First bass on a NEW kind of bait!

[FivePoundBluegill]

Hey guys just to let you know I honestly do not know weather this goes in "fishing tackle" or here.

Anyway today I only got out for about an hour however I just took with me one lure that I have not fished at all. The lure I took with me was the "Chatterbait Mini". I have kind of stayed away from trying this bait for a long time because I remember starting a thread once on what is the most overrated bait of all time and the chatterbait go a lot of votes. However I was talking to a local fishing buddy of mine who said he caught three bass in one outing with the chatterbait mini. I decided to buy a white one and give it a shot. I fished it with many different retrieves such as a fast retrieve with pauses, a slow retrieve with long pauses, a slow retrieve with jerks. I did not get any hits at all on it for the first 45 minutes.

Then I came across a couple bass that were on a bed and decided I would try bed fishing with my chatter bait. I fished the chatterbait very slowly on the nest moving it then pausing it....The first two casts the bass was very interested in the bait. The third cast he picked it up and I nailed him... Funny thing is I tried for this same bass for a half hour other day with various plastics and could not get him to bite.

Ok now I was able to catch my first bass on the chatterbait. Also the chatterbait is a bait that will now forever be in my arsenal for bed fishing. It  seems bedding bass seem to love this bait. Anyway my question is how do you fish the chatterbait for normal non-bedding bass and what are the best conditions to throw this bait? Any advice guys?

[ba7ss3in]

nice fish

[bassbob08]

nice fish.ive never caught anything on a chatter bait so i dont use it any more.

[Krzkev]

That's a good fish, I have caught allot of fish on chatterbaits,  the mini you refer to is very effective on fast shallow water retreives. White is my fav. (Shhhh, by the way the Peacocks love em too down in S. Fl)

[Evan Pease]

Nice fish! The two biggest bass I got last year bit a Pure Poison. The first hit out of a brush pile in 8-12 feet with a medium retrieve and the second hit when I casted about 50 feet from a point. My avg sized ones came out of brush in 6'15 feet when the water was around 50*. Hope that helps.

[jrhennecke]

Nice fish!

[fishizzle]

Nice bass

over rated bait

I caught a few fish on it but not enough for the time I put into it.

Glad it works for you.

In CT our bass are much more aggresive on beds

soft pastics usually work on the first cast

[littlefisher]

I don't mind the chatter bait so much.  I don't use it all the time but it has caught me some fish in shallow water that were chasing bait fish.  I think a spinner bait or lip less crank would have done the same thing but it was what I had tied on at the moment.  It just something they haven't seen before which is why I think it can be effective from time to time.

I also like to skip it under docks and swim it like a swimming jig.  Sometimes that can add a little noise that a jig just doesn't have.

[toolpush]

caught several nice fish last year nightfishing with a black chatter on a steady retrieve

[HesterIsGod]

Good Job.

Not a lot of people on this site like the chatterbait but i love it. It is a great substitute for a colorado bladed spinnerbait and it tends to appeal to bigger fish than the spinnerbait, most of the time. I use a big jerkbait as a trailer and it really gives it a big profile.

[Infidel.]

Nice fish.

The chatterbait was over rated the same way that Basstrix and the Sexy shad are.  Good baits but they were hard to get a hold of at first so people would pay 5-10 times retail for the baits on ebay.  Thus, people thought they must be the greatest thing ever if some one was willing to pay that much for them.

Personally, I like to crimp a weight on the hook and slow roll them.

[Bassn Blvd]

It's about time you left them carp alone.  Nice BASS...

[X-Rap]

Nice bass.  I dont really care much for the chatter bait but i deffinetly think it has good potential for bedding bass.  Ill deffinetly be giving it a try

[paul.]

nice fish man.  i think chatterbaits are good baits.  they are a nice change-up where fish have seen a lot of lipless cranks and spinnerbaits.  they are fairly versatile and can be fished with a variety of retrieve speeds.  i haven't hear of 'em being used for spawners much, but obviously you made it work.  mainly i use plastics and jigs for bedding fish.  for stubborn ones, you can attach a heavy 1/2 - 3/4 oz.  sinker with a big hole in it (so the line will slide through very freely) ahead of a small, brightly colored floating crankbait.  cast it on the bed so that the sinker sets in the "sweet spot" and let the crankbait float up.  then pull the rod so that the crank goes down to the sinker.  let out a little slack so the crank is about 2-3 in. from the sinker.  then just twitch the rod tip so the crank repeatedly goes to the sinker, backs up, etc.  done properly, it looks like a small fish eating the eggs off the nest.  they cannot stand this.

oh btw, i am very jealous that you have spawning bass already.  i think it's getting colder instead of warmer here.  there was snow on the ground when i woke up this morning. >

[fishizzle]

That is a very interesting method HC

I learned something new today

[FivePoundBluegill]

nice fish man.  i think chatterbaits are good baits.  they are a nice change-up where fish have seen a lot of lipless cranks and spinnerbaits.  they are fairly versatile and can be fished with a variety of retrieve speeds.  i haven't hear of 'em being used for spawners much, but obviously you made it work.  mainly i use plastics and jigs for bedding fish.  for stubborn ones, you can attach a heavy 1/2 - 3/4 oz.  sinker with a big hole in it (so the line will slide through very freely) ahead of a small, brightly colored floating crankbait.  cast it on the bed so that the sinker sets in the "sweet spot" and let the crankbait float up.  then pull the rod so that the crank goes down to the sinker.  let out a little slack so the crank is about 2-3 in. from the sinker.  then just twitch the rod tip so the crank repeatedly goes to the sinker, backs up, etc.  done properly, it looks like a small fish eating the eggs off the nest.  they cannot stand this.

oh btw, i am very jealous that you have spawning bass already.  i think it's getting colder instead of warmer here.  there was snow on the ground when i woke up this morning. >

Man that is creative. Seriously Hawg Caller you should fish tourneys. I bet you would win so many if you did. You know so much.

[Glenn]

Woo Hoo!