Chatterbait Hook-Ups
Chatterbait Hook-Ups
I'm not getting a decent % of landing LMB on chatterbaits.I'm using Medium Heavy Rod (Loomis) and 17 lb. flurocarbon. Seems like fish are kind of just inhaling and then spitting it out. No really hard,fast strikes. Very very aggravating,especially when it feels like it's only the "big ones" that are coming unbuiioned. I can upgrade my bait,but I hate to pay $15 for one bait. I've watched and read just about everything and not having any luck landing these fish at all. This has been going on too long!
- Gone Phishin
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Re: Chatterbait Hook-Ups
I'm assuming you are using a plastic trailer as well. That said, a stinger treble hook may help.
Re: Chatterbait Hook-Ups
Try using braid.
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"fish with mindfulness : beware the darkside"
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Re: Chatterbait Hook-Ups
Try not to let your mind wander. It is much too small to be outside unsupervised.
Re: Chatterbait Hook-Ups
What chatterbaits are you using? Some of the cheaper Z-man ones have awful hooks that need a lot of touching up.
Re: Chatterbait Hook-Ups
As was said, there are some crappy baits out there, but you will just miss a lot more fish during the spawn. Many fish just wont fully commit to the bait this time of year. It also sounds like you need a color or trailer change to get the fish to eat it. It could also be that the fish are seeing the bladed jig regularly where you are fishing. Add a trailer hook if possible. Softer rods help with the smaller bucks, but a fish over three pounds will inhale your bait if it wants it. I fish a heavy rod and 20 lb. fluoro because I am not fishing for a living where a small fish means a lot of money. The softer glass rods can help draw strikes when pulling you bait free from grass because of the longer delay, but I'm not doing that very often either. My custom bladed jig with a 12g head weighs 25g fully built with a Little Dipper. You don't really want a soft rod for a bait that heavy.
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Re: Chatterbait Hook-Ups
Lets say you're fishing a Green Pumpkin bladed jig, with 3.5in matching swimbait trailer. You're getting strikes, but they aren't fully eating it like the OP said. If you were to make a color or trailer change, what would you choose and why?
Or in this case, would you consider changing to a swim jig, or a maybe a spinnerbait?
Or in this case, would you consider changing to a swim jig, or a maybe a spinnerbait?
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Re: Chatterbait Hook-Ups
X2 Braid makes hooksets so much better, it's almost like I'm 30 again.
Re: Chatterbait Hook-Ups
As the day/sky/water color get lighter I tend to lighten up my color. I will add a little chartreuse when I am around smallmouth and red in the prespawn. A gold blade can be especially good in cloudy conditions. The fish in some lakes like flash while others hate it. The first thing that I would do is add a trailer hook if I am regularly getting bites. I tend to fish trailers with more bulk/movement as the water color gets darker. A follow up bait like a senko or a fluke should be on the deck ready to go if you are missing fish.J_Source28 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 30, 2021 4:50 pmLets say you're fishing a Green Pumpkin bladed jig, with 3.5in matching swimbait trailer. You're getting strikes, but they aren't fully eating it like the OP said. If you were to make a color or trailer change, what would you choose and why?
Or in this case, would you consider changing to a swim jig, or a maybe a spinnerbait?
I am a skirted bait specialist, and I throw the heck out of the spinnerbait and swim jig also. I tend to fish these baits more around bigger schools of bait than the bladed jig. No rule is hard and fast because sometimes the fish just want something that they aren't seeing as often.