chatter bait.

[patbfishing123]

i bought the chatter bait a while ago and i used it quite religiously for  a while until i realized that i could catch more fish on a crankbait... But, I love the motion of the chatter bait so much.  I was using it like a spinnerbait fishing it along the edge of lillies and docks... but nothing I only caught 3 fishing in a week.  i was using a white and chartrouse chatterbait... the water was partly stained.. What am I doing wrong.. What should i do to fix my approach or color selection.  Also what time of the year is this lure best to use?

[Hillbilly_Hooker]

Pat,

Try some different colors with the Chatterbait for (hopefully) different results.  I've caught fish all year on my white/chart. Chatterbaits except at our last tournament.  Everyone I was fishing with was catching decent fish on an all white chatterbait and I couldn't even get a hit on the white/chart.  Unfortunately, I didn't have an all white one in my tacklebag.  It's amazing what a slight change in color might do.

Hillbilly

[Marty]

It's possible that you just weren't on fish when you were using the Chatterbait. When you were not catching anything on them, were you changing lures and starting to catch fish from the same areas that produced nothing on the Chatterbait?

[patbfishing123]

well i actually changed baits in the same area about 5 minutes after i stopped using the chatter bait... how are u supposed to use the chatter bait maybe i was using it wrong

[Bass XL]

heres a sweet little trick i learned that i have cought a bunch of fish on:

Take the skirt off and put a super fluke on. It looks exactally like a swimming fish.

[Guest avid]

With the original skirt and trailer, I have had very good results with a steady retreive on the reel, but "yo-yoing " the rod.  Meaning reel steady (speed varies according to conditions but that blade has to thump) and with your rod rip the lure from say 10 oclock to 11.

Crankbait fishing is alot of fun, and you'll never hear me put it down, but the beauty of the chatterbait is that you can fish it at any depth.  When people around you are catching fish on it and you aren't, I would experiment with depth and retrieve speed before changing color.

[Valascus]

I have yet to catch a thing on a chatterbait...although I will say I probably haven't had the chance to fish them in ideal conditions yet. I think it is more a stained water, medium to shallow depth, reaction strike kinda bait. The only chance I got to fish it were in situations that weren't anywhere close to that...cold, clear, and deep water...not so much, but hey, nothing else was working that day either.

[Guest avid]

I have had my best results in stained water, but deeper rather than shallow,

(Living in Florida "deep" is a relative term)  Keep in mind it's the thumping vibration that is the attractant.  That is why this lure works in poor vis. conditions.  again I say.

If your not doing well and others are I would adjust depth and retrieve before color.

[Marty]

well i actually changed baits in the same area about 5 minutes after i stopped using the chatter bait... how are u supposed to use the chatter bait maybe i was using it wrong

I don't know that there's a right or wrong way. These are versatile lures and can be fished many different ways. In my personal case, I use them in shallow water over submerged weeds where I would otherwise be using crankbaits or spinnerbaits and I retrieve them like those other baits, with retrieves ranging from steady to erratic, nothing fancy.

[patbfishing123]

ok ... great... I was thinking maybe letting it sink to the botttom them starting my retrieve... what do u think?

[Guest avid]

I have done exactly that and caught some of my best bass on it. So definitly do it.

I would do it alot more, but my home lake is very weedy.  Letting the lure go to the bottom often results in a gunked up lure.  But where it's possilbe to do so and come up clean, this is an excellent technique.

[Sam]

I have caught 8 bass and lost one on a Chatterbait.

Last time I fished a pond and caught two in a row using a chartruse Chatterbait.  I threw it for the fun of it as I thought it was the uglest thing I had seen in a while.

Best results are on a Blue and Black; second best is the Pumpkin.

I don't think size matters witht the bait.

I use the trailer that comes with the bait but am thinking of experimenting this spring with flukes, etc.

I just throw them out and reel them in like a crankbait.

They are lots of fun to fish and you can get some good results.

[Tom Bass]

I haven't caught one bass on a chatterbait. I have tried different methods, yo-yoing, letting it drop to bottom, bringing it in fast and slow...nothing. I have tried different colors. Maybe it's not the right lure for the area I am in and it might be that the lure has been used so much in my area that the bass are wise to it. Who knows, one day I may try it and WHAM! My PB Bass

I do not break 'em out when I want to do some serious fishing. I try 'em as back-ups to "nothin' else worked"

I won't discount 'em though. I may find water one day that bass like 'em and hit 'em hard. But for now I'll stick with what works on my lake. 8-)

[lubina]

I have yet to catch a thing on a chatterbait...

Same here.

[Alpster]

I caught fish on a chatterbait the first time I fished it. I think it's an amazing bait. I fished it for 1/2 hour with the included trailer with no luck. Put an uncle josh yellow eel on and got bit on the first cast. You can pitch em, cast em, slow roll em, burn em, bounch em. I started using them late in the season this year and I am looking forward to studying this one in the spring. JMHE

Ronnie

[.ghoti.]

Valascus, I had the same thoughts when I first got some of these baits. I caught nothing on them in shallow water. But, I've caught a bunch in deeper wtaer. I let "em hit the bottom and crank em just fast enough to feel the wiggle and pause to let them hit the bottom from time to time, just to make sure that I'm staying close to the bottom. I also yo-yo "em, rather like a jig retrieve, only faster.

I'm mostly in agreement with patb, I can do better with a crankbait or a spinnerbait. In my opinion, the results for this bait just don't match the hype.

Good luck,

GK

[Hula Popper]

heres a sweet little trick i learned that i have cought a bunch of fish on:

Take the skirt off and put a super fluke on. It looks exactally like a swimming fish.

Did you read that in the Chatterbait article in Bassmaster Magazine? I tried it and got better resultst that with just a skirt. But I got the best results with the skirt and the fluke.

[SteveKickinBass]

I fished with the all white Chatterbait and I dipped about 4 or 5 of the skirt-tails into some red blade dip, just to make it look like a bleeding bait.  I did really well with this around lilly pads. ;D

[Bass XL]

HULA: yes i did!

[patbfishing123]

wow!  this is a lot of great input.  Thanks everyone.. I am definetly looking forward to fishing my chatterbait come next season!

[FishTank]

I have done OK with the chatter baits but I also I have found crankbaits to be more effective.  One thing about the chatter bait is when a fish hits it, it is usually a vicious strike instead of a nibble.