Chatterbait technique how to fish it?

[GoneFishingLTN]

no grass here, I was wondering how do you fish the chaterbait in different depths of water with no grass to hit

[AlabamaSpothunter]

You need to impart your own action on the bait, meaning rod pumps, twitches, using a Yo Yo retreive, etc.  The reason people think they work so well in grass is because many times they catch fish when they pop the bait free from grass.    You can do the same thing in open water with rod twitches.  

 

I have plenty of grass but I don't fish them around it that much.   I use full sized Chatterbaits to deflect off of cover in that 5-10fow range for big fish.   

 

All you need is laydowns, xmas trees, anything you can get the bait to deflect off of. 

[12poundbass]

Change your reel speed from time to time as well. Slow then a few fast turns of the handle, slow, little faster, erratic speed changes.

[GoneFishingLTN]

45 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

You need to impart your own action on the bait, meaning rod pumps, twitches, using a Yo Yo retreive, etc.  The reason people think they work so well in grass is because many times they catch fish when they pop the bait free from grass.    You can do the same thing in open water with rod twitches.  

 

I have plenty of grass but I don't fish them around it that much.   I use full sized Chatterbaits to deflect off of cover in that 5-10fow range for big fish.   

 

All you need is laydowns, xmas trees, anything you can get the bait to deflect off of. 

So always base the depth off the cover your fishing?

[Choporoz]

This time of year, I like to let it go to the bottom...wait a few seconds and then bring it back with short hops.  Snap your rod tip up enough to just feel it vibrate and let it drop and sit for 2-3 seconds...do that all the way back to the boat.  Don't be surprised if they just pick it up off the bottom

[Glenn]

 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

On 4/5/2023 at 4:36 PM, GoneFishingLTN said:

So always base the depth off the cover your fishing?

Yeah exactly, if I know the tops of a laydown come up to 5fow, I'm gunning to run that chatterbait right off the tops of the cover.    For many this is submerged grass, but it just as well can be harder cover like tree limps of stumps, etc.   

 

Yo Yoing is a bit different, and you can hang up a bit more, but it's fantastic if you are working a bigger area that just has lots of submerged cover and stuff.     

 

Reeling it and simply killing it works as well.    

I tried it and have caught a few doing it.    

[Darth-Baiter]

28 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

This time of year, I like to let it go to the bottom...wait a few seconds and then bring it back with short hops.  Snap your rod tip up enough to just feel it vibrate and let it drop and sit for 2-3 seconds...do that all the way back to the boat.  Don't be surprised if they just pick it up off the bottom

This. I kinda fish it like a jig.  
 

without grass, I mean.  Just let it sink and lift it and let it chatter, and then kill it and let it drop again. 

[Deleted account]

2 hours ago, GoneFishingLTN said:

no grass here, I was wondering how do you fish the chaterbait in different depths of water with no grass to hit

 

Don't worry about hitting stuff, they will bite it if you get it around them. The trailer is key, a straight tail fluke like thing, or a do nothing stubby creature is really all you need, There is no real way to fish it wrong, I start with a steady retrieve, a start and stop, a yoyo, or a rip, they will show a preference on a given day. I find early in the season, I can't get them to bite it, or I can get other things get bit better, but at some point, they will want it, and then I don't fish anything else for like 3 weeks or so and hammer fish.

[ChrisD46]

12 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

You need to impart your own action on the bait, meaning rod pumps, twitches, using a Yo Yo retreive, etc.  The reason people think they work so well in grass is because many times they catch fish when they pop the bait free from grass.    You can do the same thing in open water with rod twitches.  

 

I have plenty of grass but I don't fish them around it that much.   I use full sized Chatterbaits to deflect off of cover in that 5-10fow range for big fish.   

 

All you need is laydowns, xmas trees, anything you can get the bait to deflect off of. 

*Be careful around wood !! ... Chatterbaits hang up in , around and going over wood / laydowns very easy - you are better off using a spinnerbait around any wood / laydowns !!

[casts_by_fly]

1 hour ago, ChrisD46 said:

*Be careful around wood !! ... Chatterbaits hang up in , around and going over wood / laydowns very easy - you are better off using a spinnerbait around any wood / laydowns !!

 

change your trailer if you're having that problem.  A rage bug rigged flat on the bottom will slide up over wood really well. 

[gim]

I sometimes use them around docks too.  Early in the morning, the shade line isn't directly underneath the dock, so a lure like a CB or a spinnerbait brought in along the side can work.  If it deflects off a post, even better.

[AlabamaSpothunter]

3 hours ago, ChrisD46 said:

*Be careful around wood !! ... Chatterbaits hang up in , around and going over wood / laydowns very easy - you are better off using a spinnerbait around any wood / laydowns !!

A good percentage of my biggest fish come from running these things into wood cover.

 

You are right though, wrapping around limbs yo yoing, and hanging them up on wood are about the only two ways to get the stuck.   

 

Depth control and using your electronics to establish the top of the cover you are fishing can eliminate lots of these snags.  

 

Not to mention if you got FFS.   

[swhit140]

3 hours ago, ChrisD46 said:

*Be careful around wood !! ... Chatterbaits hang up in , around and going over wood / laydowns very easy - you are better off using a spinnerbait around any wood / laydowns !!

Don't forget they have the Z-Man Crosseyez Chatterbait if you are concerned fishing around heavy cover/laydowns/snags. Which is probably a great choice for bank anglers.

 

[Bankc]

17 hours ago, GoneFishingLTN said:

no grass here, I was wondering how do you fish the chaterbait in different depths of water with no grass to hit

First, and this is really important, you tie on a spinnerbait and leave the chatterbait at home.  Then you bang the spinnerbait against any wood you can find.  Lastly, you reel in your catch.  

 

I know others will argue differently.  But I can't buy a bite off a chatterbait if there's not grass around.  I tried for years before finally giving up.  If there is grass, I'll often fish it with a straight retrieve, like a weedless crankbait, or if it's deep grass, yo-yo it off the bottom like a blade bait.  You want just enough lift speed to get the blade to engage, and kill it right after it does.  

 

Sometimes I'll try other things, as it's a pretty versatile lure.  But those are my primary options.  

 

Maybe I need to buy some jackhammers or something.  Everyone's saying they can get them out of wood, but not me.  Then again, I'm usually fishing them around branches, not giant logs, so that might be part of the reason.  

[Choporoz]

2 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

 

change your trailer if you're having that problem.  A rage bug rigged flat on the bottom will slide up over wood really well. 

I hadn't made that connection before.  I use horizontal Rage Bug 90% of the time.  And I almost never hang in wood....don't think I ever lost one to a snag.  Hadn't attributed that to the Rage Bug before...ty

 

(I have casted off a couple, though.  I like 40# braid for 3/8-1/2 chatterbaits, and a well executed backlash can send them well beyond the end of the line.)

[thediscochef]

Without grass I usually look for rocks or some other feature in the water, like pilings or trees. I try to retrieve around those things and vary speed and motion until they either hit it or don't. One of those baits that can coax a bite even when it's not really what they want, but when they want it there's no wrong way to fish it

[casts_by_fly]

1 hour ago, Choporoz said:

I hadn't made that connection before.  I use horizontal Rage Bug 90% of the time.  And I almost never hang in wood....don't think I ever lost one to a snag.  Hadn't attributed that to the Rage Bug before...ty

 

(I have casted off a couple, though.  I like 40# braid for 3/8-1/2 chatterbaits, and a well executed backlash can send them well beyond the end of the line.)

 

It makes a big difference.  I normally fish a Zako or vertical rage menace on a chatterbait and you can watch them roll as you pull them over a log.  I don't have enough wood to justify doing it all the time on my lakes here but one or two places I'll swap out.  the horizontal body trailer gives a flat base to slide up over a log.  Any trailer of that orientation works the same.  I have a palmetto bug on one that's the same.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

IMO if you're fishing wood and not losing any chatterbaits, you're likely leaving fish behind.  You can use creature baits, chatterbaits with brush guards, a softer rod along with mono or FC instead of braid, but in the end if you're effectively covering wood, losing baits frequently is a certainty.  

[papajoe222]

On 4/5/2023 at 6:36 PM, GoneFishingLTN said:

So always base the depth off the cover your fishing?

This is only one strategy, but YES.  You either know from watching your DF that the cover is holding bass, or you assume that it is. In some instances the fish may be away from the cover, but if you've identified 'fishy' cover you should fish it at that depth.

54 minutes ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

IMO if you're fishing wood and not losing any chatterbaits, you're likely leaving fish behind. 

I think he meant to say if you're fishing wood and not getting hung up, you're likely leaving fish behind.  I fish some nasty cover and this is my motto, but loosing baits isn't.  If I get hung up, snagged, or whatever you want to call it, I'm going to get it back, sharpen the hook and retie. Then I'll move on.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

21 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

This is only one strategy, but YES.  You either know from watching your DF that the cover is holding bass, or you assume that it is. In some instances the fish may be away from the cover, but if you've identified 'fishy' cover you should fish it at that depth.

I think he meant to say if you're fishing wood and not getting hung up, you're likely leaving fish behind.  I fish some nasty cover and this is my motto, but loosing baits isn't.  If I get hung up, snagged, or whatever you want to call it, I'm going to get it back, sharpen the hook and retie. Then I'll move on.

My OP perfectly conveys the point I was trying to get across.  If anything I would remove the "likely" from "leaving fish behind."