When largemouth, smallmouth or spotted bass get fussy or when Jimmy Mason needs to put a limit of bass in the boat, he commonly turns to a “shaky-head worm,” which refers to a finesse worm rigged on a jighead and fished along the bottom with shakes of the rod tip or gentle lifts.

Mason, a BASS pro, isn’t alone, either. “Last year shaky-heads were extremely popular on Tour. They accounted for a lot of limits for a lot of fishermen,” Mason said.

Mason’s shaky-head worm of choice about 80 percent of the time is a YUM 4-inch Houdini Worm. His alternative offerings for the same rig include a NottaWorm and a 4-inch YUM Dinger. He hooks his baits weedless, like a Texas rig.

Mason uses a 1/8-, ¼- or 3/8-ounce round jighead with the eye at a 90-degree angle. The round head and 90-degree angle are both important for causing the jighead to rock on the bottom when he shakes the rod tip. That makes the Houdini Worm dance up and down without actually hopping.

Mason, who guides on the Tennessee River when he is not on the road fishing tournaments, uses a shaky head extensively on guide trips because it produces fast action but also accounts for a good number of large fish.

He also really likes a shaky-head worm’s versatility. He fishes it year-round and around many types of structure and cover, and his presentations range from stationary shakes to gentle hops to just letting the bait fall through the water column.

While most anglers associate shaky-head fishing only with clear water, spotted bass and ultra-finesse situations, Mason has used this rig all over the country and in all types of lakes. He has even brought bass to the scales that he caught on shaky-head worms at Lake Okeechobee.

Along the Tennessee River, Mason especially likes a shaky-head Houdini Worm for working steep, rocky banks that drop almost vertically but in stair-step fashion. He casts atop the first step and shakes the rod tip very gently. He wants the jighead to rock a bit and then for the worm to slip off the first step. “I don’t pull it very far,” he said, “because I don’t want to miss the next step.”

Mason also commonly fishes shaky-heads over points and under docks. Presentations are similar to what he uses along steep rocky banks, except he’ll commonly shake the worm more aggressively. Getting worms under docks often calls for skipping casts.

A shaky-head worm also is Mason’s offering of choice for catching bass that suspend beside bridge pilings. For probing pilings he uses a do-nothing approach, simply casting beside a piling, letting the Houdini Worm drop with his spool open and watching for the line to jump. When it does (which often happens often) he sets the hook with a snap of his wrist and reels in a bass.