I’ve got a Jackhammer, I think it’s 3/8 oz (7/16 oz total weight), that wants to blow out at anything more than a very slow retrieve. I’ve tried a 4.5” Spunk Shad that looks great at slow speed, but when I try to speed it up it will blow out. I tried half a KVD Ocho thinking that being more streamlined would help, but that was worse and ran crazy. Running with no trailer it doesn’t really work at all.

 

Will something heavy stabilize it? I assume it has to be small?

 

Is the 3/8 oz Jackhammer just too light to get any speed?

I run 3/8 oz a lot and your trailer has to be d**n near dead nuts centered. The zako works pretty well as well as small swimbaits threaded on upside down. Thre 3/8 oz has a lot more erratic swimming action than the 1/2 oz so works well over and through shallow grass flats. 

11 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

Thre 3/8 oz has a lot more erratic swimming action

 

When I tried the Ocho for a trailer, it was hunting like a foot in every direction, a little too crazy for me. I actually got a bite with it though.

 

14 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

your trailer has to be d**n near dead nuts centered.

 

Ah ha. That may be it. The Spunk Shad is pretty symmetrical, which helps, but I'm not great at hooking trailers straight and centered.

Manns Classic Spinnerbait Trailer.  I use them quite a bit with a 3/8 ounce Siebert Bladed Jig.  

I use the strike king rage tail menace quite a bit. I don’t have issues with it blowing out when I speed up.

4" Berkley Pit Boss is my first choice for spinners and chatters. I can burn a 3/8 Z-Man Original or a 3/8oz SO Fogy Pro without issues.

I have tried a lot of different trailers, but I always come back to Rage Bug, horizontally rigged.

Having the plastic centered will help a ton, a zako is what I prefer on my larger CB. I haven't tried the 4.5" powerstinger but the 3.5 is aces for the minimax. The main reason I primarily use the smaller CBs is that the large ones blow out so easy if my rigging is off even a tiny amount. The minimax is much more forgiving with that, but has some limits to size and profile

Hunting and blowing out is a feature not a bug. If you don’t want that to happen, pick a Different vibrating jig. 

Confusing to me what blow out means in this application. For me the spunk shad or something like a super fluke is the trailer that doesn’t over power the situation and that’s what I’d use

Random hunting is very different than blowing out on a chatterbait.

 

It's hard to blow out a Jackhammer or full size Chatterbait with any trailer, only time I've ever had blow out on bladed jigs is with a MiniMax and Flashback Mini.

 

Blow Out:  To lose vibrating contact with the bladed jig upon retrieve.   More times than not the trailer being off centered so badly in combo with small enough of a blade will cause this.    

 

Hunting Action:  Bait randomly darts to one side or the other while still maintaining vibration contact to the end user.

 

I've never found burning a chatterbait to be all that effective, slow rolling with rod twitches, or yo yoing them seems to be the best for me.  

When the OP stated that the bladed jig is “blowing out” I thought he meant breaching the surface.

Fool proof - Spunk Shad. Does not interfere with blade or lure action and works in cold or warm water.  It’s all I use anymore…

Agreed. For me, a Spunk Shad is hard to beat for either a chatterbait or spinnerbait trailer.

8 hours ago, Pogues2300 said:

Confusing to me what blow out means in this application.

 

8 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Blow Out:  To lose vibrating contact with the bladed jig upon retrieve.

@AlabamaSpothunter nailed it. I don't mean breaking the surface. It vibrates normally at slow speed, but speed it up and it stops vibrating or vibrates erratically (stops and starts erratically).

 

8 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

It's hard to blow out a Jackhammer or full size Chatterbait with any trailer

If it was hard for me, I wouldn't be asking the question. In my limited experience, size of blade, the bend on the blade, size of trailer, and even the skirt play a part in what speed a bladed jig vibrates.

 

8 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

I've never found burning a chatterbait to be all that effective

Another example of where our experiences differ. have never played a big part for me. I don't have a ton of experience with chatterbaits because they've never been very successful for me until I started burning them, and then I caught more fish on a chatterbait in a week than I had in a few years.

 

8 hours ago, FryDog62 said:

Fool proof - Spunk Shad.

😄 Is what I'm using. What size do you use?

 

 

2 hours ago, fin said:

 

😄 Is what I'm using. What size do you use?

 

 

3.5 on the MiniMax

4.5 on usual size Jackhammer/Crosseyez

Try using it without a trailer and see what happens. From my experience, the jackhammers like erratic movements. They excel when ripped through grass. I use only toad trailers on mine and none get tossed without a trailer hook. Even with the big flapping toad legs as well as the swinging 2/0 trailer, I never have much if any issues swimming them in the everglades, even at night, which is mainly when I use them. For me, a slow steady retrieve gets the big girls. Could be just how you're fishing it. 

 

 

 

 

 

I found the problem - the line tie was bent. I have no idea how it could have gotten that bent. I don't remember anything serious enough to cause that much damage, there must have been rocks involved. After straightening it out, it swam fine with no trailer at all, and I put a super fluke jr on and it swam fine too.

 

I can't believe nobody suggested to check that! I can't believe I didn't check that!

 

 

4 minutes ago, fin said:

I found the problem - the line tie was bent. I have no idea how it could have gotten that bent. I don't remember anything serious enough to cause that much damage, there must have been rocks involved. After straightening it out, it swam fine with no trailer at all, and I put a super fluke jr on and it swam fine too.

 

I can't believe nobody suggested to check that! I can't believe I didn't check that!

 

 

You beat me to it.

FM

8 minutes ago, fin said:

 

 

I can't believe nobody suggested to check that! I can't believe I didn't check that!

 

 

I guess most here where assuming (including myself) that everything mechanical was in good working order.