Summertime Chatter bait fishing

[jiggerjake]

Played around a little with chatter baits last spring. I really got into it this spring and have been having a banner season with them so far. I now keep 2 combos handy at all times.The pattern has been the same on alll the places I've fished, ripping through submerged grass.
I would like to continue throwing them throughout the summer and into the fall this year.My question is: once the grass gets matted what other areas do you like to throw these or do you hang them up until the mid/late fall?

[Casslaw]

Down here in Florida I keep one tied on just about all year. I don’t change mine a lot, it’s either a white or B. Hite’s Delight Jackhammer with either a 4” Zako or a 3.8 BPS Speed Shad as a trailer. The Zako has been a great trailer for me. When the summer comes and the sub surface grass down here gets more healthy and thick I just stick to throwing it to edges and lanes or fishing it in depths where the weeds stop 3’ or so under the surface.

Other places I’ll throw it are pads in 5’ or so, or along grass that grows above the surface and I’ll run it parallel to the grass or by casting it into pockets like a spinnerbait.

[DrewFlu33]

Played around a little with chatter baits last spring. I really got into it this spring and have been having a banner season with them so far. I now keep 2 combos handy at all times.The pattern has been the same on alll the places I've fished, ripping through submerged grass.
I would like to continue throwing them throughout the summer and into the fall this year.My question is: once the grass gets matted what other areas do you like to throw these or do you hang them up until the mid/late fall?

Back off to deeper water where the grass doesn't reach the surface and do the same thing. Around here it's a bait that will work year round when fished that way, but it often (though not always) turns into a 1.5-2lber bait mid-summer when we need to be catching 3-4+ lbers in tourneys unless the conditions are set up properly. Generally that means first thing in the morning or days that are overcast or, even better, rainy. On the river where fish will stay shallow it's a different story.

You can also try fishing it on windblown points and things of that nature, the same types of places you'd throw a spinnerbait or squarebill.

If the fish are in the matted stuff, there are better tools for the job like a frog or punching it.

You could also try dragging and stroking a heavy one around deep like you might fish a football jig....I've heard that can work midsummer...

[jiggerjake]

Thanks guys.I'll be putting them through their preverbeal summertime paces.

[Tarheel14]

Do you use a trailer or just the chatterbait? If yes, what trailer?

[MCS]

Do you use a trailer or just the chatterbait? If yes, what trailer?

It all depends.....bigger body like a missle baits dbomb or beaver for higher in the column.... a fluke for a more erratic action....most of the time it is a burner craw or a twin tail grub.
I save the paddle tail baits for swim jigs....I like a bait that flutters and flaps with the movement of my chatterbait.

[jiggerjake]

I've had my best luck with Yamamoto Zako's

[DrewFlu33]

I like the Z-Man Razor ShadZ. It's basically a Zako that will outlast the rest of your chatterbait. I've also experimented with twin tail spinnerbait style trailers and will use a fluke occasionally. I'm extremely particular about only using trailers that have no swimming action on their own - I think this is very important because any trailer with its own action is only working against whatever action the chatterbait generates itself.

[lunder1775]

I like Zako