Chatterbaits

[aharris]

I just can't get my confidence going with those things. I've seen them catch fish but I just can't commit to them. I can't make myself put down a spinnerbait and pick up a chatterbait instead. I know there's a bunch of different ways to fish them, but what is the most productive way for yall? Do yall stick with white and or white/chart, or do yall go with the more conventional jig colors? (black/blue, brown..)

[deadadrift89]

Dont give up on them. For me i fish water with a clarity of 1-2'. I have better luck on a blue/black color and i use a Havoc grass pig trailer with 1"cut off. I do best when the wind is breaking water surface. Do well fishing them on grass flats,i do just like when fishing a trap tick the top of weeds,pause for a second and rip it back out. Also like using them after a rain close to bank and cover.

[gripnrip]

I use black and blue and some browns.  They are basically a mix of a spinnerbait and a crankbait IMO.  As a trailer I'll use the LFT boot tail or a RE skinny dipper to match.  I fish from the back most of the time.  If the boater throws the spinnerbait, I throw the chatterbait and vise versa.  It helps me to get bit.

[Wbeadlescomb]

I've bought a grand total of one chatter bait not really sure why. Used to fish in a father son bass club with my dad. I caught 3 fish in a really tough post cold front tournament and one of those was a 6 something. It was enough to win. Ended up losing it and never bought another. I'd rather swim a jig 100 times more weed less. Feel like I catch more fish swimming the jig. I've noticed if it's overcast-windy 9/10 boats you pass are throwing spinnerbaits and I feel like the fish get used to spinnerbaits.

Perfect example other morning it was overcast and the lake was white capping. I started off with a squarebill my buddy is throwing a spinnerbait. I caught one about a pound on the crankbait. I switched over to a swim jig and put 7 in the boat in the next hour before he tied on a swim jig and we started smoking quality fish the rest of the day. Never got a sniff on the spinnerbait or chatter bait he was throwing

[HPfishin]

so, you guys with experience fishing the chatterbait, would you recommend black/blue for stained water? because my only chatterbaits are white or white/chart but I'm looking to start fishing them a lot more in the next few months

[gripnrip]

so, you guys with experience fishing the chatterbait, would you recommend black/blue for stained water? because my only chatterbaits are white or white/chart but I'm looking to start fishing them a lot more in the next few months

I fish a lot of stained water.  You need a black/blue in your arsenal IMO.

[Grizzn N Bassin]

Black /blue. Chartruse/ white, green pumpkin with gold blade. I use gold or sikver blade on chartruse/white . Depends on visibility and the sun. Keep working at then they catch lunker bass.

[annexation]

A black chatterbait with a matching twin-tail grub trailer always seems to find fish in dirty water for me.

[Big Matty L]

There was a lot caught on them at the classic this year if memory serves

[deadadrift89]

so, you guys with experience fishing the chatterbait, would you recommend black/blue for stained water? because my only chatterbaits are white or white/chart but I'm looking to start fishing them a lot more in the next few months

You can buy different skirts for them also spinnerbait skirts work.

[BassObsessed]

Most of my bigger bass came off a chatterbait. Iv'e caught them on a white/chart , black/blue and white all in the same ponds which is murky water. For trailers most of my fish were caught on a Berkley ripple shad 4'' swimbait or a Berkley Havoc sick fish swimbait.

[Mike L]

I use black and blue and some browns.  They are basically a mix of a spinnerbait and a crankbait IMO.  As a trailer I'll use the LFT boot tail or a RE skinny dipper to match.  I fish from the back most of the time.  If the boater throws the spinnerbait, I throw the chatterbait and vise versa.  It helps me to get bit.

Ditto!

Mike

[gripnrip]

There was a lot caught on them at the classic this year if memory serves

You sir are correct!  The bladed jig has been neglected due to Howell's success with the DT-6 and Livingston.  A lot of pros were throwing the jig.

[Smokinal]

I had an absolutely stupid day on a blk/blue chatterbait I will never forget. Raining hard in green water and I had to hold the bait in the bottom of the boat to retie...

[iabass8]

I like white, black/blue, and a bluegill variant. The white gets a silver blade, the others get gold. Never felt a need to use more than 3/8. I throw them everywhere.

[wnybassman]

I like bluegilly colors the best but I have yet to make a black/blue one yet.    lol    Dirty water from either algae blooms or muddied up shorelines from the wind are best for me, and in those conditions I like a flashy tail dancing around behind the bait.   I usually stick with a steady retrieve and twitch it hard to clear weeds now and then, and just like other baits that can generate a strike.   I fish it with 50 pound braid on a 7' M Fast rod.

 

 

I tried white chatterbaits many different times last year and never caught a fish.   The only thing I have caught on white chatterbaits is lake trout through the ice in 160 feet of water.   lol

[Tartan34]

I've caught them on white in clear water, but my favorite is the baby bass from D&M. Paired with a Little Dipper, it purely catches fish.

[s freud]

So the chatterbait I got at the end of last season has a weed guard. I like the action and want to give them a try this year. It is chartreuse and Orange. In looking at other colors, it seems that most don't have weed guards. Do they not snag a lot in weeds without them? I should add that I fish a medium heavy rod with 15# mono.

[Blues19]

What is Yalls favorite brand of chatterbait?

[Bluebasser86]

What is Yalls favorite brand of chatterbait?

I build my own bladed jigs. This way I can choose my hook, color combo, and wire tie my skirt so the dang thing isn't constantly slipping down to the bend of the hook. Black and blue is my favorite in stained to muddy water and has become a consistent big fish producer for me lately.

A variant of sexy shad is always good in stained to clear water.

As is my crappie color.

The key for me in clear water has always seemed to fish a chartreuse trailer. No idea why but I fish some extremely clear water in a couple of our local lakes (>20' visibility at times) and I can watch a white bait with a chartreuse trailer the entire retrieve until it just disappears. 

For lakes with smallies I like my version of sexy mouse.

I think this guy is going to be a killer in muddy water too

[frogflogger]

The old and usually good advice is dark water dark  bait - clear water light bait - dark day dark bait - sunny day light bait - night fishing dark bait - of course I've seen plenty of times the opposite worked

[Volboy]

IMO the chatterbait really shines in three situations:

1. Over grass in the Spring right up through the spawn.

2. Around the shad spawn when bait is up on the bank.

3. When fish are on docks and marina slips in early summer.

I typically use a darker color over the grass in prespawn, and when they're on shad I'll throw white or white and chartreuse.

[doyle8218]

so, you guys with experience fishing the chatterbait, would you recommend black/blue for stained water? because my only chatterbaits are white or white/chart but I'm looking to start fishing them a lot more in the next few months

Black/Blue and Black Neon work Great in stained or dirty water.

[AQUA VELVA]

I bought a couple black ones to try out for night fishing. I put bulkier, longer skirts on them with a trailer hook and the bass loved them. Only down side was that they foul up to easy around weeds.