I've recently been trying to fish a shakey head with no avail. I have a few different styles, Gamakatsu Skip gap, VMC Rugby jig and another kind I cannot remember the name of (screw type). Now my problem is I seem to catch everything but fish on them. To my understanding you are supposed to hop and shake the worm along the bottom but every time I do this I bring up a ball of weeds. So my question is am I using this technique in the wrong places or just not working it correctly at all. I always hear/see people catching fish with this technique but right now it is more frustration than fun. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Wrong places and somewhat wrong technique.  Try and drag it until you hit a rock, lift it over, and then shake. Sometimes I cast shallow shake, drag, and shake but I dont hop that often. If they want a jumping bait Ill have a jig tied on. 

alright, I'll have to try that out. Thanks! I also assume that a rocky bottom would be best case scenario?

Shaky head works almost anywhere. Under docks is my favorite.

If the bottom of your lake isn't conducive to a shaky head, try a t-rigged finesse worm on a light light weight. Like a 1/8oz. This will be fairly similar to a shakyhead.... but alot more weedless. This works espicially well with any of the "floating" worms.

Good luck!

It's more of a cold water spring time bait, under docks when there is minimal weed growth, in my opinion.  I prefer them with creature baits instead of weenie worms. 

Thanks for the tips guys! I usually use the Lunker City Ribster worm and the Zman CrawdadZ. I think I'm gonna have to try what kikstand said, It is VERY weedy on the bottom.

don't fish shaky heads in weeds.  deadly combos are as follows 

1.  Yum Pumpkinhead 5/16 green pumpkin shaky head with a wave worm tiki craw in watermelon red flake 

2. my favorite shaky head (because they always land standing up ,  is Megastrike pro  ewg 2 shaky head in green pumpkin 1/4 to 1/2 paired with a missile bait baby d -bomb in green pumpkin purple or super bug 

megastrike make the best shaky head period.  

 

3.  missle bait warlock head with missile bait fuse craw green pumpkin purple

MegaStrike ShakE2 Professional Series/ GYCB 6.5" Kut Tail

Shaky head works almost anywhere. Under docks is my favorite.

If the bottom of your lake isn't conducive to a shaky head, try a t-rigged finesse worm on a light light weight. Like a 1/8oz. This will be fairly similar to a shakyhead.... but alot more weedless. This works espicially well with any of the "floating" worms.

Good luck!

 

My thoughts too, I also like them in deep water around sparse weeds.

It's more of a cold water spring time bait, under docks when there is minimal weed growth, in my opinion.  I prefer them with creature baits instead of weenie worms. 

While that is a time they do shine, your missing out if you don't use them year round. Late summer after the fish have seen 1000's of other baits, it seems like shaky heads and drop shotted baits will fool there fair share of big fish that might not otherwise hit a bigger bait.

 

don't fish shaky heads in weeds. 

Don't be afraid to fish them near, and in sparse weeds, but no, they are not a tool for heavy cover weed work. If you want to finesse fish in thick weeds, refer back to kikstand454's post. My local lakes are filled with mifoil, and I'll use a shaky head on the outside edge, under docks, or in thin stuff, but when they are in the thick stiff, and NOT willing to bite my standard offerings (jigs, pegged t-rig creatures, etc....) I'll often peg a light sinker (1/8th-1/4 oz.) to a finesse/trick type worm, or a 4"/5" stick bait and get bit.

As others have said, heavy cover is a no-no but if you aren't fishing in heavy cover and you are getting muck a lot then you need to downsize the weight. I fish a silt basin and the only hard bottom is the areas where the 2 creeks flow into it and the rest of the creek channel but every other area has muck on bottom. I have a lot of success all summer there fishing shaky heads but anything over 1/8oz outside of the creek channels is going to get buried in muck so try using smaller heads not exceeding 3/16oz and down as low as 1/16oz with 1/8oz being the most common.

I really like the mega strike shaky 2 jig. I gave tried a lot but still find myself going back to using zoom trick worms most of the time. They're not my fairies around weeds as they will pick them up since you're usually dragging the rig on the bottom.

Thanks for the tips guys. The only thing I can see myself having trouble with that was mentioned is fishing it around sparse weeds. In the ponds I fish I cannot see the bottom except for the really shallow areas. I do not have access to a boat so I can only fish certain areas of the pond aswell. I can see some weed mats on the surface of the water but anything else I usually drag an old jig on the bottom so I can see what I'm working with. Today I did something along the lines of what kikstand mentioned. I put an 1/8oz weight about 3 inches from my bait and it seemed to float up enough to not get hung up in the weeds. I think I'm going to have to spend a lot more time trying to master the shakey head!

Also, would the GYCB Fat Baby Craw be a good alternative to the Tiki Craw or other worms?

Thanks for the tips guys. The only thing I can see myself having trouble with that was mentioned is fishing it around sparse weeds. In the ponds I fish I cannot see the bottom except for the really shallow areas. I do not have access to a boat so I can only fish certain areas of the pond aswell. I can see some weed mats on the surface of the water but anything else I usually drag an old jig on the bottom so I can see what I'm working with. Today I did something along the lines of what kikstand mentioned. I put an 1/8oz weight about 3 inches from my bait and it seemed to float up enough to not get hung up in the weeds. I think I'm going to have to spend a lot more time trying to master the shakey head!

If there are only sparse weeds I think you'll be fine. You'll drag some veg out every once in a while, but you should also catch some fish. I have a pond near by that is similar. Shakey heads are definitely a good tool to have in the toolbox.