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Ernest

Chatterbait Build

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Here's a pic of one. Be sure and bend the tip of your blade before you put it on your jig. I use my vise and a set of smooth jaws for this operation. Hard to do with a couple sets of pliers.

I can't tell from the picture where the blade is bent.  Can you elaborate a bit?

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Ap,

 

Any tips on how to open the eye of the hook with the center punch? Do you do it on a piece of wood?

You can do it on a piece of wood. Get a piece of oak or hickory though. What I do is take a piece of flat steel stock and drill a hole just a little larger than the eye of the hook right on the edge of that stock. You want the eye of the hook laying right on the hole. The hole is to relieve your center punch when you whack it. The hook will open easily.

I can't tell from the picture where the blade is bent.  Can you elaborate a bit?

That blade is not bent. I forgot and made a few without bending the blade but went back and bent them. It's much easier to bend them not installed. I don't have a special set of smooth jaws for my vise but use a couple small pieces of smooth angle iron laid right on top of my vise and then clamp the blade in them. You want to bend 3/8 inch or so on the top part of the blade back about 30 degrees or so. I'll try to post a pic of one bent for you. If you don't use smooth jaws, the vise jaws will mark your blade. You may be able to just put some duct tape on them but haven't tried that. I use a piece of 1x and a hammer to hit the blade with. Others might have a different technique to bend their blades but this is what I've found works for me and gives the most uniform creases.

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I got my order in yesterday from LPO.  I ordered 3/8 dancer swim jigs with the dancer blades and #2 duo-locks.  Assembled a couple and smashed them this morning.  I did not bend my blades though.  This gave it a more erratic action that the original chatterbait however I did have a couple instances where the blades did not vibrate correctly.  This was corrected with a couple of twitches.  I ordered green pumpkin head with True-image bluegill skirt.  Felt great to catch fish with a bait you built yourself.

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FYI Zman, the originator of the Chatterbait contacted me and said I was violating their patent. They pretty much demanded that I stop making them. Mine are up to 13inchs long and have no plastic in them at all. I sold them to pike fishermen for about 6 years. I quit making them. I'll see if I can attach a photo. Or you could go to. jensenjigs.com

and look at some. I get the feeling I could keep making them if I chose. I see quite a few Companies selling them on the web and theirs look an awfull,lot like the Zman Chatterbait. Anyone know anything about Zman and their little crusade to stop people from making them?

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I've made couple chattrebaits for pike/muskie fishing based on 1 & 1,5 oz minnow heads. Build them for a friend and he was quiet happy with their performance. I used magnum blades from LPO. Trailer grub  is 6"  grub.

 

Below is the picture:

Chatterbaits_R_zpsf79bd826.jpg

 

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I've made couple chattrebaits for pike/muskie fishing based on 1 & 1,5 oz minnow heads. Build them for a friend and he was quiet happy with their performance. I used magnum blades from LPO. Trailer grub  is 6"  grub.

Hey psv,

    Long time no talk. Those are simply, fantastically beautiful .Job well done. :yay::yay::yay:

Edited by cadman
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ZMan also contacted me recently, via email with a copy of their two patents attached, as well as another two PDF files showing proof that they had won a lawsuit against Renosky Lure Co. for patent violations.

 

I was politely asked to stop making my bladed jigs because they were infringing on their patents.

 

00000016.jpg

 

Their gripe seemed to be with the fact that the blade is being attached directly to the jig. Their patent mentions the "unique blade attachment method" several times.

 

Using a split ring seems to quiet them down and gets them off your back. The problem is finding non-weedless jigs with a horizontal line tie that will accommodate the split ring, especially jig heads with a decent hook and a hook eye large enough to accommodate anything more than a size 2 split ring.

 

On the hunt...

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Just for the heck of it I looked at their original patent dates (Googled it) and I see that their original patent ran out last year?  since that time, they've been busy patenting their "system" to any number of lures so as to lock them in as well?  I'm no attorney now, so I could be way off base, but their seven years ran out hence their scramble to "muddy the waters" so to speak.  I never really understood if it was the blade, or the attachment of the blade to the particular lure with a particular terminal piece?

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From what I have seen, they have two patents, both of which were granted in 2009 and 2010.

 

My impression is that they got the second patent to try to cover their butts and lock the bladed jig design up so tight that nobody could compete with them on any level whatsoever.

 

I understand that they want to protect their patent, but when I view the second patent, it looks like they did this more out of greed than out of necessity to protect themselves.

 

When they start "knocking on the doors" of people who are making baits at their kitchen tables, they're pretty desperate, in my opinion.

 

But I won't waste my time trying to fight them because they obviously have more money for lawyers than I do.

pat7726062.pdf

US7627978.pdf

pat7726062.pdf

US7627978.pdf

pat7726062.pdf

US7627978.pdf

pat7726062.pdf

US7627978.pdf

pat7726062.pdf

US7627978.pdf

pat7726062.pdf

US7627978.pdf

pat7726062.pdf

US7627978.pdf

pat7726062.pdf

US7627978.pdf

pat7726062.pdf

US7627978.pdf

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By the way, making these baits and using them yourself isn't the issue. Making them and selling them to others is where you get caught in the Zman net.

 

Heck, if you make them and give them away, they can't touch you for that either. You just can't sell them.

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