Of all the baits ever used to target a bass, the lipless crankbait and vibrating jig are among the top two when it comes to overall fish catches as well as giant bites. Bill Lewis Rat-L-Traps, ChatterBaits, and other lures like them have been used to catch countless fish all over the country and the world. Both of these baits are extremely versatile, able to effectively target bass from just inches of water out to 20 feet. And even though both are exceptional during the pre-spawn, they can be used to catch fish throughout the year as well.
Knowing when to use which can present a bit of a challenge though, since both work in a lot of the same areas throughout all four seasons. So we’re here today to put the two up beside each other to help you determine when to throw a lipless crankbait versus when to throw a vibrating jig.
When Both Work Well
For starters, let’s look at a couple situations in which these baits are really interchangeable. One of the most common is when fishing around submerged vegetation. Anytime you’re around grass with at least 3 feet of water over top of it, these two baits are both fantastic options. The pre-spawn is a great time for this style of fishing, when the fish stage around hydrilla, milfoil and coontail.
The lipless will need to be reeled a little faster, since it has a faster sink rate and not a lot of drag to slow it down as it comes through the water. The six dangling hooks beneath it will catch on the cover too, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing since ripping a lipless free from grass is a great way to generate strikes. Still, you’ll undoubtedly have to reel a lipless faster to keep it from bogging down in the cover, so the fish will need to be pretty aggressive to take a shot at it.
In the same scenario, a vibrating jig works well too if you reel it over top of the cover. Thanks to the nature of a ChatterBait and the resistance its rocking blade creates, these baits can be fished slower through the water without them dipping down into the grass.
You’ll still want to tick the tops of the vegetation though with these baits too, as again that’s a great way to trigger a strike. Anytime I’m around submerged grass that’s topped out from 3 to about 8 feet below the surface, a 1/2-ounce ChatterBait and a 1/2-ounce Rat-L-Trap or Strike King Red Eye Shad are both on deck.
Both work well in the fall, too, when targeting fish on mostly barren flats with scattered, sparse cover. In this season, the 1/2-ounce vibrating jigs and lipless baits both still work, but downsizing to a 1/4-ounce Red Eye Shad and a 3/8-ounce ChatterBait Mini Max typically works even better. Bass are usually predating smaller baitfish in the fall, so reducing the profiles of both baits translates to more bites.
When the Lipless Is Better
A lipless is better in a couple different particular scenarios. For starters, anytime you get to more than about 10 feet of water, the lipless starts to separate itself from the vibrating jig. By design, a lipless is just built to sink faster and is able to be reeled faster while maintaining the same depth.
Though there are some heavyweight ChatterBaits from 3/4-ounce up to 1- and 1/2-ounce that can be fished deep, as well. These baits still take longer to reach the bottom and they have to be reeled slow once they get there to keep them down. A 3/4-ounce lipless on the other hand will rocket right to the bottom in 12 feet of water and then stay down relatively easily all the way to the boat.
When targeting suspended fish out in open water, a lipless works better, too. You can catch suspended bass on a vibrating jig, but a lipless is usually better suited for the task. In a situation like this, where you have bass up off the bottom, you can throw a lipless out past them, let it sink down to where the fish are, and then begin your retrieve.
Pump your rod upward, then let the bait fall back down a few feet while taking up your line. Then give the rod another pump and repeat the cadence all the way back to the boat. This is called yo-yo-ing a lipless crankbait, and it can be very effective at catching suspended fish as the bait shoots up past the bass and then falls back down in front of their faces again and again.
When the Vibrating Jig Is Better
A vibrating jig is the better bet when the water is less than 2 feet deep. Although a lipless can be used ultra shallow to catch fish, too, the vibrating jig is just more effective. You can burn a lipless over a muddy or mucky bottom in a foot or two of water and snatch the bait periodically to remove any debris that collects on the trebles.
A vibrating jig is able to be fished slower and kept clean; the vibrating jig works way better, especially when fishing over grass with just a foot or two of water to work with.
When fishing around woody cover, the vibrating jig wins out no doubt. It’s worth pointing out this is the case in a two-horse race; there are other moving baits, like spinnerbaits and even squarebills, that traverse laydowns, stumps, and brush piles better than a vibrating jig.
But when put up against a lipless crankbait, with its dangling trebles, you can certainly crawl a vibrating jig down the side of a tree without having to hold your breath quite as bad. And these baits catch big ones around wood.
Anytime you’re fishing in the dark, a vibrating jig beats out a lipless, too, even in deeper water. When night fishing, you’re going to want baits that are either moving super slow, like a Texas-rigged worm, or baits that give off a lot of vibration like a spinnerbait. While a lipless definitely makes a lot of noise, a vibrating jig is a better blend of vibration and slow speeds.
So, what disqualifies a vibrating jig out deep in the day time actually makes it better at night, and that’s the rate at which it can be fished through the water. The fact that you have to slow way down to keep your vibrating jig on the bottom is beneficial at night, giving the fish plenty of time to track it down. This works all the way out to 20 feet with heavier baits in the 1-ounce range.
The Takeaway
Although lipless crankbaits and vibrating jigs are sometimes interchangeable, when fishing around submerged vegetation and around relatively clean bottoms shallow for instance, there are times when one works better than the other. Lipless cranks are superb out in deeper water and when targeting suspended fish, since these baits fall faster and can be fished faster, and can even be yo-yo’d.
ChatterBaits are better over super shallow vegetation, around cover and at night. There are other little nuances to distinguishing between these two baits too, but if you put these tips to the test, you should be able to better select which bait to go with on your next trip.
