Chatterbait Sizes & Retrieve Depth

[Corey T]

I fish quite a bit of the 3/8 Chatterbait and might be interested in adding some 1/2 and 3/4 to my box. Has anyone found information on how much deeper each will run? For the purpose of the conversation, let’s assume the trailer, line and retrieve speed are the same. TIA!

[Mr. Aquarium]

As deep as you want. I’ve done well fishing a 1/2 ounce chatter bait on bottom at night. In 10 ish feet of water. Fishin like a jig.  I would use a 3/4 if you want  to get deep fishing ledges. A 1/2 ounce you could fish shallow and deep. 

[gim]

24 minutes ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

As deep as you want

Just reel slower to make it run deeper

[Corey T]

6 minutes ago, gimruis said:

Just reel slower to make it run deeper

 

31 minutes ago, Mr. Aquarium said:

As deep as you want. I’ve done well fishing a 1/2 ounce chatter bait on bottom at night. In 10 ish feet of water. Fishin like a jig.  I would use a 3/4 if you want  to get deep fishing ledges. A 1/2 ounce you could fish shallow and deep. 

I apologize as I wasn’t very clear. I’m talking about slow rolling it just to the point of where the vibration occurs. I realize you can burn it or drag it but I’m talking about a relatively consistent slow retrieve. 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

41 minutes ago, Corey T said:

I apologize as I wasn’t very clear. I’m talking about slow rolling it just to the point of where the vibration occurs. I realize you can burn it or drag it but I’m talking about a relatively consistent slow retrieve. 

It depends on the components of the bait.  Blade shape, size, weight, thickness, material its made from and how its attached to the jig itself all play a role.  The trailer you use play a part as well.  Big boot tails with a lot of action can cause the bait to rise in the water column.  You can flip the boot tails upside down to minimize lift if you want to to stay deeper.  You can also bend the blade to to change the running depth.  

[Dens228]

Count it down longer before you start reeling.  3/8 or 1/2 oz or 1 oz, they aren't going to stop sinking from being too light. Lighter might rise easier but I've found certain brands or models of chatterbaits do that more than others independent of weight. 

[throttleplate]

25 minutes ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

It depends on the components of the bait.  Blade shape, size, weight, thickness, material its made from and how its attached to the jig itself all play a role.  The trailer you use play a part as well.  Big boot tails with a lot of action can cause the bait to rise in the water column.  You can flip the boot tails upside down to minimize lift if you want to to stay deeper.  You can also bend the blade to to change the running depth.  

does bending the blade one way or the other affect the chatter ability?

[MIbassyaker]

Speed vs. depth. All else equal, heavier weights fish:

(1) Faster than lighter weights at the same depth.

(2) Deeper than lighter weights at the same speed.

 

So change weights if you want to fish the same speed but change depths, or the same depth but change speeds. 

 

Exactly how much change depends on individual details of the bait; there's no single answer. And the differences are not constant across the range. so, at a fast retrieve rate, the depth differences are not necessarily the same as a slow retrieve rate.

 

So no real way to know without experimenting.  If you usually fish with 3/8oz, get some 1/2oz first to test out, and then get some 3/4 if you need to go deeper still.

 

It is definitely worth having at least 2 go-to weights so you can cover 4 corners of a speed x depth range (slower-deeper, slower-shallower, faster-deeper, faster-shallower)

 

[Logan S]

I'll put some real numbers down for you ...

 

Here is what I've found in my normal chatterbait fishing...Fast to slow retrieves.  

 

1/4oz - surface to 2 or 3 feet (3' is sort of a stretch).  3/8oz - surface to 4 or 5 feet.  1/2oz - down to 6 or 7 feet, harder to keep near surface without high rod tip and fast retrieve (but possible).  3/4oz - I've not used a ton, but seemed to be pretty easy to keep down at 10' without being overly slow when I've played with it...I don't think you'd be effectively fishing the 3/4 shallower than 5 or 6 feet in normal scenarios.   

 

You can add or subtract a foot or two from all these for extra fast burning or extra slow roll retrieves and high or low rod angles.  

 

I generally use the same line/rod/gearing for all chatters and lot of times will have 2 or 3 on deck at once with different weights (identical rods). Only disclaimer is that most of my chatter fishing is shallow grassy areas so I skew heavily to the 3/8oz and even 1/4oz.  

 

I use direct-attach blade models like Jackhammer, original Phenix, etc...No split ring attached blades.  Don't know if the split ring types run differently.

[Deleted account]

7 minutes ago, Logan S said:

I'll put some real numbers down for you ...

 

Here is what I've found in my normal chatterbait fishing...Fast to slow retrieves.  

 

1/4oz - surface to 2 or 3 feet (3' is sort of a stretch).  3/8oz - surface to 4 or 5 feet.  1/2oz - down to 6 or 7 feet, harder to keep near surface without high rod tip and fast retrieve (but possible).  3/4oz - I've not used a ton, but seemed to be pretty easy to keep down at 10' without being overly slow when I've played with it...I don't think you'd be effectively fishing the 3/4 shallower than 5 or 6 feet in normal scenarios.   

 

You can add or subtract a foot or two from all these for extra fast burning or extra slow roll retrieves and high or low rod angles.  

 

I generally use the same line/rod/gearing for all chatters and lot of times will have 2 or 3 on deck at once with different weights (identical rods). Only disclaimer is that most of my chatter fishing is shallow grassy areas so I skew heavily to the 3/8oz and even 1/4oz.  

 

I use direct-attach blade models like Jackhammer, original Phenix, etc...No split ring attached blades.  Don't know if the split ring types run differently.

This is spot on.

I will add that in addition to the obvious like rod position and retrieve speed, things like line choice and trailers will have a big impact on how deep they run. I wrap some thick copper wire or solder on the hook shank to fine tune what I want them to do.

[ChrisD46]

3/8th oz. or 1/2 oz. size chatter baits using yo-yo technique : Cast out let chatter bait sink to the bottom . Then reel up a few feet and let it fall back to the bottom creating  a yo-yo retrieve (just like with lipless crank baits !) ... Too many folks want to fish a chatter bait like a jig or spinnerbait  - instead of a crank bait with a single hook and maybe a trailer . Fishing chatter baits still have room to create / learn new effective retrieves .

[Mbirdsley]

I make my own chatter baits out of a do-it arkie mold.  Seems the Arkie heads raise a bit more.  But, as Logan S  stated the 3/8 runs more like 3-5 even the ones I make .  Actually with the Arkie heads in the 1/2 oz seems to raise  a bit more than the 3/8 and I have issue keeping it down. The swim baits style heads will stay down more in the bigger sizes 

[Bankbeater]

I fish with a 1/2 chatterbait, and usually just let it fall to the bottom.  I let is sit for a few seconds then slow roll it for a few feet and then let it drop back to the bottom again.  I try to keep the bait as close to the bottom as possible.

[Bluebasser86]

11 hours ago, throttleplate said:

does bending the blade one way or the other affect the chatter ability?

Depending on how far back you bend the blade, it will effect how high the bait will ride but it will also effect how hard the blade vibrates. There is a happy medium IMO.

 

 

I do some 3/4 and even 1oz bladed jigs, but I put a magnum blade on them so they don't run a lot deeper, they just have a tremendous amount of vibration and a much larger profile. The could be run 10' deep or more easily with a standard blade on them.