Jackhammers are awesome and my tourney checks pay for them. Not a zman fan except when it comes to these

Here is my take on this:

The Jackhammer could very well catch more fish.....I don't know because I wont pay that for one. I feel like the reason certain baits catch more fish than another bait that looks nearly the same at times is because they see less of the expensive or newest version of it. At $15-$20 each you know those fish aint seeing as many as they do of the $5 version.

For me I have found that a lot of times a discontinued lure will produce as well as the latest or most expensive version out there. I have a few crankbaits that are out of production that will hold their own against any of the most expensive ones out there today. Same thing with some soft plastic frogs I have. And same goes for some hard jerkbaits I use.

In my opinion its all about how often a fish sees a certain bait, hears a certain bait, smells a certain bait, etc. Look at the Whopper Plopper�...when them things hit the market a 2 year old could cast one out and get bit. Now that there is one in everyones box it aint like that anymore.

And someone mentioned the Yellow Magic. Once again a expensive bait that works well because not every boat is chunking one. I have some $4 versions that were discontinued over 15 years ago that I have been offered some crazy money for because they work so well. One pretty much has no finish left on it but will hold its own against any Yellow Magic being thrown from the same deck of my boat. I know because I have been there, done that.

I would be willing to bet if the standard Chatterbait were $20 and the Jackhammer was $5 the standard Chatterbait would produce better.

But I aint a Bass so who really knows why some things work better than others.

As I've said before....when you seen non sponsored anglers on the major trails coming out of pocket to buy them then there is something to that bait.

Nah, they ain�t worth it. Stick with the original chatterbait as it is nearly identical to the jackhammer just not as high quality of components.

I used to hate Chatterbaits until I picked up a jack hammer . They get bit !!!!!!

Dudes. The jackhammer is the original just rebranded with the old connection to the blade and some eyes painted on. Just realized he changed that on the newer cheaper ones. New original is top pic. The originals I am throwing and had for a while are just like jackhammer without eyes. Will be cutting that connector off and putting my clip on. You can pay $15 bucks for what did cost $3 and you could make for $2 if you want. I don�t like being taken. The key IS the connection of the blade directly to the head. That�s why he pattened it and you can�t buy that type terminal tackle anymore. The ones I use to make with Barlow�s hardware would crush the performance of the original zman.

The Jack Hammer tends to have more hunting action and higher quality components and slightly different head design. It�s a good bait but if you don�t have confidence in a chatterbait it�s not going to catch you more fish. It�s not magic. I like the original just fine. It still catches lots of fish and not as big a deal if you lose or tear it up. At least the more recent version of the �original� has little better components now.

I don�t care for the elite or project Z version as they both tend to rise up and don�t have the same blade action. For the money it�s hard to be the Z Man Custom version from Tackle Warehouse. It an upgraded version of the original with better hooks and snap and costs $7.

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Z-Man_Chatterbait_Custom/descpage-ZMANCCH.html

Thrown the Jackhammer and the Thumper and still can't pick a winner. Both catch fish, if any real noticeable difference it's the Jackhammer vibrating sooner but that's it. The shape of the blade has to cause them to act differently and there is a definite difference in the blades.

Just fished two popular E TX lakes with my tournament partner Wed - Fri and I threw my $6 FN thumper while he threw his $20 Jackhammer. I was putting them in the boat and we were laughing about it.... I still have my thumper tied on and he lost 2 Jackhammers in the process. This isn�t the first time this has happened so I can guarantee you I won�t be paying $20 for a chatterbait. I�d have to say he�s a more experienced angler and has taught me a lot over the years... Bottom line is the thumper kicked the jackhammers tail in our boat this week.

So if you had to pick say a top 3 colors for here in north Texas...
Green pumpkin
Black / Blue
Maybe a white or white / Chart or something shade colored?
Trailers do you match the colors or off set the colors?

Like any other bait there are days it will perform and days it won�t. Just because it�s $15 does not mean you are guaranteed bites or guaranteed more bites than any other vibrating jig. If you don�t mind paying the money then it�s worth it. I personally will never know unless I find one.

Or they spend more money on advertising and they give more of them to guides

I like white and white/chartreuse. Split tail zoom trailer in white or pearl. Use mostly in winter and early spring. Like them most over grass, in pad stems and around flooded brush. Also like a little stain in the water seems they excel in the color water in the pics. Here�s a few from last two weeks out of scattered grass in staging area on a yo-yo ripping off bottom out of the grass. They hit it on stop or fall.

I've been throwing the Z-Man Elite chatterbaits for a few years now, and the only difference I see between the two are that one has eyes, and one doesn't. The newer elites are hand tied just like the jackhammers. The bait keepers are different, but that doesn't matter to me, as I can put a dab of super glue on my trailer head, and keep it locked it without sliding down the hook after a few catches. The elite skips really well for me, in how I do a roll cast to get it up under overhanging trees, or under some other type of cover. I did break down and buy a jackhammer last year, but I've yet to see a difference between the Elite and The Jackhammer


Just my .0000000000002

catch a lot of fish on the Jack hammer, I think that they need to find a better line connection as the wire is the only thing we have gotten back when fighting a large fish. High dollar bait with cheap connector wire you need to take pliers and add a little more bend in the wire so it will not come undone when you get hooked up with a big fish.