Swimming a bullflat or dolive gill was the deal for me this post-spawn, and a football jighead does seem better at maintaining my depth.  Now I'd love to extend the life of my plastics and think the screwlock is the way to go.  Any insights appreciated.

 

scott

I used screw locks for a while.  I even made my own but I got tired of them and switched to super glue gel.

Screw locks definitively extend the life of plastic baits

Started making a EWG football head to try for baits like this. 

 

Allen 

I use these for big worms. I have not tried them for anything else. They work pretty well. 

 

 

Picasso Shake-E-Football.

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Picasso_Shake-E-Football_Shakey_Heads/descpage-PSF.html

 

There is also one call the Spot Sticker. One version has an EWG hook. These work well on fat baits but I have not used one in quite a while. 

 

 

 

@Munkin @FishTank

 

Those are interesting ideas and would probably be the deal with a bottom presentation.  What was working for me was rod tip up, steadily bouncing the tip, and quarter turning the reel handle on each tip drop.  The gill ends up swimming mid column over the weed beds and the fish just seem to load up as they come up and get it and I'd just reel into and lift on em.  Very similar to a jig head minnow bite.   A weedguard is fine but I'm not sure I'd want to try to punch through plastic on an ewg.  These baits have so much salt and are so dense, they get beat up relatively quickly that loctite only helps so much.  I'm hoping with all that plastic that the screwlock would handle it even better.

 

scott

 

 

You might want to do both screw lock and super glue jell together.

1 hour ago, Jig Man said:

You might want to do both screw lock and super glue jell together.

That's what I want too, it's a sourcing issue for me.  I phrased my post poorly.  Any manufacturers come to mind?

 

 

 

scott

 

 

15 minutes ago, softwateronly said:

That's what I want too, it's a sourcing issue for me.  I phrased my post poorly.  Any manufacturers come to mind?

 

 

 

scott

 

 

What about a head where you can use whatever hook you want? Opens up some options.

 

1 hour ago, RRocket said:

What about a head where you can use whatever hook you want? Opens up some options.

 

 

In my mind the joint would be counterproductive in this instance.  Each small pop and fall on a rigid jig combined with the gliding profile of the gill is what I think is giving me the swimming action.  I'll try one out though, because I don't really know and I have the materials.

 

I did just look on scottsboro's site and they make the prowler head in football and it looks to be the same owner hook as the hellfire.  I might have just found what I want to try and can't believe I forgot that tw doesn't carry all their products.

 

I appreciate all your help and open if someone finds a different place because if I'm paying shipping I'd like different weight options.  @Jig Man gets the solution because he's definitely right about the super glue.

 

scott

 

 

6th Sense Axle Swimbait Jig Heads | Tackle Warehouse

On 7/26/2025 at 11:52 PM, softwateronly said:

I'm not sure I'd want to try to punch through plastic on an ewg. 

I was scrolling through TW and I saw the Spro Skip gap football shakeyhead new from icast. No screw lock but I wonder if it will hold plastics better than a standard head. Also with the way that hook is turned you wouldnt have to punch through much plastic. Might be worth a shot. Heaviest head is 1/2oz. 

Castagaintackle has their football screwlocks 25% off

19 minutes ago, MontanaBasser said:

Castagaintackle has their football screwlocks 25% off

All I could find is a Ned head, do they have a full size head also? 

No, just the ned heads 

23 hours ago, 10,000 lakes Bassin said:

All I could find is a Ned head, do they have a full size head also? 

Out of curiosity, what's the difference?

50 minutes ago, MontanaBasser said:

Out of curiosity, what's the difference?

Hook size is probably it.  For this particular case, I'm needing a 4-5/0 to match up with the relatively chunky 4.8" bull flat.  That ned football head does look like a promising smallie option though.

 

scott

 

I will try this at some point, just need to get around to ordering it.

 

 

 

Owner Shakey Ultrahead is my go-to screwlock jighead. I think I've seen them up to 3/8oz