When it comes to catching largemouth bass, the Z-Man ChatterBait is certainly a proven winner. The lure has been a key component to several big-money professional tournament victories across the country, and weekend warriors from coast to coast rely on ChatterBaits (and other vibrating jigs), too.

While I was a bit late to the ChatterBait party, I’ve been using the lure extensively during the past 5 years with great success. That said, like the vast majority of anglers, I tie on a ChatterBait only when trying to catch bass around shallow-water cover. In general, I’ll cast a ChatterBait under similar conditions when a spinnerbait would be a decent choice. I often prefer a ChatterBait over a spinnerbait because I can retrieve it faster (i.e. burning it); it also casts farther, especially in wind.

In the 8-minute YouTube video below, Minnesota angler Sam Rardin reveals a new and innovative way to catch bass on a ChatterBait. Specifically, he’s targeting bass on a grass-covered offshore hump that tops off at 12 feet. As you’ll see, Rardin makes a long cast and then lets the lure fall until it hits the grass or bottom, then begins to reel it in slowly. After four or five cranks of his reel, he stops winding and lets the ChatterBait fall again. He repeats this yo-yo, stop-and-go retrieve all the way to the boat.

Rardin explains that almost all bass anglers will attack an offshore hump such as this one with jigworms (i.e. Ned rigs) and similar slow presentations. And while these techniques will often work well, there are times when bass want something different — like a ChatterBait fished deep in a stop-and-go cadence.

I’m excited to try this technique the next time I hit the water. I know that my local largemouths have never seen this presentation.

P.S. Fast-forward to the 7:35 mark to see Rardin catch a beautiful Minnesota bass.