Bassmaster Elite Series pro Jeff Kriet has earned a hard-won reputation as one of the better deep-water fishermen on either tour. Whenever Kentucky Lake, Oneida or Clarks Hill rolls around, you can pretty much count on Kriet for a Top 10.

He loves the football head, the dropshot and especially the shakey-head. Watch for even more shakey work from Kriet this year, as two key products that he developed are now available, or soon will be. So he's got a custom arsenal that he can promote on the big stage and little screen, which will help him and his sponsors.

And you can bet that arsenal will get some work at the upcoming Lay Lake Bassmaster Classic.

Details First

Kriet says that although shakey-heading may seem an easy technique, there are subtleties, just like with dropshotting, that make all the difference. Some of those subtleties have to do with tackle, others concern how you fish.

First, the how-to.

"I can say truthfully that if there ever was a year-round bait, it's the shakey," Kriet said. "And I like to throw it a lot this time of year when the fish are starting to slide back on the channel banks. They won't always bite a jig this time of year, which is why I throw it a lot. It just generates a lot of bites and it's probably the first thing I pick up.

"It's my confidence bait, and don't listen to people who tell you it doesn't catch big fish. If you're at a lake where it takes big sacks, and the bite's tough, throw it."

The key to successful deep-water shakey fishing, according to Kriet, is to first get some traction, then add some slack. Cast the shakey-head and drag it along bottom until it catches. One you get resistance, put some slack in the line and shake the slack, keeping the shakey-head in place.

"You want just enough tension to still feel the bite, but you want to shake the thing without moving it. The mistake a lot of guys make is pulling on the line. They keep it too tight and fish will bite it much better on a slack line."

Kriet also fishes the shakey-head in a directly vertical fashion while marking fish on his graph, and skips it around docks quite a bit.

Design Factors

Kriet's a stickler when it comes to shakey-head tackle. He wants a worm with a thin, limber tail that floats, and a head that corrects several "mistakes."

He uses a worm he designed – the Squirrel Tail worm from Big Bite Baits. And for years he poured his own heads, but Jewel Bait Co. is about to release a shakey-head that Kriet developed over the past 12-plus months.

About his worm, Kriet said: "The main thing, when we came up with the Squirrel Tail, was I felt there was more we could do with the worm. I wanted the tail to have a little more action, because the whole thing about a shakey-head is moving it without moving it. So I wanted the tail thin like a noodle, and I wanted the end of the tail to stand up. So you can move the Squirrel Tail worm very little and get a lot of action."



BassFan Store
Photo: BassFan Store

Kriet designed the Big Bite Squirrel Tail to stand up and generate maximum action with the slightest movement.

In regards to the head, Kriet said it corrects many problems that other shakey-heads fail to address. The new head from Jewel hasn't been named yet – it might be called the Squirrel head – but it'll be available in the lighter sizes Kriet typically throws, like 1/16- and 1/8-ounce, as well as the more popular sizes.

It's a football shape with a sideways line-tie and it features a brand new Mustad hook that Kriet and Jewel designed.

Here's Kriet's rationale on the head design.

  • "There's never been the perfect hook, and everybody else out there just used hooks that were already available. Because you fish a shakey-head on 6- and 8-pound line, you need a lightwire hook so you can just lean into the fish to set the hook. We have the exclusive on this hook."

  • "The keeper is another big deal. I'm very opposed to the heads that have a keeper in line with the hook. Our keeper is offset from the line of the hook. That way, when you pull to set the hook, you don't have nearly as much worm to go through. And we used a wire barb for our keeper that won't blow out the worm when you're skipping docks."

  • "The line-tie's also important. You want the line-tie pretty tight to the head, and sideways, because it won't get hung up as much. And our line-tie is turned down just a little."

  • "The head shape is like a little football-head. That's what you want for dragging and shaking on bottom, but also, a football head skips way better than a round-head for docks."