What’s All The Chatter? | Z-Man DieZel ChatterBait

One of the most underrated, but highly effective baits on the market for both freshwater and saltwater bass is the ChatterBait. These baits create a ton of movement and vibration underwater and absolutely drive bass crazy!

This highly effective bait can only be produced by one company, Z-Man. They own the patent on the ChatterBait style head, so if you see any other baits out there with this style head…they are a knockoff and most likely won’t be around for too long.

“The ChatterBait® bladed swim jig burst onto the bass fishing scene in 2006 following several tournament successes and became a highly-sought-after bass lure virtually overnight. With its patented design and unique, hex-shaped ChatterBlade®, the sound, vibration, and action of The Original ChatterBait brand bladed jigs is unmatched. The end result is a versatile lure that offers the eratic action of crankbait, large profile of a jig, and irresistable flash of a spinnerbait, now available in a variety of sizes, finishes, and configurations for fresh- and saltwater fishing.”

zmanfishing.com

I have been fishing the ChatterBait since they hit the market over 15 years ago. Not only in freshwater, but also for Spotted Bay Bass in Mission Bay in Southern California in and amongst the eel grass.

In this article, I’ll walk us through the Z-Man DieZel ChatterBait from tip to tip giving the good and bad of these particular baits.

Bait Model

First Glance

As with all of my review articles, I like to take a look at the packaging first. This is the first thing we see when walking into a retailer to purchase baits, and I feel that it should make a statement, as well as present the baits nicely.

In the image below, we take a look at the front of the packaging. The DieZel ChatterBaits come in a clam pack design that has a good clean look. The baits within the packaging are displayed nicely with full view with nothing blocking the baits. The text on the package is not overbearing. The top section has the Z-Man logo, bate title, and the fact that it is made in the USA. Below the model name it lists a few of the fish species. Z-Man is based on the East Coast, so mostly east coast species listed. Redfish, Bass, Striper, Flounder, Seatrout, Snook and more. The “more” must refer to all of the fish we catch over here on the west coast :).

Below the jighead you can see an update to the bait. New Stainless Steel Double Barb keeper spike. We will get into that later. They also tout Mustad hooks for these baits.

The back of the packaging isn’t too exciting. Text! Lots and lots of text. The bullet points of the features, but does not have any how to rig or anything. Of course, these baits sell well up in Canada, so to sell in Canada, the baits must feature French. Nothing outstanding there.

Seeing What all the Chatter is About. Z-Man DieZel ChatterBait

As mentioned above, in this article I will go component by component of the Z-Man DieZel ChatterBait. Z-Man happens to offer 17 different ChatterBaits within their vast family of baits. Pretty incredible and it gives you an inkling of how successful the ChatterBait series as been.

Take it From the Top

Nothing can really happen if you can’t attach these baits securely to your line. With that said, we’ll start at the actual line tie of this bait. The DieZel ChatterBait features a pretty standard, bent wire line tie area that is attached right to the blade of the bait. This area moves around freely to the bait and allows for plenty of action.

The ChatterBait features a pretty unique blade design that gives HUGE vibration and wiggles back and forth when pulled through the water at even the slowest of speeds. It is also unique in that it sits at the front and above the bait.

Here is a look at that attachment point as well as a good lock at the blade shape and design.

Side view of the entire bait, without the tail.

Time To Get Ahead

In looking at that last image, you get a good luck at the profile of the entire jighead and blade. The head is a really nice design on its own.

I really like a jighead that has some lines to it. This bait offers a deep set eye as well as an indented mouth area. Both of these indentations create extra space for water to be pushed off the bait creating more commotion and vibration. In the image below you really get a good luck at those areas.

Are you Getting the Point of ChatterBaits?

A really cool feature of the Z-Man DieZel Chatterbait is the Double Barb Keeper Spike. The DieZel line of ChatterBaits is the only one in the family to feature a soft bodied swimbait/paddletail style bait. 15 of the other 16 ChatterBait’s all feature a skirt style back. With the soft bodied baits, you really need a way to secure the bait to the jighead. In this case, they spiked it! See what I did there? In the image below, you can really see the Double Keeper Spike that comes out just behind the head. This is an aggressive design that holds your plastics on very well.

Z-Man touts using Mustad Heavy Duty 4/0 Hooks on the ChatterBait lineup. In the image above and below, you can see that they look to be using a Black Nickle finish on their hooks. These hooks are sharp and very stout as they are being used in saltwater for big fish like redfish and snook.

DieZel ChatterBait Bodies

As mentioned previously, of the 17 varieties of ChatterBait that Z-Man offers, the DieZel is the only soft bodied paddletail style bait. Z-Man has long been known as a top producer of long lasting plastic baits.

In this bait, they use the 10X Tough 4-Inch DieZel MinnowZ body. They say that these baits can withstand strike after strike of some of the toothiest critters. I can vouch for the durability as I have used these for Redfish as well as our saltwater bass species out here on the west coast.

Rigging up the Z-Man DieZel ChatterBait

Out of the package, this bait comes with one jighead/blade as well as one loose body. You do have to rig it yourself. No problem there.

As you can see in the image below, the Z-Man MinnowZ body has a slit on the belly as well as the top for perfect hook placement as well as a nice bite down area for feeding fish.

Rigging up this bait is pretty simple and they designed these baits to match up perfectly, body to head. Here is a side by side shot of the body and head to give you an idea of optimal hook placement within the bait. It also gives you a little look at how far down the Double Hook Keeper Spike goes into the bait.

When threading these on, use the image above to gauge where you hook should be coming out of the back of the bait. Start your threading and work it down to that point. Once out the back. go ahead and push it all the way up against the head.

There you have it, a fully rigged Z-Man DieZel ChatterBait. The image below gives you a look at the fully rigged bait as well as a visual on the size of the bait in my hand.

Fishing the ChatterBait

Fishing the ChatterBait is a breeze. Long casts to either deep water or parallel to the bank. Let it sink out and begin your retrieve. You can either slow roll it, or burn it. They don’t blow out which is great! Personally, I love to get these down to the bottom and work them right on the bottom bouncing rocks and structure. If I’m in the salt fishing eel grass, I’ll let it get down in the grass and work my retrieve.

Availability

As there are SO MANY baits within the ChatterBait family, they look to be keeping this one fairly tight. There is one size, being the 4-inch bodied bait that weighs in at 1/4 ounce. It is also available in 8 colors.

Comparison Shopping

Conclusion

Not sure if I made this clear, but I really like ChatterBaits. Either the skirted or the soft bodied version. In fact, I would add a soft bodied swimbait to a lot of my skirted baits. They are highly effect at slow or fast speeds. Check them out and give one a try. You might just find your next secret weapon.

I appreciate you coming by Fishing Tackle Insider to see the Z-Man DieZel ChatterBait. You can check out the entire Z-Man lineup on HERE on their website.

See you on the water!

FTI