53 minutes ago, woolleyfooley said:

What would be the better choices you would use? 

I’ll use a trap in light to moderate scattered vegetation mostly.
I get much better hook ups and with a rattle it gets more attention. 

Magnum Speed Worm, Skinny Dipper with a Duz It blade for wiggle or a Big EZ for thump, in heavier grass. 

I’m not “restricted” as much by having to slow my retrieve to maximize hits. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

As mentioned already, it's a great cold water bait, has accounted for my first bass of the year for a few years, and it is always a quality bite.

 

It is also a fantastic night fishing lure. Usually my go-to. 

 

Where I decide between spinnerbait and bladed jig- it's the wind and weather. bladed jig will work in flat calm, bright sun. Spinnerbait will usually not draw strikes in those conditions, but with wind and or weather will be more attractive than a bladed jig. 

 

It is also a good pike lure, and probably works for other species to. 

47 minutes ago, LloydR said:

I made it a goal to learn the bladed jig this year, after trying a few times with no luck over the previous years. It quickly became my favorite lure during the prespawn here in St. Louis. I had the best luck varying the speed of the retrieve during each cast, but didn't find it necessary to jerk or pop it. One thing I noticed early on: some fish would absolutely crush it, but many would just be on there. Many times I thought I was in weeds or had run into a log, but it was a big bass. Anyway it's clear to me now: the bladed jig is an awesome lure and it probably should be part of every bass fisherman's arsenal. 

Thanks for sharing that, and welcome to BassResource!

It catches snakehead as well..... white.

52 minutes ago, MassBass said:

It is also a good pike lure

Not many lures out there that don’t catch pike.

 

I’m convinced of that

I can’t run them through cover like I can a spinnerbait . I can bury them in wood , rocks and everything else in The River . I wanna get better at them 

A bladed jig is a jig, a vibrating jig.  Take the time to observe how it moves, changes direction and falls with different trailers.  The key for me is knowing how the baits moves based on my retrieves and rod movements.  Just understand it’s jig.

Lately I have two rods with chatterbaits on all the time, so I guess it's a staple for me. I'm fortunate to live in an area where bladed jig is a top five lure year round so I'm on it all the time. Even winter.

 

I'm 100% largemouth, so you may have something different if you have a lot of spots (ask @AlabamaSpothunteror smallmouth (ask @A-Jay)

 

A few things that may make a difference for you, they do for me:

 

1) Take your 3/8 chatterbaits and put them in a box. Put the box in the closet. You'll know when you need to get them back out. You'll probably buy 3/4 oz before you get them back out. 1/2oz should be your default. It'll run about 5-6' deep. on 15-17lb line if you follow the next step.

2) Run it as slow as you can run it and still feel the blade thumping. 

3) Blade color matters sometimes, and when it does it matters a LOT. I find this to be more common than most would expect.

4) Just use a zako trailer. There are others, but this is the standard and for a good reason. There are some edge cases like you know they are eating small shad or whatever, but that's not most days.

5) For an alternate retrieve when the fish are feeding 'down' - cast it out, let it sink to the bottom, reel it a little (not rod movement) and let it hit bottom again. Kinda like a swinghead. 

6) I find my best results for bigger fish with a steady retrieve, and best results for most fish with the occassional speed up, or pause and rip. 

7) for wood, two things will help but it's never perfect a) z-man crosseyes has a brushguard that is better in wood than anything else b) use a trailer like a rage bug and rig it horizontal so it's less likely to roll over when it hits wood. 

 

 

 

A bladed jig is one of those baits that was a real gamechanger.  If you got into them early, before everyone one and their brother started throwing them you know how effective they can be, particularly on fish that haven't seen them before.  While theyre still very effective, you need to have somewhat favorable conditions to get on a real good bite.  Several of my buddies started fishing them just from watching me catch them or seeing the quality of fish they produce.  Just about every one of them struggled to gain confidence in the bait.  They would either fish them on bluebird days, fish them too fast or just mindlessly fish them on steady retrieve or combination of all 3.  

A bladed jig can catch fish any time of year, but IMO, like many other baits, they really shine just as the water begins to warm late in winter through the prespawn and into the spawn.  They are an effective bait in the fall as well, but that bite isn't as consistent.  

A bladed jig is like at least 3 baits in 1.  The profile of a jig, the action of a crankbait and the flash of a spinnerbait.  Honestly, I found out real fast that coloring the blade with a sharpie to dull the flash is the way to go, unless it's really a dark day with wind and or rain and Im fishing a white bait.  I kind of think of bladed jig as a really aggressive swim jig that is great in the grass, wood not so much.

In late winter I fish them like a jig, very slow and on the bottom with a small creature bait as a trailer. Every now and then Ill put just enough tension in the line to feel the blade vibrate 2 or 3 times and ill kill it.  As the water warms ill start fishing it more like a lipless, changing up the retrieve from slow and on the bottom to yo yoing. 

Once the water hits 50, I get a little more aggressive with the retrieve, stopping and starting quickly, tearing it from grass, burn and pause etc. as by that time the fish will chase and the bladed jig becomes a real good tool for covering water effectively.  Just like any other moving bait, you want to target the wind blown banks in the last hours of light at the end of the day, particularly withing a few days of the new or full moon.  Thats I really hammer them or catch my biggest fish of the year.

The actualy weight of the bait depends on depth and fast you want to fish.  Most of my water is shallow, less than 6', 3/8 and 1/4 early in the year is what works best. 

Spinnerbaits: heavy wood, weed edges, little wind and little cloud cover  

 

Chatterbaits: weeds, little wood, heavier wind and or cloud cover.

 

I change retrieve and depth i fish then at depending on the fish that day. I'm more likely to let a spinnerbait sink to the bottom and slow roll it though than I am a bladed jig. Chatterbaits I wait until I get to the depth I want them reel just quick enough to get the blade going and keep it at that place. I may pop it from time to time pending if I'm fishing it in weeds or if I'm skimming bottom.

 

I use it as a more aggressive spinnerbait and I use a swim jig as a less aggressive spinnerbaits. They all have a place for me depending on the conditions.

5 minutes ago, Functional said:

Spinnerbaits: heavy wood, weed edges, little wind and little cloud cover  

 

Chatterbaits: weeds, little wood, heavier wind and or cloud cover.

 

I change retrieve and depth i fish then at depending on the fish that day. I'm more likely to let a spinnerbait sink to the bottom and slow roll it though than I am a bladed jig. Chatterbaits I wait until I get to the depth I want them reel just quick enough to get the blade going and keep it at that place. I may pop it from time to time pending if I'm fishing it in weeds or if I'm skimming bottom.

 

I use it as a more aggressive spinnerbait and I use a swim jig as a less aggressive spinnerbaits. They all have a place for me depending on the conditions.

 

Basically the same conditions as me, except I also consider what the bass may be targeting. If it's shad or menhaden, I'll usually opt for the spinnerbait. But if it's bluegills or crappie, I'll usually throw the bladed jig if I can. Those seem to mimic the bait more on the tidal Potomac than reservoirs/lakes though.

14 hours ago, txchaser said:

Just use a zako trailer

The problem with a zako here is northern pike. That thing is toast after one aggressive strike.

 

Need something with more durability. The Zman razor shad or the chatterspike is a good alternative.

Man I’ve got a black/blue, bluegill, and white mini max in the basement. I can’t catch anything on them. I’ve tried different trailers, and retrieves. I badly wana say I’ve caught one on a bladed jig. It just hasn’t happened lol

I've been fishing the bladed jig for most of the year. The bite has really dried up as it's warmed up. But, I've got a lot time with it on the water as a result.

 

A bit of juice I don't see here. The name brand bladed jig has a big blade edition. Very few people throw it, which is a benefit in itself. But the juice is in that the big blade starts chattering VERY quickly. This lets you work it easily like a jig off the bottom with small pops, and because it pretty much instantly starts to chatter, you can really keep it near the bottom and get lots of attractive noise.

 

You can also work it A LOT slower if you're doing a straight retrieve. 

Welp, I am official on a bladed jig. This one sent to me by a forum member didn't have a skirt. I happened to have a googan spinnerbait that I'd snagged but it had a badly rusted hook. The skirt was in acceptable shape though.

 

I added a rage tail trailer I had, rigged vertical the way Tyler does them.

Conditions was, hot, about 5:30 pm, and a hard bite. I ended up fishing some shady areas and got 3. This nice 2 pounder was the largest.

 

 

The way the bite feels is interesting. This one took a swipe at it, and I gave it a quick jerk, as if I was in weeds (which I thought maybe I was in weeds) then he hammered it.

 

I was using a slow rolling retrieve with occasional pulses. Mostly a constant retrieve in shallow water paralleling the bank.

 

Thanks everyone for all your advice and support. I have a ways to go before I can say I'm officially confident in it, but this is a good start.

 

I have another bladed jig with a white, or maybe a white and chartreuse skirt. I'll have to try it too, though I have more confidence in a darker color.

Good job! That’s aweosme man. Maybe I’ll have to dig one out and try again 

On 6/17/2025 at 7:53 PM, gim said:

Not many lures out there that don’t catch pike.

 

I’m convinced of that

 

The only lures I can't catch pike on are the ones I'm using when I'm specifically targeting pike..

BEST NIGHT FISHING BAIT EVER!!! 😉

19 hours ago, Rucksack said:

I've been fishing the bladed jig for most of the year. The bite has really dried up as it's warmed up. But, I've got a lot time with it on the water as a result.

 

A bit of juice I don't see here. The name brand bladed jig has a big blade edition. Very few people throw it, which is a benefit in itself. But the juice is in that the big blade starts chattering VERY quickly. This lets you work it easily like a jig off the bottom with small pops, and because it pretty much instantly starts to chatter, you can really keep it near the bottom and get lots of attractive noise.

 

You can also work it A LOT slower if you're doing a straight retrieve. 

 

Dead heat of the end of July got me this 7lber, at the time my biggest bladed jig fish. Parallel to a vegetation line fished slowly.

 

Work it around cover, work it deep, work it slow, give it some erratic action, and hang on because the bites will not be subtle.

20 hours ago, Bazoo said:

didn't have a skirt. 

Congrats on your success! They are fun to fish, eh? 

 

Don't be scared to fish this without a skirt! I use 2 variations without skirts that work very well!! 

 

I use the Decoy Zero Dan Flash..but usually change the weight for more weedless.

 

And don't sleep on the tiny Flashback Mini. While it's a bladed jig, it essentially rolls/hover strolls with a simple retrieve. The fish crush this thing!! 

My fishing partner is a bladed jig guru, throws them 80% of the time.

He uses nothing but 4" zako and does not like a paddle tail trailer. Idk

I still prefer a spinnerbait and swim jig but maybe there's a fine line between the 2...... bladed jig.

I try to keep it simple.

 

I use 2 trailers (generally).

 

1) An baitfish profile "action" trailer that gives great motion that is often very erratic. I favor the Spunk Shad for this. It's probably the Gold Standard for this type of trailer.

 

2) A bluegill profile that is more "lazy" than the action trailer. The Zako is really great but it's a pretty thick, substantial bait...and that can be the entire point for some people. But I wanted a bit less chunk and a bit more action. Perhaps a halfway house to the Spunk Shad. And for that I use the Gambler Komodo Jr. I really like it and feel it doesn't tax the 1/4oz bladed jigs like the Zako does.

 

Thus far, finding a trailer for the Flashback Mini has been the most difficult. You absolutely must preserve the amazing rolling motion and this small lure is easy to over power with the trailer. You also want some sort of flash or good contrast to take advantage of the rolling. I like the OSP Mylar Minnow 2.5", but it's hard to get and the Mylar can be fussy when hooking it on. Currently, I'm using a modified Raid Little Sweeper with the Fish Skin texture. It looks really good in the water and gets bit! By everything. I'm still not satisfied with this trailer. The search continues.

 

The Zero Dan Flash actually works with a paddle tail..unlike many bladed jigs. I now use this in lieu of an underspin much of the time. The Spunk Shad vibrates on this rig too.

 

 

On 6/18/2025 at 11:57 AM, gim said:

The problem with a zako here is northern pike. That thing is toast after one aggressive strike.

 

Need something with more durability. The Zman razor shad or the chatterspike is a good alternative.

Ok that's fair. I'm three weekends into testing the ChatterShad and so far it is catching quality fish for me.

 

I'm mostly fishing a bladed jig for bluegill eaters so I like that profile better than the spike profile. It is a bit of a PITA to get on the bait, but once it's on there it's a good 20-40 fish situation. 

It's been good enough that I just bought four replacement packs in "the Deal" which is one of z-man's best all-around colors.

 

The bladed jig is one of my go-to for fishing. I have done pretty well on it. I fish it a ton, have a lot of confidence in it. The trailer I use is the Zako paddle tail. I wish it would last longer but I bring all the old ones home and Mend-it together to reuse until it can not be use anymore. 

4 hours ago, chubaka said:

The bladed jig is one of my go-to for fishing. I have done pretty well on it. I fish it a ton, have a lot of confidence in it. The trailer I use is the Zako paddle tail. I wish it would last longer but I bring all the old ones home and Mend-it together to reuse until it can not be use anymore. 

Thanks. I haven't tried paddle tails on them yet, just the Rage Bug rigged vertically. I have a white/chartreuse one that I have fished only a handful of times and I have a Zoom split tail trailer on it, but it is pretty subtle.