Those who don't use a plastic trailer with a spinnerbait...

[OkobojiEagle]

...same answer when fishing a chatterbait?

 

oe

[lunkerboss923]

Chatterbaits yes. On a chatterbait the trailer makes out the profile add meat to it. I feel like the color on the trailer makes the lure work. 

 

Where the spinnerbait I use the Megabass SV-3 kind of already has the trailer built in. Now I will use a trailer hook. I don't use on a chatterbait. 

[Reel]

Always

[keagbassr]

Same answer..no. always plastic trailer ... unless it's pork🙂

[scaleface]

I experimented with cahatterbaits this year using them with and without trailers. I saw no difference in bites and think I had a better landing percentage without.

[Bankbeater]

I've never used a trailer on a spinnerbait, but I always put one on a bladed jig. 

[woolleyfooley]

2 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

I've never used a trailer on a spinnerbait, but I always put one on a bladed jig. 

Pretty much this. Rarely use a trailer on a spinnerbait but chatterbaits always have one.

[Munkin]

3 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

I've never used a trailer on a spinnerbait, but I always put one on a bladed jig. 

 

Same here, I am not good with chatterbaits though.

 

Allen 

[Junk Fisherman]

3 hours ago, Bankbeater said:

I've never used a trailer on a spinnerbait, but I always put one on a bladed jig. 

Same here.  Plus, Ive caught bigger bass on the Chatterbait since adding a swimbait trailer.

[Craig P]

4 hours ago, scaleface said:

I experimented with cahatterbaits this year using them with and without trailers. I saw no difference in bites and think I had a better landing percentage without.

This is my theory on adding plastics. It gets in the way of a hook set so no trailers for me. Sure, it’s minimal on larger hooks but any impedance is an impedance. 

[wdp]

Spinnerbait gets no trailer. Chatterbait always gets a minnow/shad shaped trailer. I use for different applications. Spinnerbait I use to bang around wood, treetops & branches. Chatterbait I use in open water or sparse grass. Chatterbait doesn’t do well around treetops for me - gets hung up too much. 

[Columbia Craw]

The two baits are very different and only share the use of a skirt in common.  It’s my belief that bass are initially attracted to a spinnnerbait by flash of the rotating blade or blades and the water displacement signature from the blades. It’s a secondary reaction when a bass focuses on the profile of the head/skirt. A trailer can add to the profile. 
 

A Chatterbait or bladed Jig is a jig that has the action of a crankbait. It wags side to side. The blade is like the lip on a squarebill.  The skirt gives bulk and some action but it’s minimal.  The blade produces minimal flash.  The side to side wag is perfect for a trailer that can capitalize on that side to side movement and add profile.  That’s why I love a Zako or a Spunk Shad.  

[MN Fisher]

I use trailers on both.

 

Spinnerbaits get a bulkier trailer - my favorite is a Berkley Pit Boss...avatar bass was caught on a spinnerbait with a pit boss trailer.

Chatterbaits get a slimmer profile - soft swimbaits like a Zoom Boot Tail or RI Little/Skinny Dipper

[T-Billy]

I always use a trailer with a chatterbait, and I prefer one with some bulk to it. Fish seem to eat it better when it's got some meat on it's bones.

[GRiver]

I’ve never use a trailer on a chatter bait, going to give it a try though. 50/50 on a spinner bait.

[Choporoz]

I put a horizontal Rage Bug on a chatterbait 100% of the time. No trailer on spinnerbaits 

[Pat Brown]

With the chatterbait I like trailers that basically don't have any drag or lift (fluke/spunk shad/trick worm) more than flappy or paddle tails.  I think the point of that is basically getting the action similar to no trailer (wild and erratic) with a little more weight for easier casting.  Also helps to keep the bait deeper.

 

I would imagine - with that in mind - no trailer would have great action - just be a little tougher to cast.

[BassinCNY]

I fish chatterbaits a lot more than spinnerbaits and always with a trailer. The reason is because they often get hit right as they hit the water or on the fall. I wish I could say I always detect it but I know I don't because when I start my retrieve sometimes there's a fish on that I didn't detect. I think the soft trailer fools the fish into holding on longer. 

[gim]

No trailer for spinnerbaits here, always one with a chatterbait.  I vary the trailers with a chatterbait and there's a lot of options.  Many plastics are specifically designed for this purpose.  As long as the trailer is not inhibiting the action/vibration of the lure itself, it's worth a shot.

 

These two lures are not interchangeable.  Don't just use one or the other.  Some people seem to think one of them is the end all be all, which is not accurate.  The chatterbait can be used a more varying depth and you can reel it in to a crawl.  It will produce in colder water temps for me.  A spinnerbait is more of a faster-moving presentation.

[Alex from GA]

None on a spinnerbait and the thin straight twin tails on a chatterbait.

[Rockhopper]

2025 will be my first year trying bladed jigs. Just got some good ones from @Siebert Outdoors to try. My plan is to try them with trailers. I never use trailers on a spinnerbait.

[papajoe222]

The only time I use a trailer on a spinnerbait is during pre-spawn and the only one I use is a Kalin's Lunker Grub. It's sole purpose is to slow down the retrieve speed while keeping the bait at the depth I'm targeting.

I've never fished a bladded jig, so.............

[Koz]

I always have a trailer on chatterbaits.

 

The only time I use a trailer on a spinnerbait is during the pre spawn feeding frenzy and then it’s always a white paddle tail or white pin tail bait.

[Siebert Outdoors]

20 hours ago, Rockhopper said:

2025 will be my first year trying bladed jigs. Just got some good ones from @Siebert Outdoors to try. My plan is to try them with trailers. I never use trailers on a spinnerbait.

 

One of my favorite Fogy or Tremor trailers is a Missile Spunk Shad. 

https://siebertoutdoors.com/products/ols/products/spunk-shad

[Fishingmickey]

I am the same as most of the above crowd, Chatterbait - always trailer, Spinner bait - no trailer.

FM