Jigging a Chatterbait

[flatbass]

I have been having pretty good luck lately fishing the chatterbait type lures with just a straight retreive. Especially at  night .I was just wodering if anybody fished them like a jig. I am thinking mostly about jerking them up a couple feet and letting them fall back.

[Marty]

I don't fish mine that way, but they're designed to be fished in multiple ways. That method sounds like it should work well if you're in the right place at the right time. Go for it and see what happens.

[MattStrykul]

I usually catch fish on a chatterbait by throwing it in and letting it sink to the bottom and just ripping it 2 times as hard as I can, reel the slack and rip it again hard as I can and just repeat that. Does really well for me on some places.

[MALTESE FALCON]

I watched Bill Dance yo-yo a chatterbait on one of his shows. It was pretty productive. I haven't tried that method here yet.

Falcon

[mrbassky]

I tried it some but with no luck. But I have had some good catches on chatterbaits. Best day was 15 fish over 15in in 7hrs with the best 5 going 19+.

[Shad_Master]

yeah, it works - I am starting to think that the time of year has something to do with "the best way" to retrieve these lures.  I have found that during the pre-spawn/spawn what I call a "horizontal jig" is best - they tend to hit it on the drop.  In the early post-spawn a steady retrieve can be very productive.  In the summer months the kind of jigging you are talking about can be good, but you may need a bigger lure and fish it deeper.  then in the fall, the straight retreive begins to pick up again.  Now this is just my $.02 but it is what I have experienced recently and, after all, I am still learning.

[BassFishingMachine]

I have tryed fishing it like a jig but a little quicker, and have yet to have any luck fishing it this way. I still try it when I am fishing this bait because I don't see why it shouldn't work. All of my fish that I have caught off the chatterbait have came on a constant retrieve.

I typically prefer a spinnerbait over a chatterbait in the day, but I will always choose a black/blue chatterbait at night over any spinnerbait.