Tomato Tahmata

[FryDog62]

On the exercise bike today and switched on YouTube. First 2 videos up were on bladed jigs… hadn’t seen any on this in awhile so I hit play. 
 

One video was Matt Allen, one was Mark Zona. They both said when bladed jigs first came out, they both struggled with them - until they figured out how to fish them properly.  
 

Matt Allen said you don’t just straight retrieve a Chatterbait - you learn to “work it.” Vary the retrieve, change direction, kill it… this gets the bites. 
 

Then Zona said - whatever you do - don’t “over work” the bait. It vibrates, let it do its thing on a straight retrieve. 
 

What say you?? 

[Fishingmickey]

     I'd value both Matt's and Zona's opinions.  Try both and let the Bass tell you which one is right for that day (cliche answer). I have the exact same issue with spinnerbaits, With spinnerbaits, sometimes a slow steady bottom bouncing, blade thumping retrieve gets bit. Other times I am making it dance, twerk, juke, jive, jump and stop/start and running it into everything I can.  I also like burning them so they wake or just break the surface occasionally.

     For me the Chatterbait is "usually" reeled as slow as possible to keep vibrations going and if it stops vibrating (hung in or hitting weeds), rip it just like a trap and get it started vibrating again.

     I've fished the chatterbaits up to the 1.25 oz size and they are good for deep water. Sometimes I fish them like a jig. Hop and a couple of turns of the handle and fall. Other times it is just crawl it along the bottom.

FM

[Choporoz]

I say that it is hilarious that multiple bass utubers can cash a check saying just about anything.   Chatterbait is the worst, because it really can work fished so very differently.   Wouldn't be hard to find five more contradictory videos about a bladed jig.... they're good around wood, avoid wood because you will lose them... fish them like a jig, fish them like a crankbait... fish have become immune to them, or the vibration is such that fish will continue to react to them no matter how many they see.... don't use braid; only use braid...sweep hookset, or jam 'em....

[A-Jay]

Tomato Tahmata ~ Good one.

 

I totally agree with the 'do whatever they will bite' mantra when it comes to vibrating jigs.

Low & slow, High & Fast and even stop & go retrieves all seem to work for some one, at some time, some where.

Took me a while to figure this bait out - like two seasons.  

I thought I had 'tried' everything I could; no bites.

Turns out, not everything.

 

For the places I fish for brown bass, it's all about being around the right cover.

SURPRISE - I know right ?

A total revelation right there !

But seriously, the bait excels for me when I can get it to 'hang up' in the cover a bit,

pause there, and then keep moving.

How fast of a retrieve, how long of a pause and what type of cover (and depth) is always seasonally dependent.  

The Jackhammer has been such a big fish producer for me that when the conditions are right,

at least in my mind, it's hard for me to throw anything else. 

So cooler water early and later season, it's a lighter 3/8 oz bait fished low & slow.

Warmer water- late summer- it's a 1/2 oz bait moved a little faster and higher in the water column.

Some of that is because the grass is taller by then as well. 

Cooler water catch ~

https://youtu.be/o9xew3tWuuU?feature=shared&t=1013

Warmer water catch~

https://youtu.be/sITpRNLz_04?feature=shared&t=192

Fish Hard

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

 

[TnRiver46]

The only way I’ve ever caught any was ripping them out of milfoil and one other dink hit one when I was trying it in nasty chocolate milk water 

[MediumMouthBass]

Fishing a bladed jig is simple, fish it like a squirrel with ADHD after having 3 energy drinks.

Throw it over and over again with many different variations each cast, sweep the rod like you are trying to rip it out of the water and into space, reel it in slow and steady continuously , bounce it off the bottom like a tube jig, put a lizard on it and drag bottom, work the bait like matt said and then just come to a complete stop, reel it in near the surface almost like you would a wake bait, throw it into a submerged tree, on top of rocks, rip it through grass, pick it up and drop it like a lipless crank.

Or just fish it like a jig on the bottom.

There isnt 1 right way to fish it, but there might be 1 right way the bass in your lake want it.

[Texas Flood]

I fish them the way both Matt and Zona do. Both catch bass and if one style isnt working, just try the other until you find out what the fish want.

[FryDog62]

59 minutes ago, Texas Flood said:

I fish them the way both Matt and Zona do. Both ways catch bass and if one style isnt working, just try the other until you find out what the fish want.

Winner Winner Walleye Dinner… 👍

[T-Billy]

I've done OK with them in the daylight, but for me, they are king of the nighttime world. Burned over shallow weed flats, stop and go on the outside edge, crawled over rock structure... they flat get bit, and they draw big bites. 

 I figured out the year before last, on those nights when they're just nipping at the CB, all I have to do is switch to a paddle tail on a jig head and fish it in the same manner in the same places, and it'll get choked. This scenario is usually on those slick, calm nights. A little wind definitely helps the CB bite, night or day.

So... I'll agree with both Matt and Mark, but mostly Matt. The only time I just straight retrieve one is when I'm slow rolling it, banging it through chunk rock. 

[RRocket]

4 hours ago, A-Jay said:

 

I'll be selling my Mini-max collection at the end of the season.

A-Jay

 

 

 

Please PM me when you're ready! 

II'd be interested in taking some off your hands.

23 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

, all I have to do is switch to a paddle tail on a jig head and fish it in the same manner in the same places, and it'll get choked.

That's pretty much what the Chatterbait Willow Vibe is...or maybe even a  Decoy Zero Dan Flash.

 

Have you tried those? 

[MN Fisher]

Straight retrieve, bounce it off the bottom, switch where the tip of your rod is pointing to make it swerve, vary the retrieve to make it move up and down, rip it through cover...so many ways of working a chatterbait.

[gim]

4 hours ago, A-Jay said:

what am I looking to improve ?

Answer - NOTHING !

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

 

In some areas I do think fish have become pressured to them though because a number of anglers have abandoned spinnerbaits for a chatterbait and they have now seen it more. And for this reason, at least on some more pressured waters by me, the spinnerbait is producing again.

[NorthernBasser]

YouTuber #1- Use a black/dark bait, because it contrasts really well in the water, making it easier for fish to locate it.

 

Also YouTuber #1- When your braid starts fading, take a black sharpie to the line to make it less visible to the fish.

[LrgmouthShad]

Just about everyone seems to recommend “working” a spinnerbait while reeling in. I do best with a straight retrieve. Same deal I guess. I don’t know nothing about chatterbaits because those things are weird

[Catt]

More than one way to "work" a lure, who would thunk!

[Pat Brown]

Most of my big fish on a chatterbait came letting it fall to the bottom and then lifting it up slowly and letting it fall!

 

I've never done particularly well fishing it in any other way but I am open to the possibilities....

 

I mostly fish a swim jig or a lipless instead 90% of the time nowadays but I still carry a chatterbait around with me at the pond just in case.

[Jar11591]

@LrgmouthShad

Im the same way. The only “working” I do of a spinnerbait is ripping it out of weeds. But other than that, it’s a straight retrieve. That’s what gets me bit. I remember years ago watching a video of KVD talking about spinnerbaits and he said something along the lines of “you won’t catch fish on a spinnerbait with a straight retrieve”. Well I’m no KVD, but I do alright with the old rusty gate tied on. So in my opinion KVD couldn’t have been more wrong on that front. 🤷🏻‍♂️ that’s why time on the water and actually fishing is the most important thing when it comes to honing your craft. 

[torm]

Honestly I've given up on making things complicated. Does it work if you kill a bait? Sure why not. In my experiences the simple steady retrieve has worked the best. Fishing is so random and there are so many factors that can influence a bite. Recently I've had days where I'm fishing in 40 degree water with a 7 gear ratio, slow retrieve, and getting skunk. My buddy on the other side of the boat is burning his chatterbait in with an 8 and smacking giants. The same goes for cranks as well. I barely ever grind my cranks on the bottom and I still manage to catch fish just steady retrieving them.

 

Also you gotta remember pros are always trying to sell something. Besides being a fisherman they are pretty much walking sales guys. They get paid to do a job even if it contradicts what they said previously. 

[gim]

12 hours ago, Jar11591 said:

The only “working” I do of a spinnerbait is ripping it out of weeds. But other than that, it’s a straight retrieve. That’s what gets me bit.

 

I catch a lot of largemouth with spinnerbaits near docks early the morning before the sun gets too high.  When it bumps off a post of the dock, its almost a guaranteed bite.

 

As the day progresses and the sun moves higher, that bite dies and then I switch to a plastic skipped underneath.

[BrianMDTX]

I think it’s one of the most versatile baits because you can fish it differently. Maybe they want to chase so reel it straight back. Maybe pause it. Maybe bounce it off the bottom. Get caught in weeds? Rip it! Or maybe let it hang up a bit and then rip it. 
 

At first, I was meh on a chatterbait. Now I have one rigged all the time. 

[Bluebasser86]

I do both. Some days they like a straight retrieve, some they like stop and go or pumping the rod, and some they want it rippes and killed.

[Mbirdsley]

straight retrieve like a crank or spinner bait.  if i wanted to work it like a jig. i’d throw a jig. 

[slowworm]

Let the fish tell you what they want.  If you aren't catching on a straight retrieve, work the bait.  If working the bait isn't catching, try a straight retrieve.

 

If neither is working throw something else.   Rinse and repeat with different lures until convinced no fish present.  Then move. and start all over again.

 

Fish are animals and they don't behave like us, they behave like fish and will do things differently day to day in response to various stimuli.