm going to show him Trout Magnets work bc he had them, but never used them. He got mad and asked if I always think people are stupid. I wanted to say yes, but there were people around. I just let him berate me. I said, you know it works but how come you never use them? He gets mad. Went off on me. I don't know why people are so sensitive? Such low self-esteem. Wanna get on my level? Work and be smart. I asked why he was trying to be a smartarse. He asked me the same thing. They don't know anything, yet they act like they do. I said I was just going to show you they work. Never understand these people thinking I was condescending. You go fishing with someone, you talk fishing. He makes it like I'm talking life or things about his mommy. I guess if they want to know, I am smarter than everyone in this fooking game. My brother caught many trout in front of buddy and them and they asked him what it was he was using the day before. My brother said, it's just a random cheap spinner, knowing exactly what it was. That's his favorite. I couldn't see from the distance, but I knew what he was using just by the big flash. I said, it's a Joe's Fly. Now these kids could guess how I know these things. I told you I am an oracle and a genius. A guy today was killing it in the shallow. I said to buddy who have just berated me, "You wanna know a good lure? Ask that guy." At this point, I'm just being a prick. The guy comes over and I was interested moreso than my buddy bc I am all about knowledge. I asked if I can see his lure. He says it's a spoon. I looked at it and said, "It's a Cleo." I'm letting people know I am the best in this game. Before we had the berating, buddy took out a chrome spinner. He didn't know what it was. He catches a fish. He asked if I know in order to buy more. I said Mepps. He then tested me if I know what his in-line was. I looked at the blade and built and I said, that's them Chinese Roosters you see at Walmart and they don't spin that well. They are made thicker everywhere. These kids wanna talk to me about fishing? Fooking kidding me. Kids these days are fools. They have no gratitude. I put them on the most fish of their lives and they trash my skills. I taught them to buy the best rod, instead of that trash rod. Now he's killing it. They fishing to eat. I fish the art. I also taught these kids the elite level. We were the only ones killing it out of the hundreds of people there but they don't want to give me credits and just put me on blast like that. Fools they are. They ought to be grateful they get to fish with the best there is. My going rate to be around me is $800 per hour unlike Randy, and I don't even charge them since they are friends. No more, not even being frienemies. I kid you not. People are losing respect these days. You don't wanna know how many spoiled, entitled brats there are in the world. Sometimes it is best to play dumb like my brother and lie to these idiots. Losing faith in humanity. They've even seen that I put that Mexican gang gang on them fish when he asked to buy a lure from me. I gave him two jigs and a Kastmaster and he smoked them for being a clueless gangster. They asked why I do that. I never told them, but my heart is pure and I want people to know they are fishing with the best of the best. I took these dumb kids from zero to hero in a matter of minutes, yet nobody sees and nobody gave me my due respect. It's a shame what this world has come to. If people don't respect your skills, you don't need to be around them, and have no mercy if they shall come against you. I see why people don't humble themselves and always play the villain. Tomorrow I shall go take them out again. Today, I suggested we go to this area. I told the dumb buddy to go to the beach since I had to park outside. He is so smart he went another way. He is so spoiled I had to drop him off inside. When I came back on foot to the beach, he wasn't there. There were some guys there struggling. I got there and it was every cast. It was less than 5 minutes and I limited out. The buddy came soon after to join me and he asked if I have caught anything. I told him I limit out. Lol. Ask the guys that were there. Surely they were impressed. It's always like that. They always watch me and my crew kill it. Like I said, gotta declutter these useless friends. My heart is not cold. The world is cold. Just want yall to read a cool story.

That makes sense but the downside is that you probably go through worms faster. Ever since they started making offset hook jigheads, I've favored them because the worm can slide down the shank with less damage. My favorite has been Decoy nail bomb

got a idea seeing this. if they have the screw loc on tale plyers straighten it ou cut it short make one bend with needle nose plyers so just a ssingle hook like is made plastic should com off it easy. thinking of pouring mine now by high temp rtv coveru=ing screw lock area and use the wire weed gaurd then cut bend to shape

If you could only bottle up Larry Nixon's knowledge. Great Tip. Thanks for sharing.

That's amazing! Thanks, Matt!

I never would have thought that. 🤔👍

I’ve got an idea. For those that only have the Shaky Heads with the pigtail keepers, what about cutting the pigtail keeper a lot shorter so that it only takes about a half of a turn to thread the bait on it instead of 3-4 turns. Think the bait would break away easily during the bite? I’m gonna try it.

Myself I never really liked those cork screw heads, I like the ewg ball head type, great tip though!

Yep Larry is the man,met him at fishing university .he speaks I listen lol

One added tip with the original Spot Remover head is the key to improving your hook up and catch ratio is take a pair of needle nose pliers and open up the hook point angle about 2 ~ 4 degrees. Don't overbend the hook or you will weaken it or break it.

Good stuff as usual Matt! Ideas for topics. I would love to see a vid on when rotating baits to find a pattern when to change baits. Is it 5 casts each or 15 minutes? I would love to see your approach to this. Another would be when to change areas of the lake. I know we all would love your advice on this.

Great tip as always. Will that set up go through grass or at least flip into holes in submerged grass?

Mine is pig tail keeper haven't catch anything last July 😄 great info will buy some regular keeper for next season.

I use the pig tail football head but a wide gap hook instead of the j hook rarely lose fish

Solid tips once again.

I’ve used jewels shakey head which is like a Texas rig, used both types of spot remover, found I liked the pigtail better but was using elaztech products then that don’t go on the original spot remover, going to try some of yours and see if I notice the difference

Makes sense!

I use that pro Spot Remover head and this past summer I caught a 7.2lb at Table Rock and when I lipped the fish I held him up and the hook fell out of his mouth, I think I just learned why that happened, thank you, now I can sleep at night!!! Lol!!!

Makes sense👍thanks for the tip!

I cut the screw lock so there is only 1 coil left. That is enough to hold the worm on and open up the gap

Mesu has a head with corkscrew but it swings away when the fish hits. Comes with a bigger corkscrew which I change out to the Owner small ones for the worms I like to use. TW sells them. I think you would like. I sure do..

I believe when especially a big bass sucks in a bait like a shakey head.. it has the whole bait in its mouth and we as bass fishermen don't realize how much it takes to open up the fish's mouth to get a proper hook into it.. head design on a shakey head I feel is key to help that..

Totally the truth, I hook way more with the push on keeper or putting on like a tex rig then the screw on. Bought some nice ones that had the screw, wasn't til I ran out and had to use the push on did I see a huge difference

100% correct...hate the corkscrews. I pour the midwest finesse jig with a modified mold to accept a larger hook. It uses 1 wire keeper. I skin hook to that. How I have gotten around the using too many plastics problem. Purchased an injector and mold. I now remelt my used plastics. Win-win. Paying it forward...that's what you are doing

another great video bub. thanks as always.

Absolutely agree. I don't care for the pigtail keepers. Larry Nixon is the man.

I've been using the Owner pigtail shaky head jig for years, never miss fish.

Sorry, I'm a bit late to this one! Question,.....did you ever try modifying your existing pigtails and if so how did that work out? I.E. - straightening them out and shortened with a hooked end.

🍺Thanks Matt. Numerous company’s make EWG screw lock shakyheads that could help that potential issue some. Berkley fusion 19 Shakyheads are 35%-50% off today at Tacklewarehouse.

I don’t fish shaky heads much, well none, but that makes all the sense in the world. When I do finally fish one I will remember this. I am a big time drop shot devotee. Would love to hear when to fish drop shot or shaky head.

Great tip, what happens to all the worms that wind up in the water, I heard that fish that swallow them end up dying because they can't pass them. What do u think?

What about a pigtail keeper on EWG shakey head? That would seem to give you extra room for a good hook set.

Thanks Matt. I find that I don't shaky head as much since the neko came out. How do you feel about threading the worm with a keeper on the hook? Went to a paid seminar that Larry and 3 other pros gave back in 2004. To this day the nicest pro I ever meet. The people asked some of the most off the wall questions I ever heard. He was the only pro who didn't get irritated.

This maybe more of my problem than what I thought was a rod action problem. In the month of July I was on fire with shakyhead(dizzy diamond matched to owner shakyhead). My problem was anything under 4lb it was no problem. Anything bigger than 4lb I was skin hooking them. I lost a 6+lb at the boat and than the next day I believe I caught that same fish and as soon as I landed it the hook fell out. I thought the rod was 2 light(duckett medium fast spinning)

This tip makes total sense. Randy B says you can use the screw keeper but hook the worm on the edge just putting the hook slightly under the skin. Do you have any thoughts

Good info!