(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
Mike Iaconelli admits that the first time he saw a ChatterBait, he thought it was a gimmick, something that wouldn’t work for finicky bass. Now, a decade later, he sees the error of those initial thoughts.
“They’ve changed the way I fish in a lot of situations,” he said. In fact, he expects that during every tournament he fishes in 2016, he’ll have some form of vibrating jig tied on. Why? Because it’s a “true hybrid,” marrying the best characteristics of jigs and crankbaits, along with elements of a spinnerbait.
It covers water, it’s relatively snag-resistant, and it deflects off cover to trigger strikes. Additionally, it’s the right size and silhouette to replicate most forage and as a result of its vibration it shines in stained to dirty water, but will work well in clear lakes, too.
In the decade that he’s been using them, Ike has learned that the vibrating jig is anything but an “idiot bait.” He assumed at the start that you could fish it like a spinnerbait or lipless crankbait, making long casts and steadily reeling it in, but over time he’s come to rely on five different techniques to account for differing conditions.
The first is for when the fish are truly “chewing.” In those rare circumstances, he will just throw it out and reel it back in. But those situations are rare, occurring far less than 10 percent of the time, he explained.
His second technique is burning the bait, primarily in clear water situations. He also likes it for schooling fish because it enables him to make long casts and prevents the fish from discerning that the lure is a fake. He uses a heavier lure, usually 1/2- to o 1 ounce, often one with a treble hook, and keeps his rod high as he reels away.
The third method is slow-rolling, which is the opposite of burning. He’ll use this when fish may have difficulty locating the bait or getting their metabolism moving. In other words, he prefers it in cold water, or in “stained to dirty to flat-out muddy water conditions."
When fish are out deep, in the winter or in their summertime haunts, he employs a retrieve that he calls the “drag and pull.” This involves letting the lure make an erratic fall on a semi-slack line, then retrieving it along the bottom. When he loses bottom contact, he lets it fall again, varying the vibration pattern. Often that’s when the strike will come. “It’s a huge tool for me to stand out in the crowd on places like Kentucky lake,” he explained, and the presentation triggers fish like crankbaits, but because they sink the vibrating jigs can be worked much deeper.
His fifth retrieve pattern is his “favorite of them all.” He calls it “feathering” and it’s best used around known targets like dock pilings, stumps and laydowns. He asks Bass University students to picture bluegills feeding on the algae on floating dock supports and then fluttering back down. That’s what this imitates. As he gets to the target – and ideally he hits the target – he’ll raise the rod from 3 o’clock to 12 o’clock and then follow the lure back down. “It’s staying in their house,” he said.
He uses a variety of reel speeds to accomplish these task, with 7:1 Abu-Garcia Revos getting the most usage, but he’ll go down to a 6.4:1 or up to the 7.9:1 as needed – whatever it takes to get the most out of this “hybrid” creature.
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