Chatterbaits surfacing while fishing them

[Florida Jig Co.]

First, I am not a guru on the bait but do throw them once in a while. The problem I am having is some Chatterbaits tend to rise up to the top of the water and surface while others dont. I throw them all on braid and use the same rod and reel so I don't think its the equipment causing them to surface. Even slowing down the retrieve does not work. I have tried to bend the blade and that does not work. I usually throw a 1/2 oz Z-man chatterbait? Any thoughts as to why they are doing this?

[jp71291]

Are you changing trailers? Some have more drag than others.

[BIGFLAT]

? Could be the blade is hanging up, look at it when its close to the surface???BF

[dean c]

Only thing in my experience that makes them rise is too fast of a retrieve...Any chance your fishing them faster than you think you are? Keep it in contact with the grass or whatever cover your fishing, whatever retrieve that takes...the beauty of the z-man is that blade vibrates hard even when the bait is slow.

[Florida Jig Co.]

I use a skinny dipper for the trailer 99.9% of the time I have compared the chatterbaits that surface compared to ones that dont and can't see ay visible difference.

I just got off the phone with a friend and he said the Project Z chatterbait will surface more than the original. I am going to go back and see which ones I have I thought they were all Original style. Might have had a Z style sneak into my boat somehow.

[Trx5Trx510r]

Jackhammer case closed.

[Milehibird]

Can honestly say I've never had that happen. I throw the 3/8oz almost exclusively. Original, Elite, Project Z, Project Z weedless and Jackhammer are all in my boat, and I throw them from ice off until the ramps close. I don't use any paddle tail trailers though. I have 3 trailers I use...the original Zman split tail for a small profile, the Zako for a big profile, and a Havoc Subwoofer.

On the ones that surface, try flipping the trailer over so the boot tail is pointed up, that should reduce the lift from the trailer, or just try a different style of trailer completely and see if it still does it. Also check to make sure the blade isn't binding up on the eye of the jig, or that the snap on the blade isn't caught in some wonky position. I've had that happen on the originals and they run funny.

[buckeyebass]

Braid will cause them to run higher in the water column. Try using flouro.

[berudd]

Braid will cause them to run higher in the water column. Try using flouro.

That was my thought too as well as retrieving them too fast. I’d say I crank them slower than most other moving baits. I’m usually trying to keep them right over the top of submerged grass. If there isn’t any of that, I’m usually using something else.

[21XDC]

Are you changing trailers? Some have more drag than others.

Yep... More drag holds the blade back at a different angle and has the opposite effect as a crankbait/lip. The weight to drag ratio is important.

[Phoenix Jim]

Jackhammer case closed.

Definitely!

[champion204]

1/2 oz. And slow down

[bronzebacks]

Jackhammer case closed.

[bronzebacks]

Put the skinny dipper upside down and it will help keep it down

[RazorCat]

Speed of retrieve varies from bait to bait at time. Just slow it down a bit.

[cubswin]

I use a little dipper, a skinny dipper is going to add a decent amount of lift. They seem to be pretty sensitive to how the trailer is tracking, know when mine get a little too low on the hook shank bait wants to lift more. I've taken to just adding some super glue to hold them in place.

[pabasshawk]

I have never had that problem but I retrieve rather slow and use fluorocarbon.

[Bassmeister]

I rig the dippers with the tail up instead of down......thanks to a good friend of mine.....

[SoonerFan]

Switch from a boot trailer to a fish tail trailer like a Lake Fork Magic Shad. The boot tail always wants to rise up. Or you could go to a heavier bait. I've got a couple of ¾, 1 ½, and 1 ounce chatterbaits just for staying down.

[BigSexyPhoenix]

I’ve found that some will surface more than others. I usually buy the 1/2 oz version and watch my retrieve speed. It doesn’t take much feeling to make these things work and with the high speed reels out today it makes me really have to slow down.