The Chatterbait: Now 14 Years Old and Still Catching Fish

I think we probably all stumble onto some things purely by accident. I know I do. The latest such occasion happened during the bass tournament this past Saturday. My problem was that I wasn't smart enough to know I had stumbled onto anything to start with and, therefore, didn't follow up with any further on-the-scene investigation.

Here was the situation. I just had boated my first keeper fish of the day, and in the process of weighing him, inserting the culling clip, and noting the weight on the attached Ardent ball, I failed to keep track of where the boat had drifted. When I was ready to climb back on the front pedestal, the boat was sitting just a few feet off the shoreline, so I wheeled off a long parallel cast, and took only a couple turns on the reel handle before another keeper bass nailed my bait. It was the latter hookup that should have prompted me to further action, but it didn't dawn on me to stick with that parallel approach.

As a matter of fact, it wasn't until last night, as I was doing some online research, that I found several accounts from anglers who say, "The best thing to do is to start casting parallel to the shore, around 1 foot out, and then fan out your casts as far as 10 to 15 feet from the shore. If you find a strike zone, keep all your subsequent casts in that same zone to maximize your possibilities."

The bait in question here is a chatterbait. I've always liked the feel of this bait during the retrieve, and I've caught fish with it, using various styles of retrieve. Hadn't really planned to put the bait back in service this year--it just kinda happened after I caught a few fish with it while the water still was cold. Since then, I've been tag-teaming quite a bit between it and a spinnerbait, with a reasonable degree of success with both lures.

On the retrieve, a chatterbait's blade gives off a clicking sound to go along with all that great vibration, which makes it an ideal bait for fishing muddy water. However, it also works just as great in clear water.

As I've learned during my online research, there are at least five different ways to fish a chatterbait. The first is the simple chunk and wind, where you just make a cast, and reel the lure back to the boat.

Another method involves making a cast and quickly bringing the lure back before briefly pausing it, which causes the skirt to pulsate. Then run the lure on back to the boat.

Slow rolling is yet another way to work the bait. Make the cast, let the lure settle to the bottom, then bring it back to the boat with just enough speed to feel the blade vibrating.

A yo-yo approach also works well. Simply cast the chatterbait out, let it go to the bottom, and then raise your rod up before allowing the lure to flutter back to the bottom again. As you lower your rod, always pick up slack to keep a tight line. Repeat this process all the way back to the boat.

Finally, there's the bump and grind method, which is a matter of making the lure bump into things during the retrieve. I personally don't have a lot of success executing this method. Most times, I find that the chatterbait catches the stump, log or whatever I'm trying to bump, and I have to go get the lure.

Experts encourage retrieve variations. "Don't be afraid to change things up," they say. "Always give the bass something different to look at."

Chatterbaits are used quite often for freshwater sports fishing due to their amazing action that allows them to be retrieved in multiple ways. Versatility is the name of the game in fishing, and no angler ever should go out without an open mind.