When do you fish a Chatterbait?

[tcbass]

Is it something that you fish basically everywhere/time you'd fish a spinnerbait?

[MassYak85]

Personally I never understood the comparisons between a spinnerbait and a chatterbait. Some people like to use them interchangeably but I don't. I keep it pretty simple, I use a chatterbait when I want the vibration, and a spinnerbait when I want the flash from the blades. The only crossover for me is big Colorado blade spinnerbaits. Those I will fish in pretty similar situation as chatterbaits. Usually in really muddy water or if I am slowly crawling one of them along the bottom. I feel like I can get a little more thump out of those at slow speeds vs a chatterbait. I'm sure this topic will have a lot of mixed opinions though.  

[A-Jay]

Two Totally different baits in my fishing.

Chatterbait is Almost always fished Low & Slow and a spinnerbait is fished high in the water column and at a much faster pace - often burned. 

Your mileage may vary.

A-Jay

[ww2farmer]

The #1 time I opt for a chatterbait over a spinnerbait (or even a swimjig) are when bass are dirt shallow in cool (45-60 degrees) stained water.

I will use them in other conditions, but this is when they really shine for me.

[scaleface]

I fish spinneraits from top to bottom , fast and slow . I fish chatterbaits , wait , I havent fished them yet but I have some . I just havent had that day where I thought to myself   "try a chatterbait ."  They must be pretty dang effective as popular as they are .

[Logan S]

I fish the chatterbait in grass 90% of the time...Usually grass that's thick enough to foul a spinnerbait.  Sometimes a spinnerbait is interchangeable, but many times its not.  Chatterbait will also work on those sunny and windless days when a spinnerbait would be low on the list.  The other 10% of the time is mostly dock skipping and slow rolling around rocks/stumps/etc...

A spinnerbait is more versatile than a chatterbait IMO...Many people lump them together but for me they are very different baits.  

[riverbasser]

3 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Two Totally different baits in my fishing.

Chatterbait is Almost always fished Low & Slow and a spinnerbait is fished high in the water column and at a much faster pace - often burned. 

You mileage may vary.

A-Jay

I didn't expect that response from you, I always hear you talk about fishing blade baits deep and I guess I just assumed that included spinners. 

Well if you ever decide to try one deep check out strikezone ledgebuster. Not very popular but work well for me in summer when there too deep for cranks 

To get back on topic, I fish a chatterbait in muddy water anyplace I would fish a jig but want to call bass from further away.

3 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Two Totally different baits in my fishing.

Chatterbait is Almost always fished Low & Slow and a spinnerbait is fished high in the water column and at a much faster pace - often burned. 

You mileage may vary.

A-Jay

I didn't expect that response from you, I always hear you talk about fishing blade baits deep and I guess I just assumed that included spinners. 

Well if you ever decide to try one deep check out strikezone ledgebuster. Not very popular but work well for me in summer when there too deep for cranks 

To get back on topic, I fish a chatterbait in muddy water anyplace I would fish a jig but want to call bass from further away.

[burrows]

Anytime is a good time to throw a chatter bait. for me anyway. Lakes don't freeze over in my neck of the woods. Doesn't mean they want a chatter bait anytime. I catch all year round on a chatter bait.

[punch]

I didn't have a lot of confidence in the chatterbait over the spinnerbait or the swim jig, but in the last few years i've forced myself to toss it more and more and i've been rewarded. It's probably my second favorite search bait in stained water next to a squarebill. I find myself using chatterbaits in dirty water and getting bites all year long. I slap a paddetail swimbait on it and rotate between a bluegill/brown color pattern or a white/chartreuse. I've gotten bites on chatterbaits.. everywhere. Shallow, deep, around docks, over weeds, open water.. it's really a "toss anywhere" bait for me.

The biggest downside is that northern pike LOVE it.  

[Yakalong]

I will throw a chatter bait before a spinner bait.  I used to throw spinner first but the chatter bait I have a lot more confidence in now so it is the first bait I throw usually.

[bonzai22]

Chatterbaits work year round and you can also experiment with different trailers. sometimes they want a larger or smaller profile trailer. 

[MIbassyaker]

I never got into chatterbaits until this last year. I had gotten it into my head that they were primarily a stained/murky water bait, and I fish mostly reasonably clear water. When I started really giving them a chance, I discovered bass (also pike and bowfin) have no problem hammering them in clear water too, warm or cold, sunny or cloudy, any time of day.  I use flukes as trailers most of the time.

[Scarborough817]

chatterbaits are quite different than spinnerbaits and one of my favourite baits, i agree with brett hite in his way of thinking that a chatterbait is more similar to a squarebill than a spinnerbait, but i also think they are similar to a lipless crank mainly because of the way they are fished. The thing about chatterbaits is they are meant to imitate a baitfish profile but have a vibrating blade attached to the head, this blade gives off vibration so the bass can locate it a little easier. the main place people throw a chatterbait is in and around the grass, they can also be fished around laydowns if you are fishing the right bait (sk rage blade). chatterbaits are something that are normally fished slow but quick retrieves can work as well (if the bait stays down in the water column. one of the main things with chatterbaits which is similar to squarebills, is deflection, if a squrebill hits a rock and deflects you normally get a reaction bite. if a chatterbait is in the grass and you rip is out and you normally get a reaction bite. i also fish them on the same rod a 7' MH/M rod i feel that normally when you don't feel the vibration of the chatterbait blade you have a fish on or some grass fouled up the blade so i tend to set the hook and for me it has helped me land roughly 95% or the fish that hit it. now most of this information is a combination of brett hite's philosiphy and my own findings and personally my way of thinking is why not listen to someone who has probably one the most of his money because of that bait alone.

[Bluebasser86]

14 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Two Totally different baits in my fishing.

Chatterbait is Almost always fished Low & Slow and a spinnerbait is fished high in the water column and at a much faster pace - often burned. 

You mileage may vary.

A-Jay

This is a basic breakdown of why I choose one over the other. I'll also add that I tend to prefer the bladed jig in stained to dirty water and the spinnerbait in clearer water, but that is mostly because of the way I'm fishing them. 

Bladed jigs are one of my top 3 favorite baits to fish, which is why I started making my own so I could have the exact bait I wanted. 

[A-Jay]

3 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

This is a basic breakdown of why I choose one over the other. I'll also add that I tend to prefer the bladed jig in stained to dirty water and the spinnerbait in clearer water, but that is mostly because of the way I'm fishing them. 

Bladed jigs are one of my top 3 favorite baits to fish, which is why I started making my own so I could have the exact bait I wanted. 

And you've posted many a great bass pic to prove it ~

I rarely have anything close to dirty of stain water up here - closest thing is perhaps a little tannic and whatever rain runoff does - but mostly greater than 5 feet

A-Jay

[bwcaw]

On 11/26/2016 at 3:36 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

This is a basic breakdown of why I choose one over the other. I'll also add that I tend to prefer the bladed jig in stained to dirty water and the spinnerbait in clearer water, but that is mostly because of the way I'm fishing them. 

Bladed jigs are one of my top 3 favorite baits to fish, which is why I started making my own so I could have the exact bait I wanted. 

Where do you find the chatterbait components?!! I really wanna make my own too! Can you buy the head and blade ready? Then just add the skirts

thanks!

[Bluebasser86]

2 hours ago, bwcaw said:

Where do you find the chatterbait components?!! I really wanna make my own too! Can you buy the head and blade ready? Then just add the skirts

thanks!

I buy all my components at Barlow's. I build mine from the very beginning, pouring, painting, baking, tying, and assembling. You can buy lots of different plain jigheads and add the blade and skirt. 

[Mr. Aquarium]

i love fishing them like a jig, pitching it to cover and slow hop along bottom. i lift till it vibrates, let it fall, pause then lift again.  works great in the summer time and at night. caught some large fish. havent fished it like a spinner bait

[Hawkeye21]

I throw the chatterbait in all circumstances and fish it multiple ways.  If I'm not having luck with it, which rarely happens, I then switch it up.  I always have a rod with a chatterbait on it though.

 

It works best for me in murky water though while the spinner usually has more success in clear water.

[Dirtyeggroll]

I read a lot about people saying "chatterbaits for muddy water and grass lines".

 

That being said last year was the first year I ever threw a chatterbait. Before I started reading "where to throw them" I had a lot of luck throwing chatterbaits in open water on the outside of deep (12-15') docks in clear water under schools of crappie (two of my biggest fish of 2017 were caught this way). Although, I also had good luck parallel to shallow grass lines and rocky water breaks in muddy water. This basically would have been all of the places I would have thrown a spinnerbait. But then again, I tend to throw whatever is tied on at just about everything. 

 

 

[MIbassyaker]

13 hours ago, bwcaw said:

Where do you find the chatterbait components?!! I really wanna make my own too! Can you buy the head and blade ready? Then just add the skirts

thanks!

 

10 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I buy all my components at Barlow's. I build mine from the very beginning, pouring, painting, baking, tying, and assembling. You can buy lots of different plain jigheads and add the blade and skirt. 

 

If you get parts from Barlows they have a good head for bladed jigs, the "shakee head" -- it's an arky style head with flat eye that has a wide opening for split ring to fit easily, and a longer than usual hook length.