Chatterbaits The Ultimate Lure

How to Fish Chatterbaits for Bass

Chatterbaits The Ultimate Lure are phenomenal lures for larger fish. If you like covering water and versatility, then pick up a few and play with different trailers and start slinging! Whether you’re cruising the banks on a steady troll or skipping under docks, you won’t be disappointed.

One of my favorite types of cover to fish is an isolated grass patch. These often serve as great ambush points for bass to feed on baitfish. These are some of the most high percentage areas to get a bite on. This is opposed to fishing a large field of grass.

Why Fish Chatterbaits?

Vibrating Jigs are relatively new but they’ve taken the bass fishing world by storm. And for good reason. Some anglers have said they’re a combination of the best lures as they include the most effective attributes – vibration, sound, flash, and tight wobble action. Versatility also plays a part in their success – you can fish them at any depth including against the bottom. Popping it, letting it fall, burning it back across the surface, fishing it around grass, deflecting off stumps, skipping under boat docks – all of these methods are possible. But, what sets this lure aside is its unique ability to call out with sound.

For me Chatterbaits The Ultimate Lure Choice is based on these factors.

Chatterbaits can be fished in the following ways;

Just Below The Surface: Fall is a perfect time to burn it back just below the surface. This time of year produces a lot of hungry fish looking to fatten up. Cast out and retrieve fast, activating the blade. Keep the chatterbait high enough in the water column where you can see V shapes or wake on the surface.
Around Grass: In summer, the mid-water column (3-6 ft) is a perfect place to fish a chatterbait. This is especially effective around weed lines and the outside of other bodies of submerged grass. The sound emitted announces the lure’s presence where visibility isn’t available.
Up Shallow: Possibly the best place to throw a chatterbait is up shallow in 2-4 ft of water. Here, you can focus on making contact by deflecting off submerged structures like rocks and wood. Like a crankbait, that fast change in direction will activate a strike. Give your bait a twitch and let it fall as you would a crankbait. Switch up your retrieve each time.

Where to fish:

One of my favorite ways to get out of the crowd during the summer months is to target submerged grass with a big ChatterBait. This can be a great way to catch a ton of fish and get away from the crowds. Throwing a ChatterBait offshore can be a super effective way to catch a big limit of fish. However, there are a few key aspects to keep in mind while implementing this strategy.

Chatterbaits The Ultimate Lure catches monster bass

Equipment:

The best fishing rod to use with a chatterbait would be a medium-heavy with a length of 7’ 0”. Use a tip action of fast. For a reel, only use a 6:1 gear ratio, or a 7:1. For line, use either 14-17 lbs Fluorocarbon or 30 lbs braid.

Technique:

When bass get lockjaw and I know they are still in the area, let the bladed jig bounce along the bottom. “I let the jig sink to the bottom then pull it sharply up to give it a quick, hard vibration before letting it sink again.” The bladed jig produces a reaction bite. The flash and noise anger aggressive bass into attack mode.

Just Below The Surface

Fall is a perfect time to burn it back just below the surface because this time of year produces a lot of hungry fish looking to fatten up. From a boat or the bank, cast out and retrieve fast, activating the blade. Keep the chatterbait high enough in the water column where you can see V shapes or wake on the surface. You can retrieve at different speeds and alternate between fast, steady retrieve, and intermittent pauses. Morning and early evening are great times to power fish these lures across open water, over humps, over shell beds, and along shallow shorelines. Just avoid topped-out vegetation.

Chatterbaits: Around Grass

The The mid-water column (3-6 ft) is a perfect place to fish a chatterbait. Especially around weed lines and the outside of other bodies of submerged grass, as the sound emitted announces the lure’s presence where visibility isn’t available. At this depth, you can also retrieve over ledges and drop-offs. But vegetation is a primary target cover for giant bass, so target those grass patches and weed lines ( pictured below) and retrieve slowly and steadily. Target these locations in late spring and summer and later in the day as temperatures rise, as bass will seek shade and higher oxygenated water near vegetation.

Chatterbaits: Up Shallow

The best place to throw a chatterbait is up shallow in 2-4 ft of water. Here, you can focus on making contact by deflecting off submerged structures like rocks and wood. Like a crankbait, that fast change in direction will activate a strike. Give your bait a twitch, let it fall as you would a crankbait, and switch up your retrieve each time. From a boat, parallel the shoreline, pick out good targets, cast near them, and retrieve slowly.

Chatterbaits: Along The Bottom

Chatterbaits are effective when crawled or popped along the bottom. Even at this depth, the blade lets off the noise, and with a good trailer like a paddle tail swimbait, you’ll have perfect action and sound. This can be effective when fishing dams and/or rocky points when fish are holding deeper. Cast out and let your vibrating jig hit bottom. Then begin a slow retrieve while maintaining contact with the bottom, giving small pops by raising the tip of your rod.

Tip:

You need to impart your own action on the bait. This means rod pumps, twitches, using a Yo Yo retrieve, 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.

If you have fished a chatterbait before, you know that it is hands down one of the most fun techniques to catch fish on.