Here's an epic fishing tale straight from the heart of Missouri! On January 3rd, 2025, we (Shaka OG and Shaka Jr.) embarked on a frosty fishing adventure at Maramec Spring Park, a renowned trout haven. Despite the chilly 20°F weather, our spirits were high, our lines were tight, and the fish were biting!
The secret weapons? Two trusty lures: the legendary Rapala Original Floater F05 Balsa Minnow in Brown Trout and the irresistible Trout Magnet™ 2.5" Crank, also in Brown Trout. The Rapala, a timeless classic, mimicked a wounded minnow with its signature action, while the Trout Magnet tantalized the trout with its jerk bait dance and enticing rattles. And boy, did they deliver!
We landed around 40 fish on the day, mainly rainbow trout. But the excitement didn't stop there. We also reeled in some impressive brown trout, adding a touch of golden glory to our haul for the day. And then, the highlight of the day: Shaka Jr. hooked a monster River Smallie, tipping the scales at around 3 pounds! He was grinning ear to ear as you can see from the picture above.
Imagine the thrill of battling these feisty fish in the pristine waters of the Meramec River, fueled by the adrenaline rush of each successful catch. The camaraderie, the shared laughter, and the pride of a young angler landing a trophy fish – moments like these are what fishing dreams are made of. I don't take these memories lightly.
Want to hear the full story, complete with all the exciting details and fishing wisdom? Tune in to the latest episode of the ShakaOG fishing podcast! You'll get a front-row seat to our unforgettable fishing adventure, learn valuable tips and tricks, and experience the joy of a perfect day on the water. So, grab your headphones, hit that play button, and get ready to be hooked!
Tired of struggling to catch bass in tough, wintery conditions? This episode dives deep into the Shaky Head technique, a finesse approach that excels when other methods fail. We'll learn from expert anglers Randy Blaukat and Gabe Montgomery (Tin Horse Monty) as they share some insights on selecting the right gear, mastering subtle presentations, and understanding bass behavior. Discover how to entice bites with slow, deliberate movements, and increase your chances of landing more fish with this effective and rewarding technique.
It's the first day of December in 2024 and it's been a little while since I've written about workouts. What a whirlwind of a Thanksgiving it was. We just jetted back from the sunny shores of South Florida, where we had plenty of turkey, got tan lines at the breach, and also managed to hit the gym a few times.
The first gym we went to on vacation was Kodiak Fitness over in Sunny Isles. The place had plenty of bodybuilding equipment new and old so that's always a treat for us. Sunny Isles is basically near Aventura Florida... So there were plenty of Russian speaking folks inside the gym on that day. We were right at home with these folks wearing our Orthodox crosses 😆
Second gym we went to was Powerhouse Gym over in Fort Lauderdale. This specific powerhouse is inside of a mall in Fort Lauderdale. This gym was also very nice. It had a lot of new equipment and I'd say the atmosphere was really more white collar professionals working out in this gym. I purchased a couple of Powerhouse Gym shirts for Lil' Shaka and me. Back in another life we used to deliver supplements to the Powerhouse Gym in St Louis, Mo but unfortunately St Louis does not have a Powerhouse gym any longer. So back to the workout, my focus was really on stretching and doing some high reps on shoulders and squats. Coming off of vacation I really didn't want to go heavy and I just wanted to focus on form. For this month I think I'm going to head into a cutting phase. Yes I know that it is holiday season and we just got done with Thanksgiving... But I think that's enough for me, time to cut. 😉
I hope you're all having a great holiday season and stay committed and driven to your goals.
Hello all. My Son and I decided to go fishing on Thanksgiving morning. Under a balmy 75-degree sky and bright bluebird sunshine, we headed to our usual spots in the Everglades off of highway 75. I won't give away all of our secrets around locations, but that should be enough for you to take a look at on a map. 😆 We figured there should not be as many people out their bank fishing on Thanksgiving, and for the most part, we lucked out. We had many of the places we like to fish off of the highway to ourselves.
Armed with a great plan to be successful, we got up around 5:30 AM and were out the door a little before 6 AM. We normally just go to the gas station, grab some donuts or something, some coffee, and some energy drinks, and we're off and running! You also definitely have to make sure you have enough water in your vehicle that you can drink while you're fishing. Even in November, it can get very hot, so you've got to stay hydrated.
I had done some research at home around some different techniques to try a few things that are different. Son likes to "grip it and rip it" with the jerkbaits. And I have to say it is a really fun way to fish if you've never done it before. The peacock bass down here in South Florida are so aggressive that they like fast movement, fast herky-jerky darting action from the lures. Most of what we like to use is really different sizes in the Rapala Husky Jerk or X-Rap. And really it was more the Husky Jerk that was getting it done on this day. More than anything for the peacock bass.
I've really been using the shaky head quite a bit in November and have had a lot of luck back home in more of a normal fall, cold, transition type of weather. But, I had an inkling that a shaky head will work in any type of condition as long as you know how to fish it, which I think in the past has been something I needed to figure out. Now that I've learned more about what type of rod, reel, line, and weight is necessary to match what the bass want at that time, I really think I've had a lot more success with catching bass with the shaky head.
In all the years that I've been fishing in South Florida and have caught many peacock bass, I've never seen a peacock bass bite a shaky head worm. That was definitely a new thing for me and it was pretty amazing! I really think it has to do with the style of presentation at the end of the day. When you really look at a Zoom Trick Worm, and the action of it in a Texas rig scenario, it looks a lot different than what the action looks like with a shaky head. The big winner on this day was really the shaky head for me. I was catching a ton of largemouth bass and a few peacock bass that were going forward as well.
The other lure that I tried was the Zoom Ultravibe Speed Worm because I've heard a lot of great things about it down here in the Glades. Sure enough, I was able to catch a couple of bass on the speed worm as well. It has a really great looking action to it that I think the fish really like as well. I did not catch a peacock bass on the speed worm but I did catch a bunch of largemouth bass on this day using it.
My son caught a ton of peacock bass with his normal jerkbait setup. He was very happy that he could fish this way and didn't want to fish with any other poles or lures 😄. He said, "You know, Papa, we're on vacation, and I don't normally get to fish like this at home, so I'm going to take full advantage," which he did!
We ended up catching over 30 bass on this day, with my son landing the first cast of the morning. It was a truly memorable Thanksgiving, a day filled with gratitude and the joy of fishing. Later that day, we gathered with family to enjoy a delicious turkey dinner that I smoked on our gas grill. As we shared stories and laughter, we gave thanks for our blessings, our loved ones, and the incredible experiences that fishing brings into our lives.
I like to follow too fisherman in the area where we live... We live in the heartland of the United States or what is known as the Midwest. I follow two individuals Gabe Montgomery who runs a YouTube channel called TinHorseMonty and Randy Blaukat who runs a YouTube channel called Intuitive Angling. I've learned many great techniques from both of these individuals. I had some luck with a shaky head a couple of years ago, but I think I forgot how much I was actually using it. From time to time there are so many lure choices out there and you become stagnant, or at least I do. I find myself using the same lures that I have been very confident with in the past.
But, I noticed as I continue to fish favorite spots that some of those lures aren't working as well as they used to. I think a lot of this has to do with the fishing pressure on these ponds and lakes, and it also has to do with the popularity of certain lures at the time. The fish absolutely learn and can become immune to some of the baits that are used over and over again. So it is good to focus on new techniques... And also realize that it's not just about the bait, there are several other factors that are out there in the fish environments that caused them to be active or not active.
So back to Randy and Gabe... Both of these guys are great fishermen and have great ideas. One of the techniques they use very effectively is the shaky head. And some of their videos lately have been about the environments in which to throw the shaky head at different times of the year specifically in the November, December and winter time frame.
Based upon some of their ideas around air temperature, atmospheric pressure, cold fronts, cloudy skies versus bluebird skies, wind, and several other factors... I've been able to have a lot of success on the shaky head here in November. It has become a go-to and I'm really enjoying it. I can be honest there's nothing better than being able to use a finesse worm in cold water, which I really did not have a ton of experience with.
The weight of the shaky head lure and also the size of the actual bait definitely matters when you get into the winter months. What I'm realizing is that I might have been using shaky heads in the past that were too light. Instead, I'm using shaky heads that are 3/8 to 3/16 and are three ought four ought hooks. These allow you to cast farther and then also make sure that the bait can stay on the bottom in windy current conditions. The other idea is to downsize your bait in the winter time. The idea is the fish are not as active and they might not be looking for a large meal. They are looking for something easy to feed on that doesn't take a lot of time and energy to make happen. I would say these are the reasons why I've had really good luck lately with fish biting it.
So in essence, don't sleep on your shaky head. I know I'm not going to! I am going to try to continue to perfect it and maybe try some other styles of baits on a shaky head as well.
The other successful bait that I've had a lot of luck on over the course of the years in the winter time is the jig. I normally use a smaller jig anyways... I'll use something like a Bitsy Craw. But what I'm doing now is taking a Zoom Speed Craw and cutting down the body a bit to make it smaller as a trailer. And, I think this is allowing me to have even more success with a jig in the winter time and I think that's going to be a go-to for me. I will say there are plenty of folks that like to go half ounce even in the winter with a bigger profile for the bigger bass, but I think the places I normally fish in the winter haven't been great places for that type of profile bait. But I could be wrong! That's the beauty of fishing trying new things and figuring out what the pattern is.
I hope you all have a great holiday season and I wish you much fishing success in the coming months.
