Poor Man's Shaky Head

[mark poulson]

This is for us hobbiests who make stuff out of stuff we have on hand, and don't pour, because we are too cheap to invest in a pot and molds.

When shaky head fishing first started out here in SoCal, years ago, my buddy and I immediately started making our own, by clamping split shot onto the bend of a 60 degree jig hook, to get a longer hooked head.  We were using 7" worms, and wanted the hook farther out toward the tail, because the fish seemed to be biting the tail and not getting all of the worm in their mouths.  We would swing, and have a half a worm come back to us.

We would glue the split shot in place with crazy glue, and then paint them with whatever paint was handy, and finally settled on nail polish as the best solution.

Recently, I made some more heads with heavier split shot, and used the removable shots. 

After I clamped the shot onto the hook, I used a pair of needle nose to bend the removable ears out so they were flat, giving the head a wide, flat seat when it hit the bottom, and helping to keep the head upright during the retrieve.

I glued the shot, like always, but then had an "inspiration".

I powder coated the head, and used my heat gun to "cure" it quickly so I could test it.

The head was rock solid, and the paint didn't chip, when I tested it in my local pond with a concrete bottom.

So here's another cheap alternative to pouring your own.

I use a Sohumi jig hook for mine, because it has a longer shank.

I got it from Barlow's:

 

http://www.barlowstackle.com/Sohumi-114-Jig-Hook-Size-40-P2507.aspx

[JBlaze]

Hello Mark. Very neat, simple engineering and using the old noggin for what it was intended. Good idea on bending those ears to get the flat stable bottom.

Merry Christmas.  John

Edited December 22, 2012 by JBlaze

[Oldfart9999]

Neat idea Mark, unfortunately I live in NY, we can't buy lead split shot so I'd still have to buy a mold.LOL

Rodney