Help, grass and slime fishing

I’m really have a hard time of fishing in grass at nearby lakes.  My favorite bait is the shakey head and every cast returns with grass/slim on the hook each time.   I only recently encountered this issue as I’ve fished mostly light grass lakes in the past.  I’m looking for some advice on how to fish these areas and what baits to use.   I don’t want to be clearing this slime of my hook each time.  I’ve heard to use spinners, crankbaits on edge of grass on deeper side.  Maybe I need to get rid of my thinking to throw as close to shore as possible as this will obviously have to take me through the grass.  Some areas in my region where I encounter this is Sandy River Reservoir, Diascund Resevoir, and Chickohoiminy Lake in VA.  Awesome fisheries that I want to get good at but I can’t seem to get past this issue. Any advice on helping me improve with this skill is greatly appreciated.   I’m not even sure what type of grass I’m speaking of but it starts just near the shore and is present until the water deepens.