Chatterbait Or Spinnerbait?

[Green Trout]

I have used spinnerbaits in the past and have done well on them. But I want to get into chatterbaits. Are chatterbais as weedless as spinners? Also, how do they fish differently?

[ChrisWi]

They fish better in heavy grass than a Spinnerbait. They have a little more pull than your traditional double willow Spinnerbait. As cool as the chatterbait style baits are I'll stick with my Spinnerbait. There is a lot of information on this site and many other on that style bait. Just do some looking.

[Alpha Male]

I have both and fish both. They fish similar and yes chatterbaits are nearly weedless. I try to vary my retrieve speed but chatterbaits can be fished pretty slow. As long as you can feel the blade you're going fast enough. Some times I even hop it like I would a swim jig. Like a spinnerbait I also use a trailer either a spinnerbait trailer, a grub, or a craw.

[Felix77]

I still tend to fish spinnerbaits more often than a chatterbait.  Sometimes they just prefer one vs. the other.

 

I will say that in dirty shallow water I have more success with a black/blue chatterbait vs a colorado spinnerbait.  Go figure

[kcdinkerz]

Prefer chatter in stained to dirty water over Colorado blade spinners as well. If the the blade stops vibrating on your retrieve 50/50 your on a fish. Plus for me it's easier to burn a chatter then it is to burn a big Colorado spinner

[HoosierHawgs]

I fish a chatterbait mainly around grass on a big heavy flippin setup. Other than that I'll stick with a Spinnerbait. I like to bang a spinnerbait up against stuff a lot.

[ww2farmer]

Between swimjigs and chatterbaits, I almost rarely fish spinnerbaits anymore.

[SenkoGuru]

Between swimjigs and chatterbaits, I almost rarely fish spinnerbaits anymore.

 

 

 I am exactly the same. I throw a chatterbait and when it gets to be to much grass for that I'm throwing a swimJig. I have not tied on a spinnerbaits in years.

[fishinphilly]

the only thing you have to watch out with when fishing with chatterbaits is if your using one without a weed guard and your fishing around wood, when coming in contact with the wood the chatterbait will usually turn sideways and hook the wood but other than that i love them and prefer the *** chatterbaits that come with the weed guard over the original zman ones

 

tight lines! 

[smalljaw67]

The spinnerbait is still my favorite bait but swim jigs and chatter style baits have a home in my bag as well. I'll throw the spinnerbait first almost every time except if the weeds and/or brush is heavy, or the body of water is getting pressured then I'll use the swim jig. The chatterbait comes into play in dirty water where the cover is a bit too much for a square bill because I use it like a square bill most of the time. I know there are a lot of different ways to use the chatterbait but the swim jig and spinnerbait cover the bases for me fine but when there is grass on the bottom that fouls my square bill that is when I bring the chatterbait out and let it do its thing.

[corn-on-the-rob]

A chatterbait has replaced a BIG spinnerbait in my arsenal. I still throw plenty of medium and small spinner baits (1/4oz 3/8oz) but if I want a large profile, flashy, weedless, I turn to the chatterbait now, usually 1/2oz.

[Jon G]

I fish Bladed Swim Jigs (Chatterbaits) differently then regular swim jigs and spinnerbaits. With regular swim jigs and spinnerbaits I will burn them, twitch them, let them fall, an yo-yo them. But I fish Bladed Swim Jigs how most guys would fish a swimbait, as slow as I can reel to keep the bait thumping.

[Bluebasser86]

This is a copy and paste from another post about the differences in the two to me and about fishing a bladed jig (chatterbait). 

 

Spinnerbaits for me are a more clear water or faster retrieve bait or when fish are feeding on smaller baitfish. I fish my bladed jigs extremely slowly, just fast enough to keep the blade vibrating, even bumping the bottom if possible. In lakes that see lots a spinnerbaits, a bladed jig is a good replacement. They also shine in stained or dirty water or around vegetation because the strong vibration helps the fish hone in on the bait.

There are times I will fish them faster (over vegetation for example), but 9 out of 10 larger bass I catch on them will be during a very slow retrieve. I've had good success with them using a stroking or pumping retrieve, letting them settle to the bottom then lifting the rod quickly before letting it settle again.

I think 2 of the biggest mistakes I see guys make with bladed jigs are, 1. fishing them too fast and 2. not recognizing a bite. Like I said, I like to fish them slowly. The issue then becomes that a big bass can lazily swim up to the bait, inhale it while maintaining a similar pace, then spit the bait out without it ever feeling much different. I can't count the number of big fish I've caught on them where it felt just slightly different. Sometimes it feels like the blade has quite working, other times like I've caught a leaf or piece of weeds. I think the common notion is that since it's a moving bait the strikes will be vicious, which they certainly are at times, but more often than not they're much more subtle than I think most fishermen expect. I first realized this by fishing clear water and actually seeing bass strike my bait and noticing that I felt very little despite the bait being almost completely inhaled on a couple occasions. I thought back and realized I'd felt similar strikes lots of times before but never realized they were strikes. Once I started setting the hook on those little bumps and when the blade just wasn't vibrating as hard, I was amazed how many fish I was catching that I didn't even know were there before. 

Lastly, it's always possible that they just aren't a good tool in the areas you're fishing them. If you fish anywhere with stained water and vegetation though, I'm 100% certain there is a time when they will shine for you.