Whats a "chunk" trailer?

[johnsmith]

When would you chose a chunk trailer as opposed to other soft plastics? Why is there even a chunk category? 

[Biglittle8]

A Chunk looks more like a frog to me than a craw, so I use it when jig fishing an area that has a lot of frogs on the menu for bass... like lilly pads. It's a little more compact. Chunk and Chunk Jr. Are definitely worth a look. I also use them on Chatterbaits.

[Sam]

A "chunk" is what is shown above and it is used as a "trailer" to make your main bait mimic a crawfish or bluegill.

 

There are hundreds of "chunk" type trailers that are for your jig presentations so Google "jig trailers" and you can see the pictures of what they look like.

 

You use a "chunk" to "bulk up" your jig and other moving baits' profiles to make your presentation more appealing to a hungry or mad bass. The "chunk" also will impact the fall rate of your plastics and jigs depending on its size.

 

You can use a "chunk" with either slow or fast moving tentacles. The Rage Tail family has fast moving tentacles while other baits have slow moving tentacles. A lot of guys will use the Rage Tail "chunks or trailer" in the warmer months for their fast action while other guys use them all year. The Rage Tail's fast action tentacles is what makes the Rage Tails an excellent "trailer" to use by themselves or on jigs, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, buzzbaits, etc.

 

I use them on my half-ounce jigs in the same family of colors of my jig skirts.

 

 

[Catt]

Chunk trailer: cold water presentations 

[Captain Phil]

The "chuck" goes back to a time before soft plastics.  Back then, trailer options were limited to pieces of real pork skin.  The gold standard in the South was a weedless Johnson spoon with a pork rind trailer.   The trailer was either in the form of a chunk or a strip.  Both had unique properties.   Pork rind was a mess.   It came in little bottles full of salt brine.   It stunk and if it leaked, your lures and even your tackle box could be ruined.  Thankfully, that's history.

 

A chunk trailer gives a slow side to side motion more like a frog.  A strip has a tighter wiggle like a minnow.  I have used chunk trailers in pads and strip trailers in weeds.  The best modern trailer in my opinion is a Zoom split tail plastic trailer.  Everyone has their own favorite.  

[Catt]

1 hour ago, Captain Phil said:

The gold standard in the South was a weedless Johnson spoon with a pork rind trailer.

 

 

[J Francho]

I like the Super Chunk and Super Chunk Jr..  Chunks are definitely their own category, and I wouldn't totally say they are a cold water trailer, though they are a go to for it.  I thread the bait through the thick part in colder water to bring the profile down in size.  Warm water, I just skered the thing. 

 

I love those Johnson spoons @Catt posted.  I always travel with at least two: one gold and one silver.

 

Top left:

 

One in the face:

 

 

[Catt]

@J Francho I'll thread Zoom's Swimming Chunk on a 1/4-3/8 oz jig during winter. 

 

Little more action than a plain chunk but less than a Rage Chunk.

[Columbia Craw]

Believe it or not, there was a day when plastic trailers did not exist.  The material of the day was pork rind that was cut, trimmed and dyed to provide that trailer.  You put a chunk of pork rind on your spoon or jig, hence the pork chunk and now the generic “chunk.”  As said already, there are hundreds of options. They add bulk, color, variation in action and rate of fall. Very few anglers fish a “naked” jig anymore. I remember taking a plastic worm and slicing it with a razor knife to create a jig trailer.  

[GTN-NY]

7 minutes ago, Columbia Craw said:

Believe it or not, there was a day when plastic trailers did not exist.  The material of the day was pork rind that was cut, trimmed and dyed to provide that trailer.  You put a chunk of pork rind on your spoon or jig, hence the pork chunk and now the generic “chunk.”  As said already, there are hundreds of options. They add bulk, color, variation in action and rate of fall. Very few anglers fish a “naked” jig anymore. I remember taking a plastic worm and slicing it with a razor knife to create a jig trailer.  

I miss my Uncle Josh #11 pork

[Captain Phil]

Anyone remember "Al Foss"?  If so, you are older than dirt!  ?

[WRB]

 Chunk is a soft plastic #11 pork frog. 

Tom

[WRB]

1 hour ago, Captain Phil said:

Anyone remember "Al Foss"?  If so, you are older than dirt!  ?

Yep, sold my collection last Nov.

Tom

[NorthernBasser]

In cooler water, especially early in the year, I like using the Zoom Big Salty Chunk. I trim some of the sides off (where I marked with the lines in this pic) to make it a little more streamlined. Then I thread it on instead of just rigging through the tip.

 

[Jig Rookie]

FYI OP, the chunk doesn't have to compact the presentation; if you tip it instead of threading it you'll actually get a longer, larger presentation.

[the reel ess]

I don't use any chucks, except with the weedless spoon as shown above. My philosophy is that bass eat craws year round. And the craws they eat don't look like frogs, they look like craws. So I just keep it simple with Rage Craw, Rage Bug and Super Speed Craw.

[NorthernBasser]

On 4/23/2021 at 5:20 PM, NorthernBasser said:

In cooler water, especially early in the year, I like using the Zoom Big Salty Chunk. I trim some of the sides off (where I marked with the lines in this pic) to make it a little more streamlined. Then I thread it on instead of just rigging through the tip.

 

 

Proof from this morning that they work.

 

[AManWearingAHat]

Just as a tip to add to the thread, if you save your beat up old craws you can often trim them short and use them as a chunk after they’re too beat up for normal T-rig use.