Spinner/Chatter/Swimjig vs Squarebill

[Drakestar]

As a hiking bank fisherman I’m always looking for ways to optimize my rod selection since I can only take a few. One option I’ve been exploring is leaving my cranking rod at home. Of course that means I can’t throw squarebills optimally as a search bait anymore, and I’ve been using spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and swimjigs as substitutes - I can throw all of these of my fast/XF single-hook rod.

I don’t mean to start a full discussion on all of three lures in isolation (there are dedicated posts for each, I’m sure). But I am very interested in how, in your opinion, the combination of these baits (spinner, chatter, swimjig) compares to a squarebill. Are there things that you feel only a crankbait can do that these don’t? Where are my blind spots, am I creating a hole in my arsenal?

[smalljaw]

All of those options are good search baits. I also don't think you can look at your tackle selection and wonder if there should be something else you can throw. The type of angler you are you need to keep your selection narrowed down and focus on different ways to fish each bait. To know which one to use is really trial and error but I let conditions, both sky and water, dictate what I throw first. If there is any wind causing a chop or ripple on the water I'm using the spinnerbait or chatterbait but I narrow that down by water clarity and cover. If the water is stained but still has more than 1' of visibility then I'm using a spinnerbait and any less the chatterbait then becomes the main choice. Now when it comes to the swim jig, that would be my first choice if the water is calm and/or clear or in heavier grass. Sometime this works well but I've had many "perfect" spinnerbait and chatterbait days turn out to be better swim jig days and vice versa so the trail and error thing still has to be applied.

[Larry 2020 Niagara]

Remembering back to my shore fishing days, I think
that having enough depth control to avoid snags is
important to both success and enjoyment. As good
as squarebills can be, unless you can enter the water
to retrieve snags, you’re probably going to lose a
lot of lures.

[MountainMan 83]

I mainly fish from the shore in shallow type lakes/ponds. Last year, I mainly threw spinnerbaits and chatterbaits and had great success in early spring. I just knew that I would be losing a lot of crankbaits if I threw them. I've grown a lot of confidence with spinnerbaits and will usually pick them first when it comes to covering water. I don't feel like I'm lacking anything by not throwing crankbaits.

[Polkfish1]

I fish the bank nearly every day. I change my line up quite a bit. Usually, I take 2 moving bait rods (1 single hook and one treble) and two bottom contact. But even among those 4, there will be some improvisation. This way, I find I’m good whether it goes ripple to glass or vice versa and I can do well in sun or clouds. Currently, I have 1 jerkbait rod, 1 chatterbait, one worm bottom bouncer and 1 jig rod that I use for both pitching and swimming duties.

I used to nearly always have a shallow crank as one of my four, but no longer. Putting the chatterbait into my regular arsenal made them obsolete for me as a search bait on the bank, particularly among shallow banks where trebles can be a pain to navigate in FL waters. Suspending jerkbait is always there though despite the trebles. I never shy away from throwing those into cover. The ability to work then slow when needed, deadstick even, is sometimes critical. Since it suspends, it can drive a reluctant fish crazy if you let it sit in the water column for prolonged periods.

There are times of the year when one of the moving bait rods is a swimbait. It used to be one of my mainstays. Again, chatterbait has kind of changed my world ‘20. I only waited a decade or so to finally adopt that bait.