River Smallmouths with Z-Man’s Chatterbait WillowVibe

Faux summer this week has the fish woken up and hungry.  A few of you saw my post from last night on my Facebook page. Here’s a recap of yesterday’s great outing.

First, thank you Barry for being such a gracious host. Since he’s a new retiree with lots of fishing time on his hands, he should just take this operation over from me hahahaha. Hire this Barry guy.

We floated a secret river somewhere in the Midwest

The focus was casting and pitching to pockets, holes, slack water, current seams, and rock walls against shore. All fish contacted were holding in those areas, facing upstream, and feeding on fleeing minnows against the banks. Every cast needed to land as tight as possible to where those fish were….. but if not, the current pushed the vibrating jig downstream over to them.

A finesse bladed jig with some surprising tricks in its skillset, the Z-Man ChatterBait WillowVibe surprises every angler who gives it crank.

The Concoction

• 1/4 ounce Chatterbait Willowvibe
• 4-inch Scented Paddlerz (New Penny)

A few months ago, I was working on some articles and media with Z-Man, and a few members on their staff tipped me off on this concoction, especially to consider for the early season. I was mindful of it, and it was the first thing I tied on…. and was the only lure of the day that was needed. Total # fish captured was about 15, but a third of them were pushing 4-pounds; largest around 20-inches. Our damage took place all throughout the morning before air temp and water temp got too hot, shutting them down after 1pm.

Rod and line choice here was very important. Without my 7-foot St. Croix Avid (AVS70MHF) and 15-pound Cortland Line Masterbraid to counter their pulling thru current, landing them would have been difficult. You could use baitcaster if fishing the heavier 3/8 oz. version jig.

Last week on our FB Live, we talked about leader lines for river fishing. They are absolutely totally necessary in these environments. My 10-pound leader was getting abused and shredded from where this bait needed to land near by.

To make sure this wasn’t some kind of a random incident, dumb luck, or prank by the Fish Gods, I also tried an assortment of Chatterbaits and bladed heads to compare a different head style ….. Current would push those baits high into the water column, whereas the head and blade style of Willowvibe was getting pushed downward towards the fish laying and feeding near current. We tried other heads, shapes, and tails for experimentation too. None of them worked.

What I found on this first time try with the Willowvibe concoction – Less is more. No need for erratic action, or speed retrieves with this combo. If fishing rivers and currents, the flow will do majority of the work all for you, and get that vibration expedited and working on an auto-setting. This bait did such a great job getting carried downstream to the fish as well, maintained its depth in the undercurrents, and held together in current without blowing out. Great little combo for drift fishing. What a tool and personal discovery.

Horizontal presentations, in conjunction with vibration-emitting characteristics, are integral to early season success. For river fishing and grabbing the attention of smallmouths feeding on baitfish in current, this tool is deadly.

Pre-spawn on the rivers is ON right now. Enjoy it regardless of the weather and conditions.

Product Links

• Willowvibe – https://zmanfishing.com/cms/products/willowvibe
• 4-inch Scented Paddlerz – https://zmanfishing.com/…/cat…/elaztech/scented_paddlerz