Fukae Adds Swing to His Shake
Megabass pro Shinichi Fukae adds a twist to his shaky head presentation. (PAA: Chris Dutton)
Shinichi Fukae put a new twist on an old finesse tactic during the PAA Bass Pro Shops Tournament Series event on Lake Norman and almost went home a winner.
The Megabass pro was targeting spotted bass suspended over brush anywhere from 20 to 30 feet deep. But instead of using a drop shot rig or traditional shaky head tactic on the bottom, the intrepid Texan tried a different presentation. After leading the first two days, his bite died on the final day and Fukae finished fourth.
With the help of his wife, Miyu, providing some translation, Fukae described the technique as a pendulum fall instead of the typical vertical presentation.
“I throw the bait out and let it free-fall to come back toward the spot, let it hit the bottom and then contact the brush,” Fukae said. “Then, reel (fast) and stop, reel (fast) and stop. They’re looking for the bait but not biting (on the bottom). When it stops it’s right in front of them.”
Fukae said the shaky head is used “a lot” in Japan, where myriad finesse tactics are more common than power techniques in the United States. He used the shaky head technique he described on Lake Lanier in the FLW Tour’s Forrest Wood Cup championship, although not with as much success.
However, Lanier stalwart Jason Meninger also did something similar and made the Cup’s final-day cut. He called it “swing shotting,” but used a drop-shot rig instead of a shaky head with the pendulum presentation.
Either way, it’s a new wrinkle in the finesse game.
Fukae rigged his shaky head with a green pumpkin Gary Yamamoto Pro Senko on three shaky heads: 1/8th, 1/16th and 3/32nd ounce sizes. That variation may seem insignificant but obviously, at least to Fukae, there was enough difference to matter.
He worked the baits on a Shimano Stella spinning reel with 10-pound test braid that had an 8-pound YKG Yoz-Ami fluorocarbon leader. Fukae said instead of using a regular finesse worm, the Yamamoto Pro Senko offered a better appearance.
“On the (shaky) head, it has a very tight wiggle, very tight,” he explained, moving his hand quickly like a fish flitting away. “It is like a small minnow swimming away quickly. The spotted bass are schooling but suspending. One will chase, and another. They become aggressive.”
That’s when the quick bursts and sudden stop, with the resulting fall, triggers bites. It makes sense, like with a lipless crankbait being burned and then stopped so it will “flutter” or killing a regular crankbait momentarily during the retrieve. That sudden change sometimes is all it takes.
“If they are following … that’s when they bite,” he said.
