Best Chatterbaits & Trailers: Our Top 7 Picks

The chatterbait Jack Hammer lives up to its name. If you’re looking for vibrating jigs that put out some serious sounds in the water, look no further than the Jack Hammer.

You’ll get an extremely smooth gliding motion from the curved head of the Jack Hammer, but the stainless steel blade will give you a deep and very distinct vibration when pulled through the water.

It’s the best chatterbait to pair up with a paddle tail or dancing creature bait (get one here). Double up on the vibrations, and this combination can be a very profitable presentation for you.

• Stainless steel curved head slices through the water with ease
• Jack Hammer creates massive amounts of vibration when moved through the water
• The Jack Hammer has been used often in tournaments with outstanding results

If you’re an angler that loves sticking with the tried and true classics in the chatterbait family, Z-Man can offer just that with their original chatterbait style.

With a few minor improvements, you’ll still get a great amount of vibration from the thick, electroplated coffin blades and extremely sharp hook point while maintaining the original chatterbait feel.

If that wasn’t enough, you could pair this awesome bait with almost any style of trailer to get incredible results, especially when targeting largemouth bass and other fish.

• Made from an Arkie-style head with Gamakatsu hook for an original chatterbait look
• Coffin-style blades are electroplated for durability and shine to entice fish
• Includes a double keeper clip to hold onto your favorite trailers reliably

Strike King spent years listening to anglers and creating this unique and highly effective bladed jigs design you can toss into the water column at any depth.

For bass anglers that love an integrated weight and swinging hook on their bladed jigs that can be dragged through rocks and weeds, the Strike King Rage Blade bladed jig is a great one to consider for fishing.

While you won’t get outstanding fishing results from the Strike King Rage Blade when your retrieve speed is fast, the Rage Blade will make a good amount of noise when retrieving slowly, giving you full control over when and where to make fish notice your bait.

• One of the best Strike King bladed jigs to use when fishing with paddle tail trailers
• Rage Blade provides its best fishing vibrations at extremely slow retrieval speeds
• Weight is integrated into the Strike King blade, making this bait less prone to snagging

For anglers that love fishing with bulky and big profile jigs, the Shock Blade Pro can definitely get your presentation noticed by fish in the area.

The Shock Blade features an oversized swim-style head and a sizable Mustad fishing hook. Combine your Shock Blade with a bulky green pumpkin small shad trailer, and you’ve got the recipe for success when fishing for large bass.

The Shock Blade produces a good amount of vibrations in the water column, especially when fishing in shallow water. It’s also a great alternative to slow-roll crankbaits when you want to start fishing a bit deeper but still get a good hookup ratio.

• Will vibrate very well at slow to medium retrieval speeds
• Offers a bulky profile to entice large bass, trout, and catfish
• Shock Blade can be paired up well with shad, minnow, and worm trailers

If you’re searching for a bladed jig that offers a huge amount of fishing movement, the unique design of the Melee Jig might be able to fit the bill.

Made from a heavy-duty shank with a fishing hook opening in the bladed jig head, this compact profile jig head is great for targeting big bass or when fly fishing.

The biggest downside when fishing with this style of swim jig is that it can be quite prone to get snagged in weeds and tall grasses, so try to keep it in more open areas of the lake.

• Unique swim jig shape provides a compact profile and amazing motion
• Made in a leading head fashion, so can be prone to picking up weeds
• Found in a half-ounce size which is suitable for a wide range of fish

If you love fishing with jigs that not only sound good in the water column but look good too, this Jaw Breaker is the one to consider.

With holographic enamel and premium components, it creates a vibrant flashing in the water that can really get larger fish spun up and ready to strike.

Pair it with a wide variety of trailers to suit your fishing preferences, but it can really get the fish interested if you match it up with a lifelike minnow or shad trailer.

• Great for fishing at river heads and in faster-moving water
• Has a holographic coating that makes fish take notice
• Pairs up exceptionally well with a wide range of different lure trailers

If you love to bass fish around structures or in heavy cover and weed beds, the Recon lure can be an excellent weapon to keep in your fishing arsenal.

This lure features a sleek and responsive Arkie-style jig shape, giving you full control over structure deflection and skipping your hook around weed beds and heavy cover.

You can find this jig in a wide range of blade colors and patterns, including custom requests, to suit your favorite bass fishing locations or seasons perfectly.

• Excellent for fishing around weed beds, heavy vegetation, and structures
• Available in 8 standard colors and patterns with epoxy eyes
• Pairs exceptionally well with 4-inch worms or shads to catch more fish

This bulky and very active creature bait will give you a very realistic and free-moving swimming motion in deeper water.

If you’re looking for something natural looking to keep in your tackle box and toss around structures or near weed beds, this one lure is a great option to consider when fishing.

It can be found in a huge range of colors so you can fit it in nicely throughout the seasons, as well as with different types of fish, including the biggest bass around.

Paddle tail trailers are an outstanding way to really grab the attention of pretty much any fish in the area, including spotted bass.

Not only does the movement of the paddle cause vibrations bass fish can hear as well as see, but the body has ribbing which also provides a good bit of vibration as you move it through the water.

Paddle tails are compact and are a great Texas-rigged trailer to consider when you don’t want to use a bulky swimbait that may scare away timid or suspicious bass fish.

Finding the right creature bait to suit your needs may be difficult, but Zoom has you covered with its six-inch lizard lure.

You’ll get a full range of motion out of this soft-body bass lure as all four legs, tail, and head will wiggle and shake underwater giving you a good option for vibrating jigs.

It’s a bulky trailer that will get the attention of larger bass down at the depths, so don’t hesitate to toss it in the water if you are looking to land a monster-sized bass fish.

Senko is a very well-known name when it comes to fishing baits, and with very good reason too.

Their 5-inch swimming worm lure is a great trailer for your chatterbait rig that can not only be found in a huge range of bass lure colors but can also be found in a range of bass lure sizes if the 5-inch just doesn’t work for you.

This bass lure trailer will give some smooth and enticing worm movements in the water as you fish, bringing hungry bass and trout out of the weeds to strike!

Not only is this soft plastic an extremely affordable trailer to consider, but it’s also a perfect trailer when fishing for bass in areas that are full of baitfish and other natural prey items.

The lifelike minnow shape and darker colors of the Smokin’ Shad can offer a small and compact presentation that allows your bait to glide naturally through the water at a wide range of retrieval speeds.

On its own, many anglers won’t get a lot of action from this trailer, but when paired with your favorite slow-rolling jig, it will dance and wiggle all day long!