Thoughts on Weedless Chatterbait?

[NeroXyn]

I was wondering why there weren't many variants for weedless chatterbait considering they are good around grass (not directly in grass, i believe - that would be swim jigs' job). There is literally only one thread before talking about this but I am yet convinced with the reasoning.

 

With the chatterbait scenes all clouded by Jackhammer, I thought it would be a good idea if they came up with the weedless version just like z-man crosseyez and project-z weedless.

Is the use for weed guard on chatterbaits irrelevant, maybe because how the blade still tends to drag the whole forest of grass if it comes through?

 

Thx.

[A-Jay]

3 minutes ago, Bryan F. S. said:

Is the use for weed guard on chatterbaits irrelevant, maybe because how the blade still tends to drag the whole forest of grass if it comes through?

 

Thx.

I can see where it might helps some in & around hard cover,

but that's pretty much where it would end for me.

A-Jay

[TriStateBassin106]

I haven't tried any of the zman weedless bladed jigs yet. A new pond I started fishing last fall has clumps of submerged hydrilla that's scattered around but can be pretty thick in some spots. So far I've thrown a normal chatterbait on the edges of that and had some sucess but there's a few spots where I think the weedguard on it will help. I think they're pretty cool to try out. But swimjigs will always be my bread n butter for directly in the grass

[NeroXyn]

2 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

hard cover

Wouldn't hard cover go under the bait, rather than over the top?

4 minutes ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

I haven't tried any of the zman weedless bladed jigs yet

the Funny thing is all my chatterbaits are Z-man weedless, but I have yet found the scenario where a normal chatterbait would actually get stuck. I was too conservative when buying one because of my experience for snagging crankbait in a branchless pond for no reason (I presume the hooks often get stuck in between cracks).

 

6 minutes ago, TriStateBassin106 said:

But swimjigs will always be my bread n butter for directly in the grass

My current favorite pond is muddy due to unusual rain season, which leads me thinking chatterbait is a good idea. It is just the fallen branches and whatever debris that is on the flooded surface that kind of scares me for using a normal chatterbait like jackhammer, the twice the price of my weedless chatterbait.

[A-Jay]

On 1/6/2022 at 2:00 PM, Bryan F. S. said:

Wouldn't hard cover go under the bait, rather than over the top?

Depends on what it is.

Seems there's a fairly long list of factors that are all sort of impossible to predict.

Wood eats a lot of these bait (just read some of the recent threads).

As noted the blade itself changes what's going on there.

IME, sort of like a swim jig, works well very close to, over & around cover.

But once I venture INTO it, there's a decent chance the effectiveness of the presentation could be compromised.  If not totally bogged down or hung up.

So like the 'weed guard' on a swim jig', adding a guard to a vibrating jig could can be helpful,

but it ain't no Texas Rig.

BTW - this bait is rigged like a Texas rig and is fairly 'weedless'

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Z-Man_Chatterbait_Freedom_CFL/descpage-ZMCFL.html?from=basres

Unfortunately, I couldn't hook anything with it either. 

A-Jay

 

[fishinNWA]

A regular chatterbait doesn't seem to snag that much, as the saying says, if ain't broke don't fix it. But it is a interesting concept

[ajschn06]

26 minutes ago, Bryan F. S. said:

I was wondering why there weren't many variants for weedless chatterbait considering they are good around grass (not directly in grass, i believe - that would be swim jigs' job). There is literally only one thread before talking about this but I am yet convinced with the reasoning.

 

With the chatterbait scenes all clouded by Jackhammer, I thought it would be a good idea if they came up with the weedless version just like z-man crosseyez and project-z weedless.

Is the use for weed guard on chatterbaits irrelevant, maybe because how the blade still tends to drag the whole forest of grass if it comes through?

 

Thx.

 

Picasso has a couple... I'm tempted to try but they are even more expensive than Jackhammer's and I haven't figured out how to get them any cheaper like you can Jackhammers.... might be worth the expense for me fishing them in wood though

[Bluebasser86]

I've made some with a light weedguard. IMO, the reduction in hookups isn't worth the reduction in hangups. The only real place I'd use them is around wood, but I'll just switch to a spinnerbait instead. 

[scaleface]

I recently watched a Youtube video 'dont remember who made it" but they use a flat beaver style bait for a trailer . It keeps the hook upright and not roll over when encountering hard cover like wood where as other trailers cause the bait to roll over .  

[SeaBizzkit]

2 hours ago, scaleface said:

I recently watched a Youtube video 'dont remember who made it" but they use a flat beaver style bait for a trailer . It keeps the hook upright and not roll over when encountering hard cover like wood where as other trailers cause the bait to roll over .  

I know DEBO had said that in a recent one of his videos or streams too. Something to keep in mind for next season. 

[PressuredFishing]

6 hours ago, Bryan F. S. said:

I was wondering why there weren't many variants for weedless chatterbait considering they are good around grass (not directly in grass, i believe - that would be swim jigs' job). There is literally only one thread before talking about this but I am yet convinced with the reasoning.

 

With the chatterbait scenes all clouded by Jackhammer, I thought it would be a good idea if they came up with the weedless version just like z-man crosseyez and project-z weedless.

Is the use for weed guard on chatterbaits irrelevant, maybe because how the blade still tends to drag the whole forest of grass if it comes through?

 

Thx.

 

The issue for me is that the grass usually catches on the blade and not the actual hook and malfunctions the lure, I would rather choose a swimjig or another moving bait, although around wood they could be a good option like AJAY said.

[PhishLI]

I throw the weedless Z through pad fields without weed in-fill, and through weeds not yet draped in filamentous algae. Comes through way better than a standard CB or JH. Other than the 1st 2 fish I missed, which immediately caused me to judge the Z weedless as junk, hookups have been very good otherwise. They tend to hit chatterbaits to kill, so the weedguard doesn’t seem to do much to impede hooksets. Up until the past week or so we’ve been so choked out here that the Z weedless has been the only VJ I’m able to throw without total frustration. I’m not throwing any VJ in wood, weedless or not. The blade is the issue, as much as the hook.

[NeroXyn]

15 hours ago, PhishLI said:

filamentous algae

This. Out of all weeds, this one is the worst, and it is everywhere in LA ponds.

Enough reasoning to convince me making the right choice buying one.

[Choporoz]

20 hours ago, scaleface said:

I recently watched a Youtube video 'dont remember who made it" but they use a flat beaver style bait for a trailer . It keeps the hook upright and not roll over when encountering hard cover like wood where as other trailers cause the bait to roll over .  

Interesting.   I hadn't heard that before.  But I've been reading all the recent posts about losing chatterbaits in wood and I have been scratching my head because I just don't hang them much.   I always use a Rage Bug horizontal,  so maybe that's why.

[scaleface]

6 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

Interesting.   I hadn't heard that before.  But I've been reading all the recent posts about losing chatterbaits in wood and I have been scratching my head because I just don't hang them much.   I always use a Rage Bug horizontal,  so maybe that's why.

Its a video by Hellabass .

[BassinCNY]

I have a couple of the project z weedless chatterbaits but they didn't work out for me. I found that when I wanted to go weedless a spinnerbait was a better option.

[ajschn06]

Weedless chatterbait?

 

[Big Rick]

17 hours ago, ajschn06 said:

Weedless chatterbait?

 

Great idea!  I'll have to experiment on this. My best Jackhammer spots have wood. I can see how this would really help. Thanks for sharing.