My first chatterbait 2024
TnRiver46 reply :
I broke down and bought my first ever chatterbait today, 3/8 oz black and blue z-man for $4. Wish me luck! All suggestions welcome, I’m too cheap to put a rage tail trailer on it. I save those for special smallmouth occasions. Before I go tossing it into a log jam, just how weedless are these things and how easy are they to free when snagged? I’ll be using thick line
bigbassin' reply :
I think I've thrown a total of two casts at laydowns while using a chatterbait. I had to buy a new chatterbait twice.
My favorite cover to fish with them is submerged vegetation, it's closer to a swimjig than a rattle trap as far as getting caught in the grass goes. They handle fine around rocks as well in my experience, there just aren't many places I fish with rock cover. Just throw on your favorite 3.5 inch swimbait as a trailer and your good to go.
Sam reply :
Think spinnerbait.
You can throw the Chatterbait like you throw a spinnerbait.
As for getting it out of the grass and weeds: get as close to it as possible and try to dislodge it.
Easier said then done.
Just throw the bait and see what happens.
Good luck.
MIbassyaker reply :
They will work without a trailer, but you can just put a fluke or part of a worm on -- the blade provides the action so the trailer doesn't need to have any action of its own.
I fish them in vegetation 100% of the time. you will get hung up some, but they usually can be dislodged by popping the rod tip upward and back to slack quickly a few times.
Russ E reply :
I throw the chatterbait (bladed jig) around weeds and rock. it tends to attract large fish.
I always use a trailer. either a twin tail, paddle tail, or fluke.
It is terrible in timber. when the blade deflects off of wood it often drives the hook into the snag.
there are weedguards you can buy to make it better around wood, but I have missed several fish using them.
When fishing around wood I throw a spinnerbait.
TnRiver46 reply :
Thanks fellas, I’ll try to keep it away from the logs. I have some hand poured craws and swimbaits I can use for trailers. And I like the used worm idea, I usually do pretty good with a swim jig with worm/grub trailer in grass but figured I would try the chatter bait. Especially on account of how muddy the water is this year
TheNickFlair reply :
I just bought the same exact lure. I fished it today in some really muddy water but didn’t have any luck. Any ideas on how to fish chatter baits exactly? What’s the most effective way for largemouth?
CroakHunter reply :
On 2/15/2018 at 1:06 PM, TheNickFlair said:I just bought the same exact lure. I fished it today in some really muddy water but didn’t have any luck. Any ideas on how to fish chatter baits exactly? What’s the most effective way for largemouth?
The most effective way for me is to fish it along and in top of grass/weed lines. Keep it just above the vegetation with as slow of a retrieve as possible. Works well around rocks, bumping them every now and again. Has also been a good deep water bait for me slow rolling it along the bottom just fast enough to feel the vibration
TheNickFlair reply :
On 2/15/2018 at 1:17 PM, CroakHunter said:The most effective way for me is to fish it along and in top of grass/weed lines. Keep it just above the vegetation with as slow of a retrieve as possible. Works well around rocks, bumping them every now and again. Has also been a good deep water bait for me slow rolling it along the bottom just fast enough to feel the vibration
Thanks man!
Russ E reply :
On 2/15/2018 at 1:17 PM, CroakHunter said:The most effective way for me is to fish it along and in top of grass/weed lines. Keep it just above the vegetation with as slow of a retrieve as possible. Works well around rocks, bumping them every now and again. Has also been a good deep water bait for me slow rolling it along the bottom just fast enough to feel the vibration
that is how I fish it. Much slower than I fish a spinnerbait.
slow rolling them along deep weed edge produced several quality fish last summer.
sometimes a lift and drop retrieve works well for deeper summer bass.
Bluebasser86 reply :
I like a Havoc Pitboss for a trailer on the black and blue ones. Fish it slowly and steady in cold, muddy water.
Dave A reply :
I've also fished it off the bottom like a blade bait -pull it up for a few vibes, then let it fall back down. I have used 3.5 inch swim baits or curl tail worms as trailers. You won't save any money by making you own, but you will be able to choose you components, colors, etc. check out the major parts suppliers. Good luck!
A-Jay reply :
On 2/15/2018 at 6:24 AM, TnRiver46 said:I broke down and bought my first ever chatterbait today, 3/8 oz black and blue z-man for $4. Wish me luck! All suggestions welcome, I’m too cheap to put a rage tail trailer on it. I save those for special smallmouth occasions. Before I go tossing it into a log jam, just how weedless are these things and how easy are they to free when snagged? I’ll be using thick line
On 2/15/2018 at 12:33 PM, TnRiver46 said:Thanks fellas, I’ll try to keep it away from the logs. I have some hand poured craws and swimbaits I can use for trailers. And I like the used worm idea, I usually do pretty good with a swim jig with worm/grub trailer in grass but figured I would try the chatter bait. Especially on account of how muddy the water is this year
A-Jay
Troy85 reply :
I generally fish my chatter bait like a spinner bait, but I only use it when the water is muddy. My favorite is probably swimming it over Eel Grass.
TnRiver46 reply :
Hmmm. I’m starting to see an issue. Does anyone fish these lures when there isn’t grass??? We don’t have much grass and what we do have won’t be around until August....... the only place I know with grass is in the Rapids in clear water
Dorado reply :
I actually fish a white (threadfin shad color from TW) chatterbait w/ a Reaction Innovations Little Dipper trailer in open water a lot during the Fall from my kayak. Late summer and Fall, I prefer paddletails with a constant retrieval (not too fast and not too slow).
During pre-spawn, totally different approach, I'll use the same chatterbait but use a Zoom Super Fluke Jr (white ice) as a trailer. It's all about the Yo-Yo technique, exactly how you would fish a lipless crank or a blade bait, in drop-offs close to where I'll think they'll spawn. Mouths of coves, for an example. The chatterbait at night is one of my favorite search baits of all time! No grass needed!
TnRiver46 reply :
@Dorado, that last sentence is music to my ears! 99% of the grass in the TN river is 1 hr or more south of where I live
Boomstick reply :
I usually throw a fluke as a trailer. They last a long time too.
EDIT: You could also try a addletail swimbait like a Keitech 2.8 as well. Throw on whatever you have.
Dorado reply :
On 2/15/2018 at 11:46 PM, TnRiver46 said:@Dorado, that last sentence is music to my ears! 99% of the grass in the TN river is 1 hr or more south of where I live
Don't get me wrong, post spawn, ripping a chatterbait thru grass draws such viscous reaction bites. However, that's a short window for me in Arizona because the vegetation will eventually get too thick. They're not weedless let's just say that. Last year, I finally discovered the swim jig and that was a game changer when the weeds got thick. It was love and first sight when it came to swim jigs. Good luck buddy!
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 2/15/2018 at 11:27 PM, TnRiver46 said:Hmmm. I’m starting to see an issue. Does anyone fish these lures when there isn’t grass??? We don’t have much grass and what we do have won’t be around until August....... the only place I know with grass is in the Rapids in clear water
Most of the fishing I do is around rocks and shallow cover. They're great around grass, but they're great around a lot of other stuff too.
BassNJake reply :
On 2/15/2018 at 11:27 PM, TnRiver46 said:Hmmm. I’m starting to see an issue. Does anyone fish these lures when there isn’t grass??? We don’t have much grass and what we do have won’t be around until August....... the only place I know with grass is in the Rapids in clear water
I've had success slow rolling it and bouncing it off the rocks. A lot of bites are directly after making contact.
At Norris I will also toss it out along the bluff walls and fish them in thirds along the walls top third, middle third and then along the bottom third. I have found at times the fish can be in any of these ranges on the bluff walls.
Last year when the water was high it was good around all that cover that was submerged. A real nice compliment to my usual toad fishing.
Russ E reply :
On 2/15/2018 at 11:27 PM, TnRiver46 said:Hmmm. I’m starting to see an issue. Does anyone fish these lures when there isn’t grass??? We don’t have much grass and what we do have won’t be around until August....... the only place I know with grass is in the Rapids in clear water
like @Bluebasser86 said they work great around rock. Here in Kansas a lot of our lowland lakes and reservoirs are silted and lack vegetation. on those lakes i fish them along rocky shore lines, boat docks, and scattered timber. I stated earlier they were terrible in timber. running them through brushpiles or standing cedars will probably result in a lost bait.
they do work fairly well around sparse standing timber.
Hawkeye21 reply :
On 2/15/2018 at 1:06 PM, TheNickFlair said:I just bought the same exact lure. I fished it today in some really muddy water but didn’t have any luck. Any ideas on how to fish chatter baits exactly? What’s the most effective way for largemouth?
Fish it multiple ways. You can cast and retrieve like a spinner. Retrieve it slow or fast. Use it like a jig, letting it sink and hop it on the bottom. Use a yo-yo type retrieve by letting it sink then pull it through the water then let it sink again.
Most of my fish are caught on a normal retrieve like a spinner or they hit it as soon as it drops in the water. I cast it to the shoreline and try to find brush or trees. That's usually when they hit it right away.
Choporoz reply :
On 2/15/2018 at 6:24 AM, TnRiver46 said:I broke down and bought my first ever chatterbait today, 3/8 oz black and blue z-man for $4. Wish me luck! All suggestions welcome, I’m too cheap to put a rage tail trailer on it. I save those for special smallmouth occasions. Before I go tossing it into a log jam, just how weedless are these things and how easy are they to free when snagged? I’ll be using thick line
The good news is that you won't be looking to spend a ton of money on chatterbaits any time soon.
I took your approach a number of years ago. After hours of use, maybe two hits and zero fish. I didn't use a chatterbait again for a long, long time.
Now, its a favorite. But....I went against a lot of the grain written above. Slow rolling a chatterbait more than a foot from any sort of cover (or along the bottom) yields absolutely nothing, nearly all year. The only exception is for a couple of weeks post-spawn. And maybe that's because they'll eat anything then...IDK. But I throw a lot of chatterbaits along secondary points in creeks for a time in the spring.
1. Standard Z-Man chatterbait was one of the worst baits I've used for hook-up ratio -- hopefully, that has improved....I'm sure it was partly me, but I'm convinced something was wrong with the design, or materials. Get some from @Bluebasser86 or Sieberts next time.
2. I ALWAYS use a trailer. I use Rage Bugs 80% of the time. And the other 20%, I use Incrediclaw (Slim). Those will be a little cheaper and more durable than Rage Bugs, if that's a big concern.
3. I have little problem throwing them into wood. A lot of my chatterbait fish come from deflections off of laydown branches.
4. The other time that I find them particularly useful is when there's three feet or less between the grass tops and the surface. Many days, there's no better bait for pulling them up out of the grass up here
Russ E reply :
On 2/16/2018 at 1:49 AM, Choporoz said:
1. Standard Z-Man chatterbait was one of the worst baits I've used for hook-up ratio -- hopefully, that has improved....I'm sure it was partly me, but I'm convinced something was wrong with the design, or materials. Get some from @Bluebasser86 or Sieberts next time.
I agree .
C&C custom baits bighead wobbler bladed jig. You can buy them online at mondo tackle. They seem to go through cover better and have a high hookup ratio. I use 3/8 oz. Almost exclusively. Love the baby gill color.
Fish the Mitt reply :
On 2/15/2018 at 1:17 PM, CroakHunter said:The most effective way for me is to fish it along and in top of grass/weed lines. Keep it just above the vegetation with as slow of a retrieve as possible. Works well around rocks, bumping them every now and again. Has also been a good deep water bait for me slow rolling it along the bottom just fast enough to feel the vibration
This here is good stuff. I fish mine the same.
I'll also add that a bladed jig is my most used nighttime fishing lure as well. I fish it over submerged vegetation but burn it back just under the surface.
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 2/16/2018 at 2:33 AM, SemperBass said:I'll also add that a bladed jig is my most used nighttime fishing lure as well.
Same here. The steady vibration and bulky profile is great after dark.
Bankbeater reply :
I pull bladed jigs out of the vegetation the same way I pull regular jigs out. I take up the slack and give the bait a quick couple of jerks. It usually pulls right out.
TnRiver46 reply :
Well 8 months later I finally caught one!! I was snatching it through milfoil, water temp was 66. I will definitely be fishing it more this way, @Bluebasser86 was kind enough to make me some more since I currently only have the 1. I'm hoping to get some bites in spring also when there is no grass
Harold Scoggins reply :
On 2/15/2018 at 2:31 PM, Bluebasser86 said:I like a Havoc Pitboss for a trailer on the black and blue ones. Fish it slowly and steady in cold, muddy water.
That's one trailer I haven't tried yet. I've got a bunch of those Pitboss too, come spring I'm going to try pairing them with my chatter baits.
Harold Scoggins reply :
On 2/15/2018 at 10:24 PM, A-Jay said:
A-Jay
Hmmm, I use the boot tail swim baits as trailers and I catch em. I've also used the Rage Lobster with good results. I wonder why he hates those boot tails?
scaleface reply :
I have yet to catch a bass on a chatterbait . Everytime I approach a brush pile or lay down , I put it away and pickup a spinnerbait .Old habits are hard to break .
Derek1 reply :
I e only caught fish on a chatterbait at a lake up north from me. I’ve never had a bite at any local ponds or lakes I’ve tried. So weird.
2tall79 reply :
I make my own bladed jigs and on roughly 1/3 of them I'll use a jig with a fiber weed guard. I can't say I have ever missed a fish due to the weed guard.
bigbassin' reply :
On 10/27/2018 at 12:53 AM, Harold Scoggins said:Hmmm, I use the boot tail swim baits as trailers and I catch em. I've also used the Rage Lobster with good results. I wonder why he hates those boot tails?
I've seen some stuff on other sites where folks complain that the roll of the boot tail and the side to side chatterbait motion cancel each other out and prevent either from operating properly.
Personally, I've never had this issue and a 3.5" swimbait is my best chatterbait trailer.
TnRiver46 reply :
New baits came in the mail, looks like I might be busy after work this evening......
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