prerigged with a stinger hook to improve hook up
rates. It doesn’t hurt to add a bit of attractant to
the soft plastic trailer either if they don’t already
come impregnated with it. I’ve been using Sax
Scent Wasabi f lavour in the freshwater for the last
year or two and I’m sure it’s help my results.
Chatterbaits come in a wide range of sizes,
weights and colours to suit plenty of species other
than Murray cod. Some of the other species that
these lures work well on include Australian bass,
golden perch and dusky f lathead. I spent a day
chasing Australian bass at Lake St Clair in the
NSW Hunter Valley with my good mate Dan
Guilfoyle a year or so back. It was one of those
days with a bad barometer and the fish weren’t
biting. Dan knows the place really well and has
fished quite a few bass comps there. Anyway, after
throwing all manner of lures at those
cantankerous bass Dan ties on a small chatterbait
and hooks up almost immediately. It was the only
lure that worked on a day when we were marking
large schools of bass on our sounder and they
remained totally disinterested in any lure thrown
at them except that small chatterbait. These days I
use chatterbaits a lot over spinnerbaits as I find
Technical editor Mark Williams is a highly
experienced angler who writes regularly for Fisho.fishingworld.com.au | September 2019 | 53ABOVE: Mark really likes the
versatility of chatterbaits for
pursuing Murray cod such as this
gorge beaut y taken on a 250mm
Cod King in Cheg colour.
OPPOSITE LEF T: New England
Gorge Cod specialist Jackson
Haussler has caught countless XOS
Murray cod on chat terbaits with his
favourites being the locally made
Cod King lures.
OPPOSITE RIGHT: This New
England Lures chat terbait features
a twin paddletail sof t plastic trailer.
Ideal for gorge country cod fishing.them a bit more tangle free and weed proof.
If you’re a keen freshwater angler and haven’t
used chatterbaits before I strongly recommend
you give them a go. The f lashing blade, strong
vibrations and incredible swimming action of
these lures will draw strikes on hard fished waters
and during shutdown conditions. Some switched
on impoundment anglers are also enjoying good
results trolling these versatile lures.
My favourite memory from my last cod trip
was from the day that Jackson and I got to fish
with Austen Gorges Fishing Adventures (ph
0427 314 155) and came when I was fishing a
crystal clear pool and watched mesmerised as a
beautifully marked cod cruised up over a shallow
ledge to engulf my Cod King chatterbait just off
my rod tip. Experiences like that are never
forgotten and the reward for the long walks
undertaken into the gorge country in search of
those special greenfish. ●