Shaky-Head Fishing For Lake Of The Ozarks Crappie

[Phil Lilley]

by John Neporadny

One of the latest bass fishing rages is starting to catch on with Lake of the Ozarks crappie anglers as well.

The combination of a jig head and small finesse worm known as a shaky head worm has become the rig many bass pros rely on when the fishing gets tough. A couple of savvy crappie anglers have also discovered a miniature version of the shaky head worm produces fish especially on heavily pressured waters.

While fishing with a buddy a couple of years ago on Lake of the Ozarks, Phil Gardner threw a tube bait around the docks and his partner rigged an Eagle Claw Nitro Trailer on a jig head. “He started absolutely waxing me with those things,” recalls Gardner.

When Gardner borrowed some of his partner’s trailer worms and rigged up his own shaky head, he immediately started catching fish. Since then he has employed the jig head and Eagle Claw worm to present to crappie suspended around large private and community docks in the fall and winter on his home lake. “I have become a firm believer in the thing because I guarantee it will out catch a regular crappie tube 5 to 1,” Gardner says.

A variety of jig heads will work with the Eagle Claw worm, but Gardner prefers a CT Minnow Jig, which has a bullet-shaped head and a keeper barb to secure the worm to the jig better. When rigged properly, the worm should be straight in line with the jig head. “I think it falls a little better (with the minnow head) and that bullet-style head comes through the brush a lot better than a round head,” says Gardner.

Throughout autumn and early winter, Gardner prefers his shaky head to fall at a faster rate so he opts for a 1/16-ounce jig head. However, when the fish become sluggish in the dead of winter, Gardner selects a 1/32-ounce jig for a slow-falling shaky head. The Missouri angler favors a chartreuse Nitro worm for most of his shaky head presentations, but he sometimes tries a white worm that he colors the tip with a dash of chartreuse Spike-It spray.

Gardner’s presentation consists of pitching his shaky head along the sides or into the wells of docks and letting the lure pendulum back to the boat without reeling in line. He believes the worm has a more natural fall with the pendulum presentation, and he creates more tail action on the worm when he shakes his rod as the lure sinks.

The crappie veteran claims the key to his presentation is pinpointing the depth of the fish. Once he discovers the strike zone, Gardner can lengthen or shorten his pitch so his shaky head will swing back to the same depth each time he presents the shaky head. When Gardner guesses the combo has reached the strike zone, he starts shaking the worm to trigger a bite.

“Most of the time they will hit the thing on the fall if they are really aggressive,” says Gardner. “A lot of the fish will be suspended 2 to 4 feet deep under the foam and they will knock 6 inches of slack out of your line.” While the fish will thump the shaky head some days, there are other times Gardner has to pay close attention to his line for that telltale mushy feeling or watch for the line to go slack on the descent.

Although line watching is essential to his presentation, Gardner prefers using clear 4-pound P-Line because he believes a high-visibility line spooks the fish in clear water. He pitches his shaky head on a 5 1/2-foot light-action Bass Pro Shops Wally Marshall Signature Series Spinning Rod with an ultralight Shimano spinning reel.

For information on lodging and other facilities at the Lake of the Ozarks or to receive a free vacation guide, call the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-FUN-LAKE or visit the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitors Bureau web site at funlake.com.

[WHARFRAT]

I'd like to see a pic of your bait set up. I'm always willing to try new things.

[Old plug]

That post was by a writer for lake of the Ozark's. He is just repeating what he is told. I would imagine a shaky lure might work sometimes but it is only one thing and one presentation. You could put a trout worm or Some other small colorful tidbit on a 1/16 or 1/32 jig and do just well. You want to catch crappie in the winter one of the best ways I know is tipping the jig with crappie candy. I just posted about fishing my dock this afternoon. I was dropping a tube tipped with a piece of crappie candy. I went down about 15 ft then i started a slow retrieve. I would raise the jig a couple inches then let it set a few seconds then repeat it over and over. Sometimes i will move it less than that much and let it set longer.

[Blazerman]

I did a search for Eagle claw Nitro trailer worm and found another article on using this tactic along with others for wintertime crappie at LOZ.

http://www.finsntales.com/all/hot-tips-for-cold-water-crappie/

I am always ready to try new things as well and I usually have different baits on my crappie rods to see which ones will work best for the day.

Old Plug, it would be interesting to have a couple different people fishing for crappie using their usual tactics and have one use this shaky head set up and see if that person catches more than the others.

Also when you say crappie candy are you talking about Berkley crappie nibblers or is that something different?

[Old plug]

I do not like writers to attempt to push products under the guise of being helpful. I will say this if you really want o catch big crappie use big baits. And i agree one of the best ways is a suspending jerk bait. These two in the picture came on two cast.off a bluff point. The water was about 60 ft deep where they hit the lure at about 4 ft. They were wintering and came up to to maybe suck up some sun

[WHARFRAT]

Looks a little "summering" to me. I'm just sayin.

That being said, them are about 14 inchers. Real Nice!

[Old plug]

I bit bigger than 14. Now iam. Not sure anymore.i rarely take pictures without a roler in back of them. I am almost sure the black was over 17 inches.

[WHARFRAT]

Man, that's really good!

As many fish that I've caught on our lake, I've never had one over 14".

This year, as far as avg size, was one of the best yrs I've ever had, yet, I only caught a handful over 13".

My wife caught a 14 in this spring time, but not me.

In fact I've never broke the 16" mark ever!

Now this is what a lot of people say on my end of the lake,,,,,,, that there are no large crappie on the Niangua arm, and that you got to go up to the main lake to find any size.

Don't really believe that, but it does make me wonder a bit. I really gave it my all this year. Now if I have the same results with no 15's this year, then I might be believing their stories.

Congrats on those two pigs!

[fishinwrench]

Hard to beat the Porter mill bend to Proctor stretch for bigger than average crappie on LO.

More than a few Monsters have come from the mid-lake (chimney cove/Kinchelow area) though....so ya just never know.

The thing about crappie IMO is that there isn't a single bite more meat on a 12"er than there is on a 10 1/2"er, their head, bones, and skin just gets bigger

[WHARFRAT]

The thing about crappie IMO is that there isn't a single bite more meat on a 12"er than there is on a 10 1/2"er, their head, bones, and skin just gets bigger

Yeah, I'll agree with you about that.

Me personally, I never keep anything over 13". No real reason, just what I do.

But, for picture purposes, I would sure like to catch me a 16"+ fish, and I want to do it around here!