How to fish a Chatterbait

[Teri C.]

I used a Chatterbait for the first time last night. You can't find them around here but I picked up a few while I was in Nebraska a few weeks ago. I did a search on the site and there has been posts about them but not exactly how you fish them.



I was tossing it to the bank around rocks and grass and reeling it back fairly fast and that didn't seem to work. I started tossing it and letting it drop for a few seconds and then reeling it very slow. I caught a few bass with the slow retrieve. I also tried fishing it like a jig and didn't have any luck.



I caught 3 bass with it last night which isn't bad. Just wondered how other people fish these.

 

[Mini]

Exactly like you were when you caught the 3 bass.

 

[Marty Klein]

Teri: My experience is confusing like yours. I have to burn it to get it to dart and twitch, but fish seem totally disinterested. A slow steady retrieve catches fish. Nada on the raise and drop.

 

[Steven Parker]

I've done well throwing it into the grass and fishing it like a swimming jig.

 

[Jim in VA]

My best results with the bait have come using two methods:



1. Cast with slow retreive and drop, slow retrieve and drop. Hits have typically come on the drop.



2. Cast into cover and pull it back out with a moderate retrieve (i.e., enough to feel the vibration from the lure). Typically, the hits have come as it rounds a corner (makes sense as bass are ambush predators).

 

[JP Heintzman]

Teri, I've done my best with the yo-yo retrieve, having the fish smack it on the fall. Caught schooling fish on it while fishing it about 2 -3 feet down and later in the day when the sun pushed the fish down, I just fished it slower and deeper and continued to catch fish on the yo-yo retrieve. Good luck.



Jim