The shaky head rig don’t get talked about much.
This is an ultra finesse rig , used for largemouth , smallmouth and spotted bass.
I usually fish these on off shore rock piles or scattered boulders with surrounding chunk rock.
Typically between 12 and 20 ft of water.
The shaky head is a stand up jig head with a soft plastic trailer.
My go to is a buckeyes lures Spot Eraser with a zoom trick worm.
Though there are a lot of other good combos out there.
A brush hog is another good trailer , as is a zoom Super Do
I’ve tried some of the Live Target craws and am becoming a fan.
Trick is to have a plastic trailer that has some floatation.
The spot eraser has a coiled spring deal that holds the head of the plastic in place while the hook is rigged texposed. That is a standard Texas rig with just a hint of the hook point exposed.

My favorite color trick worm is black or blue black , while the craw imitation is green pumpkin.

The jig is kinda light 1/4- 5-16 oz and your fishing kinda deep.
Therefore , a rod with great sensitivity is a must. The bite is barely perceptible even with high end rods.
I use spinning gear exclusively with shaky heads.

This is not a search bait kinda deal. Find bass with your electronics , mark em. Get into position and start working.
It’s a slow going kind of presentation.

Short casts are the deal. The line after the cast should be not much more than 45 degrees when the lure is in the bottom.
20 ft of water , 40-50 ft cast.

Cast to the target area. Let it sink to bottom on a semi slack line. And watch the line constantly. A lot of hits come on the fall for some reason.
Once on bottom. Let her sit a little bit. Then gently and I mean gently shake it. Sometimes I just tickle the line with my forefinger ahead of the spool.
You just want to make the lure , Which is standing straight up , to quiver, ever so slightly.
Do the quiver a few times then hop the jig a foot with a snap of the rod , let it settle and quiver it again.
You are gonna want to hold the rod at about 2:00 position.

Stay in contact with the bottom.
Feel what the lure is doing at all times.
Most strikes are detected when the lure doesn’t feel like it did a few seconds ago.
Hook sets are free , and if it turns out to be nothing , no harm , no foul , just continue the routine.

I admit , the shaky head ain’t exciting. Matter of fact it’s tedious.
But after a cold front , putting this stand up , quivering dude in front of a bass’s face and teasing him can be quite productive.

When going is tough , try a shaky head.
It’s turned a bust into a decent day for me on more than one occasion.

I blindly bought a size 4000 spinning reel, and I have no clue what to throw out with it. I’ve got 12lb braid on it. I wish I had bought a size 3000 or lower for bass fishing

How much does the 4000 weigh? If less than 8 oz, I’d say still okay for Bass fishing, but on the heavy side.

Better weight class would be anything under 7.5 oz. 6.5 oz would be ideal.

The 4000 series reel is really about “swing weight”. You can throw out anything within the recommended line/lure weight range indicated on your rod, but the “swing weight” of a heavy rod and reel may wear you down.

That said, have fished for Bass many times, using multiple finesse techniques, with a PENN Battle II 3000 spinning reel that weighs a whopping 12.5 oz.

And I’m casting that setup with both hands for better cast control.

The key is to first balance the 4000 reel with your rod.

How? Mount reel on rod; hold rod straight horizontally and place your index finger of your right hand under the very top of the rod handle where it meets the rod blank. Let go with your left hand. A balanced rod/reel at rest will be horizontal. Tip down at rest is “tip heavy”. If “tip heavy”, add weight to the butt of the rod handle.

How? The Home Depot (or Lowe’s, Ace Hdwe, et al) sell rubber crutch feet that go on the bottom of crutches. Start by inserting a couple of quarters into to the rubber crutch thing and slide it onto the rod butt. Add or subtract quarters until you have a horizontally balanced rod/reel. I have $1 in quarters in one of mine.

Good luck, and post a photo of your first “4000” catch!
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by Hoocaso