Shallow, mid or deep. A lift drop or a straight retrieve.

Do you fish it in the colder months and what weight do you throw.

I've had a bunch of chatterbaits for years now but never had much luck with it-what might I be doing wrong?.

The only place I have had any consistency (albeit i don't have the confidence to throw it much) is around Lily Pads and stems..

Shallow or grass at any depth. No grass usually March thru June. With grass - year round.

My biggest fish on a chatterbait have all come on deep (12'+), small isolated grass beds with tops only 3-4 foot from bottom, vertical drop to just outside the grass then lift at edge of grass with small pop up to get the blade moving and tick the top of grass, deadly.

That is something I threw last year quiet a bit. I wasn't fishing it in vegetation at all but around rocks mainly. I dont think I've ever had a fish take a swing at one. Interseting read so far.

I tried them for years with a Zako as the trailer, everyone says the zako is the best trailer, well everyone is wrong. I was having the conversation with a buddy and we both quit using the zako trailer and switched to a different kind of trailer, completely opposite look than a zako. We both started getting bites, I went from hating a chatterbait to grabbing it first. If you’re doing the same thing over & over and not getting bites, change something up. Maybe they don’t work in every lake, but the few lakes I’ve fished, they have times of greatness.

I throw them year round. Always have one tied on. They work around most any type of cover for me. I don't really overthing it. I just use it interchangeably in places I use a spinnerbait, swim jig or crankbait. I almost always use a Zako trailer.

Just watch BASS or BPT/MLF and watch how often tbey use them and how universal the bait is. I befits tbe most used baiting BPT/MLF.

For a trailer I use the Hog Farmer Spunk Shad. If I am fishing it through grass, I just crank until it snags, then rip it out. With this technique, the bites almost always come when the bait rips free. If I am fishing sparse cover or a weed line, I crank 3 times then sweep the rod. The bites usually come at the end of the sweep. If I am deep, it's lift and drop, but I am pretty aggressive on the lift like stroking a jig.

I like fishing all the Crayfish patterns from now to Winter on the spawning flats. I use a weed guarded hook for this presentation in 1/2 oz..

The Crayfish Hop

This is the technique with my Crayfish Bladed Jig.  They are weed guarded for the short bottom drag working it to the defensive mode. This Technique is also used when I fish the Donkey Jigs. 
- Cast it out beside heavy cover.  They may take it just like all other baits on the way to the bottom.
- Fishing on slack line as it falls; be a line watcher and look for the line to jump. No pressure on the bait when it is at rest or falling. Very slowly drag it along the bottom until it touches a rock or stick.  This is when a Crayfish goes to Defensive Mode and gets hammered.  you will feel the tug as your line is now tight.
- Make two soft up and down roller coaster lifts while turning the handle.  This is the Fleeing Action. Rod at 9:00 and up to 12:00 and another 9:00 to 12:00.  Now let it fall to the bottom as that is all the energy a Crayfish has is two burst.
- Back to slack line while it is on the bottom.
- Take up slack and very slowly drag the bait until it touches something.  It is back to defensive mode.
- Do this twice on an average cast beside heavy cover.
- Then reel the bait in as you would any Chatter Bait.  You are looking to get bit either on the Crayfish HOP or the regular slow roll back to the boat.  You will soon develop a pattern that the Bass like.

i keep it simple, the bait is always white with skirt trimmed to the end of the bend on the hook, trailer is always a 3' sassy shad... in cold water - steady retrieve, in stained water - steady retrieve, around grass - steady retrieve, in timber - steady retrieve... i let the fish tell me the speed they want it at, but always a steady retrieve... I generally don't fish it below 4'... it excels as a low light to dark bait because your only dealing with one hook in the dark... it's a year round bait, some lakes the fish go bat chit over it and some lakes it seems to repel the fish... have fun with it...

Shallow (6ft or less I’ll use 3/8oz)
Mid depth (7-15ft I’ll use half oz)
I’ve never fished it on the bottom if deeper than 15ft—more efficient ways to fish those depths.

Extremely versatile and almost no wrong way to fish it; I tend to fish it like a rattle trap (but slower) with some yo-yo action

Really shines in stained water 1-4 feet of visibility with grass. Works well most of the year and it’s a good night fishing lure. Really shines when the bass are targeting crawfish, blue gill, and bigger gizzard shad (IMO it gives off much more vibration than smaller thread fins with small swimbaits and spinnerbaits outperforming the chatterbait most of the time when the bass are keying in on smaller shad)
But, had my best day with it about six years ago during a mid June thick algae bloom with all kinds of particulate matter in the water.

I like to throw it during prespawn. It is not a Silver Bullet, it is just another tool. I will start off with a lipless rattling bait, a flat sided squarebill, and a Jackhammer either 3/8 or 1/2 oz depending on depth. Depending on the type of cover in the lake I typically throw it out, let it sink to the bottom and reel it 5-6 cranks on a 6:1 reel then pause it for half a second.

Also unlike most folks, I do not use a trailer of any sort. The Jackhammer has a very erratic action right out of the package and I feel a plastic trailer dulls the hunting action.

Here's a good one I got at CB on a 3/8 white one.

https://youtube.com/shorts/0_Dw1hLRi1w?feature=share

Here's how I fish the chatterbait. We wrecked 'em on it last night too!

Chunk it out and reel it in. Always works for me. I try not to over complicate things

Good job on the video !