swim jig/chatterbait trailer question

[Jeff Hahn]

HUH you made it sound like the skirt made the difference weather it would hunt or not....... i got excited lol i do very good fishing chatterbaits ive experimented with about every trailer you can think of and keitechs and lake fork swimmers seem to be the best for me could you explain how to tune a chatterbait to hunt a touch more id really like to give that a try thanks

There is no magic formula for tuning. By bending the line tie, I should have been more precise. Tuning involves bending the eye where that the blade is attached to slightly forward or backward. The key is to get the blade to bang the head at just the correct angle so that it momentarily catches on the head. Some baits are made with eyes that are part of the hook and are much harder to bend than baits made with an eye made from softer metal.

nope, not selling any of my DBaits. I have just enough left to get me through the rest of my tournament fishing.

[Jeff Hahn]

Interesting, thanks for the clarification. I did notice in the 1/2 speed video that the hunting action was triggered by the blade stalling (for lack of a better word) momentarily causing the lure to plane to one side till it started vibrating again. Makes sense that modifying the line tie and/or the blade attachment point could cause this hunting action.

Very observant! The trick is to have the blade hit the head at just the right angle so that it digs into the lead. The bigger the gouge the blade digs in the head, the more area the blade has to grab, resulting in it stalling the the bait momentarily darting to the side. My best baits are old, beat up looking things. But, they hunt much better than new ones. Some companies powder paint the heads of their vibrating jigs. They look really pretty. But, the powder paint is so hard that the blade can’t dig into the lead very well.

[DrewFlu33]

Very observant! The trick is to have the blade hit the head at just the right angle so that it digs into the lead. The bigger the gouge the blade digs in the head, the more area the blade has to grab, resulting in it stalling the the bait momentarily darting to the side. My best baits are old, beat up looking things. But, they hunt much better than new ones. Some companies powder paint the heads of their vibrating jigs. They look really pretty. But, the powder paint is so hard that the blade can’t dig into the lead very well.

So could you take a file or hacksaw blade or something to the head of one to get it to hunt better?

[Jeff Hahn]

So could you take a file or hacksaw blade or something to the head of one to get it to hunt better?

Maybe, but I've never tried it. I usually break-in my baits in Canada where the fish will hit anything!

[fastman151]

Amazing that a little adjustment to the line tie could cause that much erratic action!

[Rick McFaul]

For a swim jig you want a trailer that has action on it's own. I like a Rage Chunk or Craw. For a Chatterbait I want a trailer that has no action on it's own. The Chatterbait provides the action in the trailer. If you use a trailer with action like a Keitech or paddle tail swim bait sometimes the action of the bait and the trailer counteract each other. The traditional split tail trailer works nice. For a larger profile I like the new Zako or the ZMan ShadZ

[SoonerFan]

For a swim jig you want a trailer that has action on it's own. I like a Rage Chunk or Craw. For a Chatterbait I want a trailer that has no action on it's own. The Chatterbait provides the action in the trailer. If you use a trailer with action like a Keitech or paddle tail swim bait sometimes the action of the bait and the trailer counteract each other. The traditional split tail trailer works nice. For a larger profile I like the new Zako or the ZMan ShadZ

This ^^+1

I never had much success with the Chatterbait until I hit upon using the Lake Fork Magic Shad. Green Pumpkin on Z-Man Bluegill Chatterbait is money in the spring.

[webby5383]

What size magic shad?

[Big Guy]

For a swim jig you want a trailer that has action on it's own. I like a Rage Chunk or Craw. For a Chatterbait I want a trailer that has no action on it's own. The Chatterbait provides the action in the trailer. If you use a trailer with action like a Keitech or paddle tail swim bait sometimes the action of the bait and the trailer counteract each other. The traditional split tail trailer works nice. For a larger profile I like the new Zako or the ZMan ShadZ

Sure glad people think this. Have a ball with my fat impacts on chatterbaits

[SoonerFan]

What size magic shad?

All three sizes, 3½ , 4½, & 5½ depending on what size Chatterbait I'm using. I have them from ⅜ oz. to 1½ oz.

[webby5383]

What size works best for 3/8

[limit5bass]

Some good info