A year round lure? single choice
	Yes
	No
Votes accepted starting: 01/17/25 04:21 PM You must vote before you can view the results of this poll.

It is for me.

100% a year round lure. Just watch how much it's used in the Elites, Opens and BPT. It shows up in almost every one of the Top 10 finishers "baits used" galleries.

I guess I need to use it more, just never been good for me.

haha, I was just listening to a Mercer podcast, and they were talking about how guys like on "baits used" gallery. He said it was always frustrating that he couldnt get real info, and they laughed about one guy saying he had a caught them on a drop shot, and he help up a hook, with a weight dangling from it.

I do agree though, year around, fo sho.

I’ve got one in black and purple. Probably got an hour plus throwing it, haven’t had anything take a swing at it yet.

My own experience using it is it works year round very well.

Yes but I sure seem to have better luck with it in the cooler water time of the year. Never have much luck with one in the summer. Maybe it's just a confidence thing.

Had to fix my typos, I agree mark, I dont fish one much in the summer, but something will bite one year around.

Chatterbaits are garbage. Jackhammers are more expensive garbage.

haha not everyone is on a year around wacky rigged senko with a fairy wand bite.

I might have two of the exact same wacky rigged senkos on spinning rods when the bite is REALLY good. In case I break one off on a dock and need to shoot another under there real fast.

Oh they are good. Real good. Year round.

I've caught fish yr round on them but fall and late spring seem to be best for me.

I had trouble catching fish on them when they first came out. Then a couple of things changed for me. I was watching Jacob Wheeler dealing out some heartbreak and misery on some bass with it in a tournament he won and saw that his trailer looked just like the Lake Fork Tackle Magic Shad. I had about a hundred of them but had never used them on a Chatterbait. I was also working at Bass Pro and the Chatterbaits I was using all had some really erratic movement to them. With my discount and a sale going on I ended up for some reason buying about 20 of the old ZMan Original series Chatterbaits in 3/8 ounce size. What I found out was they really just came straight back after a cast and when I started slow rolling them back I could really be precise with bringing them right next to dock poles or bushes or any structure and control where I wanted it. I immediately started catching fish on them working them this way and got a ton of confidence and have one tied on year round now and it has become one of my 5 confidence baits.

Cause it was the magic shad. It's one of the trailers he used before.

Magic Shad or Live Magic Shad?

Magic Shad V Tail.

That’s where I get confused Yates. The original Magic Shad had a spade shaped tail.
The Live Magic Shad had a Vtail and segmented body that ‘swam’. That’s my #1 vibrating jig trailer to this day.

Somewhere along the way, the LMS got renamed to the V Tail.

And yes the chatterbait is a year around bait. I know of a verified 15 pounder caught on a chatterbait in January. Not this January. TFFer caught it.

The first year they come out I caught a 20 lb sack on Lavon . Have had a designated chatterbait pole since that day that is usually on the deck every time I go fishing .

Hush your mouth, talking dirty like that.

Absolutely 100 percent a year round lure, caught fish on them from 1 ft to 28 ft.

Incredible lure of my lifetime.

ZMan

BPT boat official for 4 years. NEVER fished with anyone that didn't have one tied on and on the deck.

Try white or chartreuse/white in 3/8oz, your “luck” Will change.

Thanks guys, this is great! I’m Trying to fish one and learn. I really appreciate all the tips and info.

100% year round lure for me.

Trying to use that psychology stuff on the fellow members of the TFF. Shhhhhh

On my deck every trip, regardless of the lake!

It's a night bait...

Right now my lake is 47*, and with the forecast it'll probably be in the real low 40*'s before next Friday... I'll throw a lot of thing before a Chatterbait is on the deck... Dan

You are missing out if not throwing it in daytime and in cold water.

There seems to be times year round where they eat it good or none will touch it.

When the Chatterbait bite is really good the best bite is when the thump stops and your line moves sideways but you can’t feel the fish take the bait. They can swim a while with it before you set the hook.

Caught a 6# a few weeks back on one. Thought my line broke because it went slack and I couldn't reel it in fast enough. Dang bass can swim faster than I can crank a 6.3 ratio.

Used to throw it all year except in the hottest months. But, my best day with one was on a miserably hot August day and the lake had a terrible algae bloom….thick, green water with particles suspended in it…zero visibility. I figured if the bass can’t see anything; I’ll throw something that vibrates a lot. Tied on a chatterbait with a LFMS on the back and it was nearly every three or four casts….and violent.

What size trailer - 3.5 or 4.5? V-tail?

Last January on a frigid day on Palestine while prefishing it started sleeting a little. Water was high and stained to muddy and in the 40-45 degree range. It was a little windy too. Chatterbait was all i could get bit on.

I build and fish them year around we have several spotted bass lakes here in Ca. They eat them no matter what time of year it is in 10 to 35 feet of water.

Your definition of "cold water"???... Dan

35-45

I always either fish solid white or white head with a chartreuse skirt with LFT Magic shad as a trailer.
Won a couple of tournaments on Ivie using it. Had a 10.10 for big fish in one of them.

4.5 V-tail. It was also the only thing they would bite that day…..and they wanted it bad….think it was the only thing they could track down and eat….prior to throwing it; I had tried every black and blue flappy plastic, bright crank bait, and spinner bait I had brought with me.

I don't know if this coorelates with other people, but throwing this out there to see if the data can be verified. I fish a lake (Grapevine lake) which doesn't have vegetation. It's rocks, with an occasional piece of submerged (brush, log,or concrete block). I have used it during the daytime, and prob caught one fish since I have had them. 99% of my fish are caught at night slowly bumping the bait on hard structure. I have many light colors which i have used on other lakes, which have grass/moss. But it's black/blue, a perch, or pumpkin color scheme at night that connects with fish. When the lake has dropped pretty low below pool, it really does good on rip-rap as I think the crawfish burrowed deep below the rocks get pushed out of their homes. If I see the snakes on the banks, it's on like donkey kong at night. With that said, daytime fishing is a head scratcher for me. I throw it, but i can pull out the spinnerbait and it kicks the chatterbait in the ding ding during the day. I fish both as slow as i can, making sure i am making contact with the nottom with an added (erratic speed change, or pop of the rod while reeling). In the daytime the spinnerbait wins hands down, at night it's 50/50 between the spinnerbait/chatterbait. I tried several inexpensive chatterbaits, and didn't think it would make any difference on the manufacturer. If i get hung up, i will pull up whatever Im hung up on if it's small. Well i found a chatterbait in a orange color scheme, with a yamamoto trailer one day. I started using the damn thing and it flat feickin caught fish, and when it finally was lost I tracked down the manufacturer. It was a thunder cricket chatterbait, and i was shocked at the price. Bought several, and still using them today. Don't know why they seem to work better, and it might all be in my head. Anyhoo, for lakes without grass do any of you have the same results during the daytime? My fishing mentor catches fish all the time with a white chatterbait with a long white trailer during the daytime, but i might just be holding my mouth wrong.

Prosise

After this cold spell blows through next week the lakes around here will be in the mid to high 30*'s... Crystal clear water... I'll probably start with Tightlining, move to a football jig, followed up with a RkCrawler and then the A-rig... Maybe I'll sling a Chatterbait also... I fish it most other times of the year, so why not give it a fling... Dan

Just a thought, but try fishing one during the day a little faster, even if your not always bumping structure. You might be fishing it way to slow, because it should catch fish even with no grass. I remember reading an article by Bret Hite, saying to many people fish it like a jig, instead fish it like a crankbait.

I was fishing Ray Roberts several years ago, when there wasn't a lot of grass and it was a bright sunny day with a nice breeze and I started with a white chatterbait. I fished an hour without a bite and I came upon another fisherman as our paths were crossing from different directions and we stopped and chatted for a minute and I told him I hadn't caught anything yet and he said he started with the same white chatterbait with no luck and switched to a black/blue and picked up 3 fish. He said it didn't make any sense to him, but it was working. I really appreciated whoever he was in his beautiful red Ranger, because I switched to a purple chatterbait and caught a 5 pounder within 30 minutes of making the switch. I always seem to do best with a straight retrieve and have caught nice fish with a chatterbait that way, but I wish I could get one to bite when I was trying to fish it more erratic. Hope that helps.

Years ago, Maybe 2008 or so, I saw a someone fishing a chatterbait for the first time. There was a man, in a little jon boat, tied up to tree next to a creek channel that was covered in grass on either side of it. Dead of winter. I was fishing all over catching a few fish her or there on a trap. Nearly everytime i looked over at that man, he was hooked up or dealing with a fish in his boat. It was cold out, and he was absolutely clobbering them.

Appreciate the info. I am a firm believer in "It's not the arrow, it's the indian" which is prob the issue. Will give it a try....

4.5” Spunk Shad is my Go-To trailer. About June 1st, I trim my chatterbait back(skirt), and run a 3.5” trailer, typically a Zako or Spunk Shad. You get more of the hunting action by trimming and using the smaller trailer when the water warms up.

Never caught a giant on a Chatterbait but I have caught three over 12 on one

Table Rock, where I fish a lot, a 12 lber. is a GIANT. Or a unicorn.

Good grief what’s the definition of Giant around here? Evidently my definition and other peoples is totally different!!!

Grapevine is loaded with small threadfin shad…and it’s usually pretty clear for a DFW lake.
Always had more success there on smaller more finesse moving baits instead of a big, loud obnoxious chatterbait…..only fished it during daylight hours.

Smaller jigs, smaller tighter wiggling cranks, smaller spinner baits…..etc

I have one tied on all year, but then I make my own called a Stutter Bug.

Three over 12"???... Dan

I stick with white or green pumpkin, catch fish all year with them.

I prefer to keep my rod tip high and reel as slow as I can, unless they are just crushing it that day.

A lot of people I fish with get frustrated because they stay snagged with them. If fishing hard timber, I throw a spinner bait if they will eat it. Green cover or more smaller diameter brush I can rip it through, I will throw the chatter bait.

Year around

Those are some good looking chatterbaits.

Thank you

Sounds like I need to try this and probably go to a different color as well. I wasn't burning this thing back to the boat but I wasn't slow rolling it either so it was basically going in a straight line and doing absolutely nothing erratic. Do I need to get this down to the level of the fish or run it over them?

Fire craw