Everybody was baking before and just after a mid-July weigh-in for a major-money bass tournament on a hot day at Lake Neely-Henry in Alabama. A Center, Ala., bass fisherman who works as a fishing guide and owns Pitt Stop, a bait and tackle store, was hot, too, but cool in the knowledge that he had something in his bass-fishing arsenal that could make a difference on the second day of the two-day contest.
Lee Pitts and his partner Jimmy Holcombe of Rome, Ala., had just stuck 25 keeper-sized bass in the kisser with a 1/16-ounce Talon Series Lipstickers Shaky Head made in Milam, Texas, by Ivan and Andi Sanders. Their biggest-five fish — all spotted bass — went 12.32 pounds to put them in fourth place going into the final day of the fundraising event put on by the city of Gadsen, Ala.
While a majority of the tournament fishermen in the 200-boat field were busy throwing Carolina-rigged soft plastics and crankbaits, Pitts was using a “Bama Bug” (green pumpkin/junebug combination) Net Bait Trick Worm impaled on the shaky head leadhead he helped design for Talon Leadhead Lures. Pitts and his partner would go behind the other anglers, and catch spotted bass using 8-pound-test line and a spinning rod-and-reel combo.
Granted, they lost some 4- and 5-pound spotted bass that knew where to go in heavy cover to break off on the light line. But a Talon Series Lipstickers Shaky Head did the job when it counted with its heavier hook, screw-lock spring and “stand-up” presentation.
Some 3- to 6-pound bass straighten hooks on other shaky heads, Pitts said, which is why he and the Sanderses put their skill and experience together to come up with improvements obvious in the Talon Series Lipstickers Shaky Head.
“You barely move the tip of the rod with the big worm we throw on there, it’ll shake like you wouldn’t believe. It stands up good” and it’s tough, Pitts said.
Bassers all over the country are discovering the benefits of the Talon Series Lipstickers Shaky Head. It’s effectiveness is getting rave reviews at Toledo Bend, where successful bass anglers are fishing it with a Pack-A-Craw.
“We’ve talked to guys … they put like a Senko-style bait on there, lizards, but it’s really designed for a straight-tail worm,” said Andi Sanders, owner/operator of Leadhead Lures.
The Talon Shaky Head has a unique spring-lock bait keeper, Mustad Ultra-Point 4/0 red hook, a round lead head that stands a worm at 90 degrees, like it’s at attention in the military, and “super tough” intellicoat paint developed exclusively by the Sanderses.
“It’s very popular,” Andi Sanders said about the Talon Series Lipstickers Shaky Head. “What we do is put a 90-degree hook with a perfectly round head. You can just sit it there and kind of tap the rod a little bit, and it shakes a lot.”
Some people might balk at the 90-degree setup, especially considering other shaky head products have a 60-degree hook setup. It’s a just little tougher to bury the hook at such a right angle (90 degrees), Sanders agreed, but the angler gets more bites.
Pitts weighed in on that issue to help Leadhead Lures customers using Talon Series Lipstickers Shaky Heads.
“If you use more of a sweeping hookset to the side, you get a much better hookset. Lee helped a lot with the testing and the design of that (Talon Series Lipstickers Shaky Head). He’s the one who told all of his clients ‘if you set the hook to the side you catch more fish,’” Sanders said.
More and more bass fishermen have followed the motto “Get Shaky With It” since the Talon Series Lipstickers Shaky Head went on the market at the beginning of 2007, she said.
There’s a Pro model Talon Series Lipstickers Shaky Head that impresses the heck out of bass fishing pro Ben Matsubu of Hemphill, Texas, she said. It has a black nickel hook and a dimpled round leadhead that gives it even more action on the bottom, a distinctive wobble, she said.
“He (Matsubu) really likes that paint and its toughness combined with the dimpled appearance. He likes the way it acts on the bottom,” Sanders said.
The Talon Series Lipstickers Shaky Head is available in 1/16-, 1/8-, 3/16- and 5/16-ounce leadhead sizes in black, brown, watermelon, red and grape with the company’s trademark and highly visible double eye, she said. The suggested retail price for a reusable “clamshell” package of five pieces is $3.99.
You won’t find them in Wal-Mart or similar discount chain stores in the U.S. The artificial lure manufacturer with a solid reputation and “great customer service” deals with its own fishing tackle dealers and independently owned businesses, according to Sanders.
The company’s products are sold online, too.
For more information about Leadhead Lures call 409-625-1261 or go to www.leadheadlures.com.
