Selecting the optimal chatter bait trailer depends on several variables, including water clarity, habitat type, and available bait. A paddle tail trailer like the Strike King Rage Swimmer may displace more water and produce more excellent vibrations than slim, forked-tail grub lures.
A bulkier shad-style trailer such as the Yamamoto Zako is ideal for replicating bluegill or other species of panfish that bass feed on, while its tight action works well when used with vibrating jigs.
Yamamoto Zako
The Chatterbait is quickly sweeping bass fishing by storm. This novel lure consists of a bladed jig with a skirt designed to trigger reaction strikes from large bass. Matched with the appropriate trailer, your chatter bait’s performance can dramatically change and increase its effectiveness – these trailers add bulk, movement, and vibration that help increase success with this increasingly popular lure.
Yamamoto Zako trailers are one of the best options on the market, specifically designed to complement chatter baits. Their tail produces tight and subtle kicks while adding plenty of action, making the Yamamoto Zako an excellent option in freshwater and saltwater environments. Furthermore, this versatile piece can work on almost all sizes of chatter baits.
HogFarmer Spunk Shad is another fantastic trailer option for chatter baits, featuring an imitation of Shad Worm. Available in various colors to coordinate well with chatter baits, it features an effective forked tail to displace water and increase strike potential. It is ideal as both replacement bait or addition to increase size and action during presentations.
The Strike King Rage Bug chatter bait trailer is another fantastic choice for cold or murky conditions, providing more opportunities to strike during those low-light conditions. Available in different sizes with plenty of action attracting big bass, this bait works equally well in freshwater than in saltwater environments.
Strike King Rage Bug
Anglers who love flipping and pitching Texas-rigged soft plastics into heavy cover will quickly fall in love with the Rage Bug bait. A favorite among bass pros such as Bassmaster Classic winner Mike Iaconelli, it boasts an eye-catching extensive profile and dynamic action to draw bass towards it as it navigates its way through thick cover muck. However, what sets this bait apart is its use on chatter baits for even more excellent results!
This is accomplished through the ridged design on its appendages, which are intended to wiggle and kick back when pressure is applied. It adds to their realistic presentation and potentially prompts strikes from fish that chatterbait rattles would usually scare off.
Rage Bug’s appendages feature ridges that move water around as you cast, creating movement and vibration to attract fish from all directions, particularly in murky waters where bass have difficulty seeing your presentation. This will draw them in quickly.
Reaction Innovations Skinny Dipper offers another excellent paddle tail trailer option for chatter baits: its forward paddle tail allows for realistic swimming action that attracts strikes in muddy conditions. However, note that its mobility may be reduced because its paddle tail will be affected by water turbulence.
Missile Baits Spunk Shad is another outstanding chatterbait option, explicitly designed to deliver great hook sets every time it hits bottom. Featuring a bulky body with a paddle tail perfect for fishing through grass, this lure comes in various colors to meet every fishing situation. The ribbed body adds vibratory action while its molded hook slot ensures strong hooksets whenever your tackle drags through bushes or brush.
Yoto Worm
The Yoto Worm is one of the top chatter bait trailers on the market. This soft plastic bait measures 3.7 inches long and looks similar to a crawfish; its salt content allows the bass to keep hold of it longer while enabling you to set more hooks more easily. Rig it back of your chatter bait using any hook setup – nose hook, weedless hook, or worm theme will work beautifully; also try spinnerbaits or other types of jigs!
When bass are disturbed by vibrations from your chatterbait, they are drawn towards its fluttering trailer’s tail. Therefore, you must select a trailer with this action – one option being BioSpawn’s ExoSwim paddle tail, which features a boot tail and ribbed body for more flash and fluttering action than similar-sized trailers. Rigged on the back of chatter bait or used as a paddle tail, swimming is ideal.
Strike King Rage Craw is another effective trailer bait featuring claw-shaped claws designed to draw bass in with strikes, working perfectly alongside the thump of chatter baits. Available in multiple colors that mimic different baitfish species, its four-inch size allows it to be fished vertically for quick action reminiscent of crawfish on the run or horizontally for up-and-down motion similar to shad chasing baitfish.
The Yamamoto Zako trailer is an ideal addition to bladed chatter baits. Though bulkier shad-style trailers may seem foreign to most anglers, their increased displacer ability and increased visibility help catch more bass even in murky conditions. Available in several attractive colors and suitable for all kinds of jigs (including spinnerbaits ), drop shot rigs, grass flats, or submerged structures, it provides maximum water displacement when fishing shallow areas around grass flats or submerged structures.
BioSpawn ExoSwim
The BioSpawn ExoSwim paddle tail swimbait boasts a body constructed with an exoskeleton that allows it to displace more water for an incredibly realistic action, while the paddle tail features a thumping action that is highly appealing to fish. Available in several natural baitfish colors and suitable for spinnerbaits, swim jigs, weighted hooks, or weightless hooks – making this bait versatile in terms of fishing style!
Finding the best chatter bait trailer can be challenging, with numerous factors coming into play when making this selection. These factors include the size of bait, how its appendages move, and whether or not it mimics particular baitfish species; water clarity, habitat type, and availability of local baitfish all have an effect. In the end, trailer selection depends upon which situation arises on any given day.
In general, craw trailers may be best when targeting aggressive bass who are aggressively chasing schools of baitfish around the surface. Conversely, for bass who seem lazy and hang around nearer to the bottom, worm trailers might prove more successful at inciting strikes.
As double-tail grubs can sometimes kick back and forth at different speeds, it may become too much for chatter baits to handle. The Z-Man Goat offers a steady kick and comes in various sizes to fit most vibrating jigs, while its twin tails help maintain level as the lure bounces over cover.
This bait’s sleek body makes it perfect for quickly fishing your chatter bait, while its eye-catching contrast of colors between its body and appendages gives an appearance similar to fleeing crawfish. Ideal for finicky or inactive bass, this lure can be fished on spinnerbait, vibrating jig, or weightless Alabama Rig rigs and comes in several color variants, including black and chartreuse.
