Chatter bait jig selection

[Jig Man]

I have been looking at chatter baits offered by various companies.  There seems to be no set head shape.  I don't plan to use a lot so I won't be buying a new mold at this time.  What general head shape would you guys recommend?  I've been thinking maybe poison tail or banana but what about football?  Have any of you guys hung a blade on a swing jig head?

[smalljaw]

If you are using a head with a regular vertical line tie on the hook you will need to either open the hook eye up or use two split rings to position the blade the right way. The flat eye hook allows you to put the blade on with a single split ring and yes, I've made a chatterbait out of the poison tail swing jig.  Look up "That guy Skimpy", he posted a youtube video here how he made his poison tail swing jig into a chatterbait, it will be helpful if you have that mold. I have used football and Arky style heads not to mention both banana and ultra minnow spinnerbait heads and right now the one I like the best is the Trokar Pro Swim Jig, Cadman posted pictures of his baits made with that head style. I've made them with the blade attached direct to the head and by single and double split rings and my favorite bait is the single split ring and the Pro swim jig works well because it uses a heavy wire flat eye hook so just add the split ring and blade and you are done. I like the single split ring over direct attachment and double split ring for a couple of reasons, the first is that having the split ring gives the blade more travel and what you get is a bait with a lot of vibration but it also has a much more erratic searching type action compared to the direct attachment. The second reason is that it still makes sound, not as much as the direct attachment but more than the double split ring, the double split ring is very erratic but the blade is too far from the head so no contact is made and the bait is silent. If you have the flat eye Arky head that is what I'd go with for your first ones as using the split ring would be easier than opening hooks, I did that and while it works you will have some that will break either on opening or when squeezing shut.

[cadman]

Jig Man, if you don't want to buy a mold, then you can just buy some raw heads. The biggest problem I found when I started making these, was the hook eye wasn't big enough inside to let a durable split ring move around freely.  Also a flat eye hook would be my choice because you would only need one split ring to connect the head to the blade. I'm sure there are many ways to make these including spinnerbait heads using the wire at the nose of the jig head.

[Big-D]

I have had good success making them out of buzzbait heads with the wire trimmed short enough to just form the loop.  I also modified a regular Arkie head mold to accept a spinnerbait wire where the hook eye exits the head.  It is a simple modification, and the mold can still be used to make a jig  without any flashing.  Instead of a jig hook, I use a spinnerbait hook and a short trace of heavy spinnerbait/ buzzbait wire.

Edited August 17, 2017 by Big-D
picture added

[Jig Man]

Thanks guys.  I have a few molds that either are made for flat eye hooks or I have modified them to take that hook.  Whether I need 1 or 2 split rings I ordered enough to last most of the rest of my life.  

I have blades, tape, duo lock snaps, and split rings on the way.  I won't be able to work on them for a couple of weeks as I am taking my wife on a driving vacation to Oregon.  I also have a bunch of old spinnerbaits that I can experiment with.

 

BIG D how is that bait in the pic attached to the blade.  I think I can see the whole wire.

Edited August 17, 2017 by Jig Man

[Big-D]

It's actually the reflection of the wire in the nickel plated blade...

 

-D

[Jig Man]

OK so it is through the bottom hole like I thought it should be.    I even zoomed it to 200 % and had my wife look at it.  We both thought you were just holding it up to the blade.   Thanks.  I've got one old single spin cut off ready to be hooked up when my stuff gets here.

[Jeff Hahn]

My preference is for a jighead that is wide.  The best vibrating jigs that I ever fished were the original RAD Chatterbaits.  Part of the reason they caught a lot of fish was that the blade would bang on the wide head every time it rotated from side to side.  After a while the blade would dent the lead on the head and that's when the bait really excelled.  The closest mold I have found to the original RAD bait is the Do-It Sparkie head mold.  I use the one without the cut out for a weedguard in the mold.

[wishn4fishn]

I like the arky head myself and I make them on the poison swing head. The blade thumps the head good on the arky to the point it's wearing down the lead.

[mark poulson]

On 8/17/2017 at 8:30 PM, Jeff Hahn said:

My preference is for a jighead that is wide.  The best vibrating jigs that I ever fished were the original RAD Chatterbaits.  Part of the reason they caught a lot of fish was that the blade would bang on the wide head every time it rotated from side to side.  After a while the blade would dent the lead on the head and that's when the bait really excelled.  The closest mold I have found to the original RAD bait is the Do-It Sparkie head mold.  I use the one without the cut out for a weedguard in the mold.

 

My buddy pours me Do-It Arkie jig heads, with Mustad hook.  I asked him to pour them with the hole for the weedguard, because I like to fish them slow, through the hydrilla, and a weedguard helps.

I don't think the fish know the difference when I make one with no weed guard and just leave the hole open.  I do that when I burn them over the grass.

They come with the eye closed, so I can either use them as jigs, or open the eye with awl and a hammer to insert the chatter blade.

[Jeff Hahn]

On 8/22/2017 at 8:07 PM, mark poulson said:

 

My buddy pours me Do-It Arkie jig heads, with Mustad hook.  I asked him to pour them with the hole for the weedguard, because I like to fish them slow, through the hydrilla, and a weedguard helps.

I don't think the fish know the difference when I make one with no weed guard and just leave the hole open.  I do that when I burn them over the grass.

They come with the eye closed, so I can either use them as jigs, or open the eye with awl and a hammer to insert the chatter blade.

I have made a few like that for myself.  I use a twin wire weed guard in mine.  http://www.lurepartsonline.com/Online-Store/Mold-Insert-Components/Wire-Weedguard.html

[Dink Mendez]

I've had good success with this do it spinnerbait mold

[Dink Mendez]

Also this style, couldn't get what I wanted I started to make them

[Munkin]

I use the Do It sparkie mold and punch out the hook eye with a punch from Harbor Freight.

 

Allen 

[Maverickrod]

Been lurking. Here is one of the baits that I make for myself and really close friends.

 

Edited September 25, 2017 by Maverickrod

[mark poulson]

12 hours ago, Maverickrod said:

Been lurking. Here is one of the baits that I make for myself and really close friends.

 

Does the one with the split ring wobble harder?

[AZ Fisher]

Mark, I've found on the ones I've made they seem to have less action, like the split ring kind of absorbs some of  the wobble. I much prefer the blade attached directly to the head of the bait.  I also bend my blades forward, not back, not sure if that's correct but I like the way it makes the bait "Hunt".  Interested to hear which way others face their bended blades? Sorry, not to hijack the thread.

[mark poulson]

2 hours ago, AZ Fisher said:

Mark, I've found on the ones I've made they seem to have less action, like the split ring kind of absorbs some of  the wobble. I much prefer the blade attached directly to the head of the bait.  I also bend my blades forward, not back, not sure if that's correct but I like the way it makes the bait "Hunt".  Interested to hear which way others face their bended blades? Sorry, not to hijack the thread.

Thanks.  

I always bend my blades back, so I can fish them faster without having them rise.  

I'll have to give the forward blade a try.  It should work over weeds.

[Maverickrod]

5 hours ago, mark poulson said:

Does the one with the split ring wobble harder?

 

The bait with the split ring is more erratic, that’s for sure. I personally like to directly attach my blade to the eyelet. 

Edited September 25, 2017 by Maverickrod

[Jeff Hahn]

Bending the blade forward...hmm...  Gonna have to take some of my rear bent blades and reverse them to see the action.  Good thinking outside of the box!

[Jeff Hahn]

I took one bait and reversed the rear bent blade so that it was forward bending.  I only got to make a few casts with it, but that modification gave it a very erratic action. 

[cadman]

33 minutes ago, Jeff Hahn said:

I took one bait and reversed the rear bent blade so that it was forward bending.  I only got to make a few casts with it, but that modification gave it a very erratic action. 

By doing that, you create a lure that is similar to a crankbait, and yes the wobble should be more enhanced.

[smalljaw]

I prefer the blade attached by split ring because it is more erratic and has a wide searching type action.  The only issue is that with the split ring on,  it puts the blade at a higher position so you only get a little head tick if any and the sound is how the bait got its name, "chatterbait". An Arkie or Sparkie head is wide enough to get that sound as long as you attach the blade direct. I think action is better than the sound and with the blade producing good vibration I think sound isn't critical but that is me. I haven't used any of the newer variations on the chatterbait but I have fished the original a good bit before making my own, and I've tried a lot of different ways and head styles and so far the one that has worked best for me is the Trokar pro swim jig head with a split ring attached blade, that combination works really well for me.

[Jeff Hahn]

16 hours ago, smalljaw said:

I prefer the blade attached by split ring because it is more erratic and has a wide searching type action.  The only issue is that with the split ring on,  it puts the blade at a higher position so you only get a little head tick if any and the sound is how the bait got its name, "chatterbait". An Arkie or Sparkie head is wide enough to get that sound as long as you attach the blade direct. I think action is better than the sound and with the blade producing good vibration I think sound isn't critical but that is me. I haven't used any of the newer variations on the chatterbait but I have fished the original a good bit before making my own, and I've tried a lot of different ways and head styles and so far the one that has worked best for me is the Trokar pro swim jig head with a split ring attached blade, that combination works really well for me.

I got one of these heads by accident.  It was mixed in with a bag of LPO's Classic Grass jigs that I bought.  I added a steel leader and made it into a swim jig to use in Canada, where lots of toothy critters live.  Maybe I'll rethink that and add a split ring and give it a shot as a bladed jig.

[mark poulson]

On 9/26/2017 at 8:24 PM, Jeff Hahn said:

I took one bait and reversed the rear bent blade so that it was forward bending.  I only got to make a few casts with it, but that modification gave it a very erratic action. 

 

I just tried a reverse bend blade on a double spit ring setup, and it is very erratic!  I made it from a spinnerbait with a fatigued wire that I didn't trust any more, and forgot to put the blade onto the wire before I bent the loop, so I had to add the two split rings.  I'm going to reverse bend one of my direct connected Arkie head versions to see if it was the blade, or the double split rings, or a combination of the two.