I started fishing the shake flick about 2yrs ago and had great sucess but now i can get them to bite it. why?

all last year it was terrrible i would fish it every weekend  to see if particular times and conditions were better, but no luck.

what could i be doing wrong. any info would be appericated. oh by the way i fish it on a spinning outfit with 2 pound braid, which is smaller

than sewing thread. and i use an 1/8 ounce flick jig most fish here are deep water bass that live in 18-35 feet majority of the time.

Try changing two things. Go with 6 or 8 lb fluoro, scratch the braid even if it is that thin. And up your weight. 1/8 oz on a plastic work for fishing 18-35 ft deep is way too light. I would put money down that you are not even reaching the fish. Try atleast 1/4 to get that deep and work it off the bottom

Try what Koofy says.

 

Go heavier weight.

 

Use flouro line.

 

Consider changing bait's color.

Heres something I think that would work pretty well. Go to your local tackle store or Dicks. Get a few 3/32 nail weights (not 1/16 which is also common), push one into the tip of each end and go with a weightless wacky hook. While the 3/16 may seem light in terms of weight it changes the dynamic of how the bait falls and it gets down there a lot quicker to the bottom. Once it gets down to the bottom fish it like you normally would, except now the ends of the bait are hugging the bottom and when you twitch it or pull up it almost collapses on itself and then opens up again on the fall. I promise the fish have never seen that before

Most of your bites on a flick shake are going to come on the drop so don't spend as much time working it back to the boat.  Once it hits bottom, pop it up 3 or 4 feet and let it fall again.  If you don't get bit reel it in and make another cast.  Slim senkos work well.

The Flick Shaky jig is a ball head without a skirt collar and the worm is a special design with curved flat ends.

There are 2 lengths and the shorter 4.75" seems to work best on this rig. Your line isn't an issue, bass are rarely line shy, but it bothers anglers to use braid tied directly to lures; you are probably using 6 lb braid with 2 lb mono diameter?

Are you catching any bass with other lures in the areas you are fishing? Do you meter fish near the bottom or suspended? There isn't a specific depth bass prefer year around, there are specific depths seasonally, daily and hourly. Depth is one factor that is misunderstood by most bass anglers and extremely important with finesse presentations. When bass are less active the lure needs to be presented very close to the bass!

Tom

The Flick Shaky jig is a ball head without a skirt collar and the worm is a special design with curved flat ends.

There are 2 lengths and the shorter 4.75" seems to work best on this rig. Your line isn't an issue, bass are rarely line shy, but it bothers anglers to use braid tied directly to lures; you are probably using 6 lb braid with 2 lb mono diameter?

Are you catching any bass with other lures in the areas you are fishing? Do you meter fish near the bottom or suspended? There isn't a specific depth bass prefer year around, there are specific depths seasonally, daily and hourly. Depth is one factor that is misunderstood by most bass anglers and extremely important with finesse presentations. When bass are less active the lure needs to be presented very close to the bass!

Tom

Highly disagree with you. A few years ago when superlines were the new hot thing I started using it on my senko rod as well as my jig rod (both which are techniques where the bass often have time to sit and look at your bait). I noticed a major drop in the amount of bites I was having. Fish with any pressure at all will become line shy, look at trout for instance. Now I have been running straight copolymer or fluoro on all my setups with the exception of my punching rod with 65 lb braid and my hookups skyrocketed once I made the switch.

 

Also, when bass are less active a lot of times finesse can be the totally wrong approach. When they get sluggish reaction bites are often the way to boat fish. Enticing a bass to eat and getting one to swipe at your bait as it wizzes by are opposite ends of the spectrum, and both should be used when finding a pattern that they want.

Highly disagree with you. A few years ago when superlines were the new hot thing I started using it on my senko rod as well as my jig rod (both which are techniques where the bass often have time to sit and look at your bait). I noticed a major drop in the amount of bites I was having. Fish with any pressure at all will become line shy, look at trout for instance. Now I have been running straight copolymer or fluoro on all my setups with the exception of my punching rod with 65 lb braid and my hookups skyrocketed once I made the switch.

Also, when bass are less active a lot of times finesse can be the totally wrong approach. When they get sluggish reaction bites are often the way to boat fish. Enticing a bass to eat and getting one to swipe at your bait as it wizzes by are opposite ends of the spectrum, and both should be used when finding a pattern that they want.

Have you ever handled 6 lb super braid that is the diameter of 2 lb FC or mono? If bass looked that closely to your lure, they would never strike it. I personally do not fish with braid, unless in heavy cover applications. 65 lb braid like a rope compared to 6 lb braid, it's so small in diameter that you have a hard time seeing it to tie a knot.

I tested 10 lb Daiwa Samuri braid on a drop shot rig without a leader of FC line and with a 6 lb leader fishing deep clear structure lakes and couldn't determine any difference in catch per hour rates on highly pressured bass. 10 lb braid is twice the diameter of 6 lb and 10 lb is difficult to handle on the water to rig and tie knots.

The purpose of testing 10 lb super braid without a leader was due to knot failure issues joining FC leaders to the main line braid. I just went back to 6 lb FC main line and eliminated the extra knots and braid handling issue, not because it didn't work.

It's always easier to catch active bass then inactive bass, it's also a misconception that an angler can tease a bass into becoming active when it is not. Bass are individual fish and on their own time table, so if you cover enough water long enough the odds of finding active bass are good, but it's more likely you pass up more catchable bass that are active in another location. That is bass fishing, different strokes for different folks!

Tom

Have you ever handled 6 lb super braid that is the diameter of 2 lb FC or mono? If bass looked that closely to your lure, they would never strike it. I personally do not fish with braid, unless in heavy cover applications. 65 lb braid like a rope compared to 6 lb braid, it's so small in diameter that you have a hard time seeing it to tie a knot.

I tested 10 lb Daiwa Samuri braid on a drop shot rig without a leader of FC line and with a 6 lb leader fishing deep clear structure lakes and couldn't determine any difference in catch per hour rates on highly pressured bass. 10 lb braid is twice the diameter of 6 lb and 10 lb is difficult to handle on the water to rig and tie knots.

The purpose of testing 10 lb super braid without a leader was due to knot failure issues joining FC leaders to the main line braid. I just went back to 6 lb FC main line and eliminated the extra knots and braid handling issue, not because it didn't work.

It's always easier to catch active bass then inactive bass, it's also a misconception that an angler can tease a bass into becoming active when it is not. Bass are individual fish and on their own time table, so if you cover enough water long enough the odds of finding active bass are good, but it's more likely you pass up more catchable bass that are active in another location. That is bass fishing, different strokes for different folks!

Tom

yes I have seen and used 6 lb braid. Not worth it in my opinion at all. If 6 lb braid was that invisible you would see nearly everybody using that instead of fluoro for finesse fishing.