Crankbait for me all of the time. I’ve given up on Chatterbaits, never had any luck with them and they snag too much where I fish.

Zman crosseyez will change where you can fish a chatterbait. The double guard is pretty effective in brush. 

Blade still gets hung sometimes, but it's a much more versatile bait than one with no guard. I have a big stack of jackhammers and prefer them for open water or sparse weeds, but anything like cover gets one of these. 

 

 

 

 

My most-fished cranks are silent or nearly so, and I tend to fish them slow, so I think I'm after less-active fish with cranks, or ones that are really keyed in on something specific like size/color combo. 

 

I underfish spinnerbaits, probably because a keitech on a flashy swimmer is almost always tied on and that seems really close to me. 

Crankbait whenever you can get away with it because trebles hook up so much better compared to single hooked baits. Chatterbaits come through grass much better than treblehooks, but cranks come through wood better as well for some reason. 

On 9/21/2022 at 4:06 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

I make both. IMO, direct connect starts faster and puts out a faster, sharper vibration. Split ring baits have a bigger thump and seem to catch larger fish, probably because the bigger thump feels like a larger baitfish. 

Good info. Thanks. 

Depth and cover type

I will use a single hook (chatterbait, spinnerbait, etc.) whenever I can.  Trebles can be a pain in the backside (or in your fingers, net, etc.).  That being said, on the lakes around me, crank baits don’t get used as often and can really show the fish something different and can be the deal some days.  

Bladed jigs have been amazing for me since they came out.  Always have a couple tied on wherever I go.  

Easy , crankbait .

I’ll mess with the chatterbaits but I have enough confidence in throwing Crankbaits to about 17 feet deep. 

On 9/21/2022 at 11:23 AM, king fisher said:

Wood or rock-  Crankbait.

Grass-- Bladed Jig.

 

Water deeper than 10'  - crankbait.

100 percent. This is how I operate.

Both rigged up and alternate casts, 10 at a time.

I gave this a second thought. The deeper than 10 foot deal is only 80-90 percent of the time crank baits for me. If you get the chance and have the rod to handle it, get yourself an 1oz - 1.5oz chatter and fish it deep. Good stuff.