Rigging worms wacky-style is an old trick, and it remains deadly in shallow conditions. Using a jighead gives this rigging option greater versatility in fishing depth. The weight of the head also provides a pivot point to shake the worm. As with other recent innovations, like a weightless Senko or Chatterbait, catching bass sometimes seems amazingly easy, since fish haven’t experienced the new effect. “I’ve fished with a lot of top anglers here on the West Coast and they’ve been amazed at the bass I’ve caught behind them,” Swendseid emphasizes. “It’s versatile, catching bass from the shallows down to 30 feet or more. I’ve caught big walleyes on the Columbia River, too, as well as rainbow trout.”
Northern Perspectives
Ross Evans, a bass tournament angler from Minnesota and tackle company rep, used a wacky jig extensively in northern natural lakes last summer, and scored high tournament finishes with it. Like Swendseid, he tested its effectiveness by following other anglers on a spot and trying a wacky jig after they left. “This rig proved incredibly attractive to fish,” Evans says. “I’ve been using it primarily along outside weededges and among deep rocks. One advantage for weedline fishing is that if you use light heads (1/16-ounce), you don’t hang up in grass. The worm settles on the stalks instead and can be easily popped off, frequently triggering bites. If I don’t get a bite soon after the worm hits bottom along a weedline, I reel in and cast again. Most bites come on the fall, and if you leave it out too long, bluegills pester it.
“If you simply fish down a weedline, you’re besieged by small bass,” he notes. “Instead, I fish it on key big-fish spots, the spot-on-the-spot, as it’s known. I use my Humminbird Side Imaging sonar to find these key transitions on structural features.
“At first you may catch some small bass on such a spot. But keep fishing and the big ones will bite. I’ve fished small spots for hours and kept catching bass, both largemouths and smallmouths. Its only downfall is in windy conditions, as this rig falls slowly and wind prevents a good shaking motion, as well as limiting feel for bites.”
Matt Paino of Optimum Baits, which imports Japanese wacky jig tackle, is another fan, having learned the techinque in Japan. “Its irregular action is a natural attractor for bass,” he says. “The secret is to keep a lot of slack in your line so your shaking imparts action without pulling the lure out of the strike zone.”
After these reports, I couldn’t wait to try Flick Shakin’, wacky-jigging, or whatever you choose to call the technique. On my first outing I caught seven largemouth bass and seven smallmouth in just over an hour. I was particularly impressed to find that I caught bass as the jig fell, as I pulled it along the bottom, and as I shook it in place. While I did catch a few on crankbaits and a jigworm, bites were far faster on a wacky jig.
Since then, I’ve never found a situation where a wacky jig didn’t catch bass, though at times other techniques worked better. When it’s right, it’s really right and it simply seems too easy. It’s simple to fish and a great rig to give kids or inexperienced anglers. They will have a ball!
