When
Potomac guide Steve
Chaconas couldn’t find a chatterbait
that would run deep enough and slow enough, while maintaining the traditional
action, he devised a bait that suited his needs. Calling his creation
the “Chatter Wacky,” Chaconas starts with a ½-ounce
unpainted spinnerbait frame, cuts the wire about half an inch in front
of the head and bends it upward. Before closing the wire in a loop,
he slips on a Shaker Swim Blade with a gold die cut sticker and a size
2 interlock snap.
Next, Chaconas
heats the bait’s head, dips it into Jann's Netcraft
powder coat (brown), lets it cool and then paints on the eyes. For
a skirt, he starts with a 5-inch craw pattern Turboflare and adds three
blue strands for clear water or three orange for stained. A 5 ½-inch
Mann's Hard Nose Arkansas Shiner soft jerkbait serves as the trailer.
Essential
to the Chatter Wacky’s erratic action is a No. 3 hammered
brass willow blade similar to that of a Rock N Runner. Chaconas uses
a ball bearing swivel with rings to attach this blade to the bait’s
wire loop. Swinging freely, the willow adds more flash and when it
catches water, the bait kicks off to one side or upward.
“When
you retrieve (the Chatter Wacky) it will ‘hunt’,” Chaconas
said. “Actually, it jumps off track and you have to snap with
a bit of slack to get them vibrating again. It's these actions that
draw reaction strikes.”
Chaconas
fishes his Chatter Wacky on a 7-foot medium-heavy Quantum casting
rod with a Quantum Burner 7:1 reel. The high-speed reel helps him
catch up to fish that takes the bait when it kicks off, while the
stiffer rod allows for a solid hook set. Preferring 17- to 20-pound
fluorocarbon, Chaconas will keep in touch with grass or just over
it by holding his rod low for faster retrieves, or up at 11 o’clock
to keep the bait from going too deep.
About
the author: David A. Brown is an
award-winning wordsmith with more than 20 years of professional
writing experience. Formally educated and trained in traditional journalism,
David has honed his natural writing skills to laser-sharpness and mastered
the elements of editing and proofreading. For
more information on David A. Brown, visit his website TightWords.com
