Chatter Bait

[Michaelt1987]

I'm just wondering if they're anyway I can bend the hook on the bait to keep the bass from shaking it out there mouth. Just started fishing these yesterday and I'm loving it. I had a nice one to get away this morning.

[Grizzn N Bassin]

I wouldn't touch the hook man. Are you keeping good,pressure on the fish? Nice bass btw

[Michaelt1987]

Thanks but yeah, I'm keeping good pressure on the fish and I tried to keep the fish down as much as possible. But watching the one get away this morning has got me wondering what I can do. Is there any technique I can do when the fish jumps up and shakes it's head? I've seen guys catching tarpon and they point the rod at the fish and bow.

[Grantman83]

Honestly you have to try to keep the fish down do he doesn't jump and throw the hook. Instead of retrieving with the rod up, keep it down so as to steer the fish to the boat and not pull it up to the surface

[gripnrip]

Thanks but yeah, I'm keeping good pressure on the fish and I tried to keep the fish down as much as possible. But watching the one get away this morning has got me wondering what I can do. Is there any technique I can do when the fish jumps up and shakes it's head? I've seen guys catching tarpon and they point the rod at the fish and bow.

When I think I have a good fish on, I keep my tip low and sweep my rod to the side.  If the fish runs in the opposite direction, I'll switch to the other side.   I wouldn't point the rod tip at the fish.  

 

On one occasion, I rammed my rod tip into the water.  The fish jumped and it was big!  It wound up being a 6 plus.  

[Grizzn N Bassin]

I say not to bend the hook bc there is really nothing in the way. Are using a trailer?

[Smallmouth Hunter]

Thanks but yeah, I'm keeping good pressure on the fish and I tried to keep the fish down as much as possible. But watching the one get away this morning has got me wondering what I can do. Is there any technique I can do when the fish jumps up and shakes it's head? I've seen guys catching tarpon and they point the rod at the fish and bow.

I believe the reason people "bow" to a tarpon is that they use single hooks which are not lopsided like a lure is. With a bass lure like a spinnerbait or crankbait for example, the bait is going to be swinging around when the fish jumps if the line is slack which will give too much leverage. The angler should pull to keep the bait from swinging = less leverage the bass has.

 

I may be wrong but it is just a guess.

[Tartan34]

I fish Chatterbaits A LOT....and have gone through phases when I loose fish.  What I've learned....tight drag and a lot of pressure on the fish.  When the fish jumps, I have to exude even tighter pressure....I've found this out the hard way.  Unlike when I'm fishing any other bait, with a Chatterbait, I try to horse the fish back quickly.  I fish D&M baits, and they have a stronger hook than the Zman ones, so I don't worry about the hook bending.  

 

I lost a fish in a tourney a couple of weeks ago, late in the day, because I didn't have enough pressure on her when she jumped.  It would have won me the tournament.  Instead, I lost by a pound.  Tough reinforcement of a lesson, that's for sure.

[Smokinal]

I wouldn't go changing much because 1 fish shook it. Everyone loses one once in a while. Now, if you start losing 50% or more, I'd start looking at things.

[Mike L]

Try using a Booya.

They have a flexible hook shaft that does tend to keep them buttoned a little better.

Mike

[bassguytom]

How about a trailer hook. I don't leave home without them.

[gulfcaptain]

You might look into a softer rod with a little more give.  May look into a crankbait rod.  Had the same problem with the lighter A-rigs and since switching from a MH fast action flipping stick(IM-8) to a MH crankbait rod(IM-6) with more give and a softer tip. I think I've had 1 fish come off in the last 2 weeks where before I was loosing about a third of the fish.  But we can't catch all of them and the big ones didn't get big by no learning a few tricks and escaping.  If they didn't how could we tell the story about the big one that got away.

[Michaelt1987]

Thanks for the info guys and yeah I'm using a baby brush hog. I've never seen anybody talking about using those for a chatter bait trailer but it works great for me. But out of the twelve I've caught in two days with it, only two have shook it. I guess I'll live with that and add more pressure if one does jump.

[Jay Ell Gee]

Fish throwing lures like that is just part of the game. I fish my chatterbaits on 30/40 lb braid now and the solid hook sets land most of the fish. Keeping it tight when they jump is key, but not always easy to do. 10/12 is a pretty fair number, I would say. Definitely 10 more than I caught this week!

By the way, that baby brush hog looks good on that chatterbait. Thanks for the idea.

[gnuisance]

i had a good fish shake a chatterbait recently as well. I don't pay it too much mind. Will continue to fish them bc they work

[Bluebasser86]

The hooks on the original chatterbaits aren't very good, I'd hit the hook with a sharpener and see if that helps. 

[JayKumar]

Pick up a Strike King Rage Blade. Designed by the same guys who designed the original Chatterbait, next evolution of the bait, solves that problem a bit.

[Grizzn N Bassin]

Pick up a Strike King Rage Blade. Designed by the same guys who designed the original Chatterbait, next evolution of the bait, solves that problem a bit.

No thread jack intended. But,how are those rage blades? I got 3 of them. Havent used em yet