Unconfident baits 2024

CTBassin860 reply :

So today I decided to break out a couple baits I'm always hesitant to throw since I never have any luck. I felt like today was a goid day to suck it up and learn. One bait is the Spook and the other the Chatterbait. Walking the Spook didn't take all tgat long to get the hang of walking,but the chatterbaits always frustrated me the most. Fishing the Spook is self explanatory. What is you guys preferred method of fishing the chatterbaits? Do you usually chuck and wind or do you drag,let it sink then reel? I'm sure both work,Just wondering what seems to work best for everyone else. Maybe there is something I'm missing here.

MasterBasser reply :

I've had pretty good luck simply cranking the chatterbait back in or fishing it more like a jig and bouncing it off the bottom, letting it chatter on the pull.

NHBull reply :

For me the chatterbait is a substitute for spinner bait.....I fish it the same way., that said, I usually give up on it to soon too.

riverbasser reply :

Even though I've caught some decent fish on bladed jigs , they are not a go to for me either.

CTBassin860 reply :

I've been watching this fish hit topwater for the last half hour. Throwing the chatterbait and spook right on top of him without even a look. Took off the chatter and toed on the whopper plopper .....got em haha

Quarry Man reply :

I have good luck with the chatter bait around wood and above grass flats especially. it is a lot like the spinnerbait, which went from being my least confident lure to one of my most.

I am no longer confident with a senko, even though thats how i learned to fish. I also have no bottom contact confidence, seeing that id rather throw a drop shot and cover more water with better results than most other stuff

Fishin Dad reply :

The chatterbait is my confidence bait. I fish a lot of stained water and this bait catches a lot of bass for me. I usually just chuck and wind, but I vary my speed to see what the fish want. I will throw it by likely spits ( wood, weeds, mats, etc.) and let it fall to the bottom, them start reeling. Have caught a lot of fish on the initial fall. Colors and trailers are something that has made a big difference for me. Some lakes black/blue or white, some green pumpkin. One of those three always seem to work. Trailers affect the way the bait behaves as well. Experiment with grubs, craws, and swimbaits. 80% of my fish come on a chatterbait or senko. I need to get better with a jig though. Good luck!

scaleface reply :

I think I have the lowest percentage of hook-ups per hit ratio with a spook than any other lure . I havent used one for years because of it .

CTBassin860 reply :

I'm using a Havoc Subwoofer as my catterbait trailer. It has so much thump it's insane. I got one hit on the Spook in bone. Had it walking 180° slow and supersonic speeds. Hands down the easiest walking bait I've used. I'm hoping in the next couple weeks fall takes over and these fish start eating.

MassYak85 reply :

I usually go to the chatterbait in muddier water (Charles River), and generally I am fishing it a little slower than a spinnerbait, right along edges of cover like weed edges or the edge of lily pads. I don't ever drag them, not saying it doesn't work but if I am going to fish that slow I'd prefer a jig with rattles or a big black chrome colorado blade spinnerbait. And if I'm going to rip it off the bottom I'd probably give the nod to a lipless. For me it's more of a search bait to just chuck and wind when I feel the vibration is needed to get bites. I do like to vary my speeds though, sometimes I'll give a few really fast turns to get it to kick off to the side a bit and then slow back down. You can do that when it passes a piece of cover sometimes and trigger a bite. Experiment with trailers but I usually toss on a paddle tail. I need to try some more myself though. I do well with green pumpkin but I also got a black I haven't had much chance to fish yet.

IndianaFinesse reply :

The only time I've done well with spinnerbaits (or chatterbaits) is when the water is chocolate milk. Otherwise I can't seem to catch squat on them. I suck at drop shotting to.

Russ E reply :

I have just started using the Chatterbait this year. it seems to work best in stained water or low light conditions.

it seems to catch big fish. My main problem with them is they are prone to snagging around wood. You can usually rip it free of weeds, but when it hits wood, the bait rolls and buries the hook into the wood.

Dtrombly reply :

On 8/15/2017 at 10:40 AM, IndianaFinesse said:

The only time I've done well with spinnerbaits (or chatterbaits) is when the water is chocolate milk. Otherwise I can't seem to catch squat on them.

I throw spinnerbaits exclusively in chocolate milk water, they excel there for me.

Bluebasser86 reply :

Bladed jigs work for me in all water colors and most any condition, but stained to dirty water and especially around weeds is when they really excel. They've all but replaced squarebill crankbaits in my boat. It's been close to a month since I even got my cranking rod out of the box. I fish them with a slow, steady retrieve for the most part. I like bulky trailers to allow me to slow them down even more.

roadwarrior reply :

On 8/16/2017 at 3:16 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

Bladed jigs work for me in all water colors and most any condition, but stained to dirty water and especially around weeds is when they really excel. They've all but replaced squarebill crankbaits in my boat. It's been close to a month since I even got my cranking rod out of the box. I fish them with a slow, steady retrieve for the most part. I like bulky trailers to allow me to slow them down even more.

A "Go-To" lure for me. I have my best luck white on white using a Rage Tail Structure Bug for the trailer.

My most productive presentation is a steady slow roll just off the bottom, occasionally ticking cover and

structure.

Choporoz reply :

On 8/15/2017 at 4:55 AM, Quarry Man said:

I have good luck with the chatter bait around wood and above grass flats especially. ... went from being my least confident lure to one of my most.

yep....and, as @roadwarrior suggested, white Structure Bug is killer trailer. Only other trailer I use is slim incrediclaws....still a lot of motion, but longer and skinnier

clh121787 reply :

I've caught some giants on a chatterbait one of my 6 dds came off a chatterbait.iuse a simple straight or stop and go retrieve making bottom contact as much as possible

J Francho reply :

Is it lack of confidence or lack of experience? The idea of "confidence baits" is hooey, if you ask me. Learn what baits do what in what, and build confidence in locating fish.

CTBassin860 reply :

On 8/16/2017 at 10:34 PM, J Francho said:

Is it lack of confidence or lack of experience? The idea of "confidence baits" is hooey, if you ask me. Learn what baits do what in what, and build confidence in locating fish.

All I meant is I am utterly unconfident with them. I throw them every year with no luck. Maybe i dont throw them enough.

WRB reply :

Why continue to use lures you have no confidence in? There are hundreds of bass lures because bass are aggressive feeders when active, find active bass with whatever lure you have confidence in using. Catching bass is a lot more fun then not catching bass.

I usually try new lures when the bass are active, lot easier to catch.

Tom

RB 77 reply :

With a bladed swim jig its usually a slow and steady retrieve for me. Sometimes "yo-yoing"will do wonders though.

bigbill reply :

First it's not luck it's skill.

With a spook I use a 1-2-3 rip then pause. Wait and repeat. Repeat again.

or a slow walk the dog. Don't go too fast.

spinnerbaits,

bass can be finicky and shy Sometimes. I cast my spinnerbaits out and run it above the sight line near the surface. Sight line is where I can see it.

after a few casts I slow up my line speed so it runs just below the sight line were I can't see it. Now it's in there strike zone.

i have confidence in every bait I use. It's confidence in my presentations that matters. I throw different baits, sizes and colors till I get action. Then I'm on them. Water conditions vs colors vs speed. In the past I found myself fishing way to fast. If it's a slow bite I practice my presentations with different baits. The fish will let us know when we get it right.

when I'm fishing, don't talk to me, I'm in the zone, motivated and focused. It's you, your rod setup and your bait, pay attention to what your doing.

On 8/15/2017 at 4:36 AM, MassBassin508 said:

I've been watching this fish hit topwater for the last half hour. Throwing the chatterbait and spook right on top of him without even a look. Took off the chatter and toed on the whopper plopper .....got em haha

Don't cast on top of them. You will spook some of them. I cast to either side and work my bait slowly past them. I had heavy action in the pads. I caster ten feet to the right of the edge of the pads. I worked my topwater bait slowly past the pads. I pulled out a 32" fat pickerel. Not a bass but the fight was fun.

Boomstick reply :

I find that in some lakes, I kill it with spinnerbaits and in others I can't catch a fish with one if I cast the hook into its mouth. But I have yet to have success with a chatterbait, but I'm not going to say I won't figure them out someday either because I know others who've slayed it with the chatterbait. Also, I hear the bluegill chatterbaits kill it in the fall, so I'll try that out.

Haven't really fished a spook enough to comment.

Djman72 reply :

This might get my BassResource account revoked but......

I've never caught a bass on a jig, and I don't even like the thought of tying one on (although I have 3-5 in my Tbox).

Please have mercy....

J Francho reply :

I was like that for years, always preferring a traditional Texas rigged worm or creature. Once I got bit on a jig though, there was no turning back. When you're on a good worm or creature bite, try the jig.

Kevinator1 reply :

On 8/18/2017 at 3:10 AM, J Francho said:

I was like that for years, always preferring a traditional Texas rigged worm or creature. Once I got bit on a jig though, there was no turning back. When you're on a good worm or creature bite, try the jig.

yep...i used to be the same way.....and people always said the jig would get bigger fish....and now that i use them a lot....that seems to be true....biggest fish in my tournaments have been from pitching a jig.

Bluebasser86 reply :

On 8/18/2017 at 2:40 AM, Djman72 said:

This might get my BassResource account revoked but......

I've never caught a bass on a jig, and I don't even like the thought of tying one on (although I have 3-5 in my Tbox).

Please have mercy....

It's so similar, but so different somehow to a T rig. I had to force myself to fish a jig and nothing else before I finally got the hang of it. Now it's one of my favorite baits to fish. There's nothing like a good jig bite, not even topwater IMO.

CroakHunter reply :

On 8/18/2017 at 2:07 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

It's so similar, but so different somehow to a T rig. I had to force myself to fish a jig and nothing else before I finally got the hang of it. Now it's one of my favorite baits to fish. There's nothing like a good jig bite, not even topwater IMO.

A big jig bite is second to none IMO. A close second would be a spinnerbait bite, then big worm bite.

Bass_Fishing_Socal reply :

On 8/18/2017 at 3:10 AM, J Francho said:

When you're on a good worm or creature bite, try the jig.

Thxs, I like this and will remember to try jig next time around.

Chatterbait, I also started fishing this lure last year around September and got only two bites out of it, told my friend to use it the next day he caught a very good size bass 5-6lb and it become his favorite lure.

I got pretty good luck with chatterbait this year since I fish it more and more especially when I'm on kayak.

I fish it slow retrieve and try to connect to bottom as much as I can. I also got a pretty good bite when chatterbait bump onto something and suddenly change action. The last few days I caught one over 3lbs and another believe to be 4.5 lbs cast it past weed line and try to hop it on top of the weed.

Jason Penn reply :

On 8/18/2017 at 3:10 AM, J Francho said:

I was like that for years, always preferring a traditional Texas rigged worm or creature. Once I got bit on a jig though, there was no turning back. When you're on a good worm or creature bite, try the jig.

don't get me wrong, i love fishing plastics, but jigs are just so much easier. ok, occasionally you'll have to fix the trailer or put another on, but generally it's just throw the fish back and instantly make another pitch.

i probably fish a jig with a finesse-type skirt 85-90% of the time, so i feel like i get a lot more jig bites than i do with a full skirt. i don't tournament fish, so i love me some dinks!!

IndianaOutdoors reply :

I have no confidence in Texas rigs or skirted jigs. I would say I have no confidence in bottom contact baits but I've done ok using keel weighted hooks with senkos and beaver tail style baits drug across bottom.

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Unconfident baits 2024

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