Chatterbait Mix and Match for Early Season Success

When it comes to catching spring largemouths, aggressive and vibration-emitting horizontal presentations are lure choice guidelines to follow. In some other instances such as colder water and adverse conditions, slower and more relaxed works too. Lure selection for everything you should be doing during pre-spawn is going to be moving and reactionary, nonetheless.

Other than differentiating each type for you, the infamous Z-Man Fishing Products Chatterbait requires zero introduction. Ripping and cranking a variety of 3/8 oz. and ½ oz. Z-Man Chatterbaits through the shallows triggers exhilarating strikes from early season largemouths.

Bang ‘em over wood and rip through weeds, there is no wrong way to fish them.

My bladed jig box comprises of Z-Man Chatterbaits in all sizes and models. Only where and when to throw a specific model becomes a question. Choices will be dictated by forage factors as well as habitat type.

On shad-based fisheries and including ponds, you should want whites, silvers, chartreuse and sexy shad patterns. Meanwhile, dark contrasting patterns such as parrots, greens, bluegills, black/blue, and solid blacks are most common to my color selection on the natural lakes of the north. These excel in the dark bottomed bays, backwaters, and near-shore cover I fish the most. For both lake and river smallmouths, don’t ever forget about fire-craw. It is the OG of early season colors.

Chatterbait Freedom 

I most often fish with a Chatterbait Freedom, and Chatterbait Elite in ½ ounce models. The Freedom is great for anglers wanting to custom modify the bait with their own hook and skirt options. When I fish this model, I remove the weedless twisted hook attachment in favor of a 4/0 and 5/0 Trokar Flip’N hook to be fished exposed with trailer of choice. The skirts aren’t the most durable and are prone to warping, so it will accept other brand or custom-ties.

Chatterbait Elite

Last season, I frequently fished the new Chatterbait Elite. Available in 11 colors with strong hand-tied skirts and air-brushed heads, it comes with a high-quality 5/0 Gamakatsu hook that is much sharper than the Originals. Last but not least, a new molded keeper helps secure all trailers. I recommend this Chatterbait if what you seek is simplicity and durability for a great value of $7.99 retail.

Chatterbait Jackhammer

Meanwhile, the popular jackhammer series gets used a little more selectively and sparingly, featuring more bells and whistles and over 20 different colors. The Japanese design influences it comes with are worth its price tag. I strive to fish these in areas devoid of pike.

Chatterbait Big Blade

Even though largemouths favor fast and compact, additional power and aggression could be necessary in some situations and in waters with reduced visibility. New from 2022, the Big Blade Chatterbait filled a need for additional thump and vibration. The big blade did very well in late summer on lakes with bloom conditions.

Trailers

Trailers are the business end of a chatterbait, and what compliments the bladed jig. They enhance their versatility as they can be used to bulk a presentation to resemble larger prey, improve its streamlined swimming, help replicate the fins of fleeing preyfish, or to slow the fall rate.

Trailers are what ultimately trigger strikes, and choosing which to use tends to become more technical than chatterbait selection itself. For simplicity, and with focus on horizontal moving baits, color coordinate the trailer to your jig and narrow it down to these four options.

Z-Man Razor Shadz 

This baitfish imitation exclusively complements my chatterbaits. Their segmented construction helps produce a lifelike swimming action created by the shimmy of a vibrating jig, with the whole package coming alive. Color patterns should be kept simple, consisting of bad shad, fire craw, and green pumpkin. Made from ElaZtech, you won’t find a more durable and lifelike jig trailer.

Z-Man Hella Crawz

If sticking with a Z-Man Fishing theme, look into the Hella Crawz as another trailer option for when crayfish patterns are being favored.

Bizz Baits Killer and Cutter Craws

These two versatile jig trailers mimic both crayfish and fleeing baitfish. The long arms of both kick and undulate underwater with minimal effort. Its compact size and streamlined shape makes it a great choice for the faster pace of chatterbaits and swim jigs. Color options run plenty, with contrasting darks favored.

Paddletails

Often, the biggest largemouths will be triggered by a larger bulkier trailer. If favoring steady retrieves, I use larger 4-to-5-inch paddletails that generate a wide wobble and tail kick. I have caught my largest bass to date on baits with a paddletail trailer. For straight and steady retrieving, my assortment of tails consists of Bass Assassin Boss Shad, GrandeBass Kickback Shad, Gambler EZ Swimmer, and my custom-order air-brushed paddletails from Big Beast Baits. Some favorites are the 4.75 Grandebass Kickback Shad in ballistic gill and magic gill swirl, 4.8 Bass Assassin Boss Shiner in bluegill flash and sungill. The 5” Z-Man Diezel Minnow is durable and lively.

Additionally, Larry Zepeda of Big Beast Baits in California produces the nicest airbrushed bluegill patterns and has the capability of several more custom requests.

Adjust your trailer accordingly to fish feedback. Mix and match until you find a winner. With options and color choices abound, let the bass ultimately choose the right bladed jig pattern, and trailer for you.

St. Croix Mojo Bass Rip-N-Chatter

It’s no secret that glass rods are popular options for fishing vibrating reaction baits. Most glass rods are commonly relatively heavy, cast with difficulty and without accuracy, and lack sensitivity when compared to graphite. The Mojo Bass Glass Rods have eliminated these characteristics by employing poly-curve IPC mandrel technology and design. This means their super premium, 100% linear S-glass blanks have gradual, consistent tapers and uniform wall thickness from butt to tip, resulting in incredibly smooth, strong, light and sensitive, moderate action glass rods with a thick backbone and butt section. The 7ft 2in heavy power, moderate action Mojo Bass Glass Rip-N-Chatter (MGC72HM) casting rod is multi-purpose engineered for ripping and slicing chatterbaits through shallow cover.

The Mojo Bass Glass Rip-N-Chatter is a must-have for your spring season fishing applications, and whenever generating reactionary strikes is necessary.Line choice varies by cover type, but I settle for either 15 lb. fluorocarbon in lesser cover, and 20 lb. Cortland Masterbraid under most circumstances.