Chatterbait

[SWVABass]

I am new to chatterbait fishing, and I don't really feel comfortable fishing them yet. What are the best ways of fishing them? Can you fish them like a jig, letting them hit the bottom and then pop it up and let it fall again?

[roadwarrior]

Fish them as a substitute for a spinnerbait.

 

 

 

[Mike L]

^^^^Yep, All a chatterbait bait to me is a thumping spinnerbait without the flash.

Mike

[Ozark_Basser]

You can fish them like a jig if you want. Just make sure that the bottom isn't real snaggy.

[fishballer06]

Put a fat albert on as a trailer and hold on!

[SWVABass]

Thanks so much for the help guys! When you are using the as a substitute to a spinnerbait are you mixing up your retrieves?

[stkbassn]

This might sound ignorant but is a chattebait the same thing as a bladed jig, just a different name? I am going to get some from someone on here and can't wait to try his baits but just curious to see if these are one in the same type of bait? I've owned chatterbaits in the past but always had trouble keeping them running and vibrating...what's the solution to this problem? Just a straight retrieve or stop and go?

 

  I saw the Picasso bladed jigs the other day at a local retailer here and they looked great...same as chatterbaits?

 

Thanks!

[georgeyew]

This might sound ignorant but is a chattebait the same thing as a bladed jig, just a different name? I am going to get some from someone on here and can't wait to try his baits but just curious to see if these are one in the same type of bait? I've owned chatterbaits in the past but always had trouble keeping them running and vibrating...what's the solution to this problem? Just a straight retrieve or stop and go?

 

  I saw the Picasso bladed jigs the other day at a local retailer here and they looked great...same as chatterbaits?

 

Thanks!

 

Yes, a Chatterbait is the official name from Zman. They are the same as bladed jigs. Sometimes if they stop vibrating, it may mean that grass is caught up in the blades (just give it a nice tug to clean the blades) or a fish has swallowed it (then give it a big tug to set the hook).

[CDMeyer]

I fish them just like everyone else has said (spinnerbait sub. , search bait ect. ) but I also learned the can be highly effective when fished near the surface just like a subsurface lure. Almost like a wake bait

[Wayne P.]

The "Chatterbait" is the original bladed jig. All the others are knockoffs of some sort.

Zman just owns the patent for it now. It was RAD Lures when originally mass produced.

 

A true Chatterbait has the blade attached directly to the hook eye and the blade is coffin shaped--both of those are patented. That is why the copies have other shaped blades and split rings attaching the blade to the hook eye.

[gooz56]

The Chatterbait is my favorite go-to lure and I always fish it with a steady retrieve. Great lure to cover a low of water.

[Zach P]

There are a lot of ways you can fish them, but as pointed out previously in the above posts the most highly used way is much like a spinnerbait. Stick with either the new z-man custom chatterbait or if you can find them the D&M Piranha (Version 1). I say version 1 for the D&M because this is before they were hit with the patent infringement by Z-man and the old D&M version 1 did not have a split ring attached to the head of the bait. There are other chatterbaits available on the market but make sure you fish the ones without the split ring attachments as they tend to kill the intended action of the bait.

[Steve1357]

The "Chatterbait" is the original bladed jig. All the others are knockoffs of some sort.

Not to start another endless thread, but if interested, please do some research, including the patents issued.

 

Start with Guy Eaker and putting blades in front of jigs. Eagle Claw had shaker blades you could add to jigs and many other lures. Oh, we could post all day about attaching the blade directly to the jig or using a snap, but in summary I believe someone at the patent office gave away patents for a concept they shouldn't have. As someone mentioned, maybe I should see how lazy the patent office is and try getting patents on a plastic worm, a crankbait, or even using three hooks and forming a "treble" hook?

[Wayne P.]

Not to start another endless thread, but if interested, please do some research, including the patents issued.

 

Start with Guy Eaker and putting blades in front of jigs. Eagle Claw had shaker blades you could add to jigs and many other lures. Oh, we could post all day about attaching the blade directly to the jig or using a snap, but in summary I believe someone at the patent office gave away patents for a concept they shouldn't have. As someone mentioned, maybe I should see how lazy the patent office is and try getting patents on a plastic worm, a crankbait, or even using three hooks and forming a "treble" hook?

I know all about the Eaker Shaker, I have been bass fishing for over 60 years.

The Eaker Shaker was introduced 17 years ago.

[Bluebasser86]

I fish mine with a slow, steady retrieve most of the time but have had very good success letting them settle to the bottom and pumping them back to the boat. I make one on a swinging football head that I put a screwlock swimbait hook on to help prevent snags when I'm pumping them along the bottom. 

[Bankbeater]

I have been letting the bait settle on the bottom for a few seconds then I give it a few hops like a jig. After that I slow roll it back in.

[BooyahMan]

Might be slightly off topic but tried the Flashback Chatterbait Mini for the first time the other day. We were only out for a couple of hours or so but was very impressed by the amount of vibration it put out. Got a number of hits on it and landed a dink-ish 13 incher but for a first, I won't complain! Love them so much that I plan to pick up a bunch more when I get a chance. 

[MrBigFishSC]

Chatterbaits can be fished slow or fast, steady retrieve or stop and go

, yo-yo or rip and pause. I find them to be most effective when fished just fast enough to feel the vibration with a big craw or split tail trailer. In muddy or stained water around cover or beds they work better than a spinnerbait. They are not as effective in deep water slow rolled like a spinnerbait. In summer they work great late or early fished through or around cover with a big trailer. If you commit to fishing these you will catch lots of fish. Good luck!

[BASSPATROL247]

Very versatile bait, i drag em,hop em, yo yo em,stop and go em, burn em, wakebait em(as of tonight),all sort of retrives, using em like a jig works best for me with the strike king design, way less snaggy imo, i consider chatterbaits a hybrid lipless crank minus the rattle...both can be fished almost endless ways imo...and flat catch fish!

[Texasraised97]

Would you guys recommend this to be a good substitute for a squarebill?

[BASSPATROL247]

Both can be fished the same way... to answer your question, could be,and yes. i let the fish tell me. Try a sauarebill and if nothing happens throw the chatterbait and see what happens..

[Bluebasser86]

Would you guys recommend this to be a good substitute for a squarebill?

Absolutely, I don't fish squarebills nearly as often anymore. Everyone fishes 1.5 and 2.5 cranks around here but the bladed jigs don't get the same love. They catch me more and bigger fish.

[ww2farmer]

Absolutely, I don't fish squarebills nearly as often anymore. Everyone fishes 1.5 and 2.5 cranks around here but the bladed jigs don't get the same love. They catch me more and bigger fish.

Just the opposite here. While I use chatterbaits more and more every year, I still catch more and bigger fish on squarebills. I don't think of the chatterbait as a substitute for a squarebill, as I will throw them both in dirty water, the chatterbait for me is more of my dirty water swim jig, and has all but replaced the spinnerbait in those situations. In clear water I go silent, natural colored squarebills, and swimjigs. Dirty water I use rattling (sometimes silent) brighter colored squarebills and chatterbaits, and about the only time I use a spinnerbait anymore is when I need speed and lift.

[blckshirt98]

I've been using a v1 D&M Piranha the past 3 weeks in a sexy shad color at a local muddy reservoir and have done really well.  Works best in the morning when the bass are chasing the baitish in the mornings and it'll usually get hit when it's almost near the shore and I slow down the retreive.  I fish it like a spinnerbait - just a steady retrieve all the way in.  In prior years I've thrown a KVD 1.0 or 1.5 squarebill in the same conditions and have done decent, but the swim jig has produced better, possibly because I've been able to work the swim jig through more of the water column as opposed to just the top portion with the squarebill.