Chubby Darter Crappies....

[Matt Breuer]

With all of the questions about Chubby Darters lately I thought I would share my experience with one the other night.

I was fishing in 34' of water, and the fish were suspended up about 3-4 feet when I got set up. I was walleye fishing the previous night and had on a CD4 LOD, the new luminescent orange color. I dropped it down, and the fish met me and absolutely slammed it. No minnows, no waxies, no scent, just the plain Darter. I continued to catch 9 more and headed in.

When the big crappies are biting, throw on a Darter, it works!

[Bob Horn]

Now all I have to do is(Glow ones) get some. I called everywhere but no luck. Will be up in the twin cities mon-tues and will be looking than. Nice catch Matt.

[Ed Carlson]

Ahhhhh......they don't work. Not a big lure like that...who ya kid'n Matt?

Yup, the LOD is a hot ticket on many species and as you can see crappie woof them up just as fast as a ><sUMo> walleye or ><slobo> perch will. The GMO is right up there too, like that bugger too Eh. Large larva is a good tail tipper for them slabs when flying those Chubbys.

I just got my new order of LOD's yesterday, 4's, 5's, and 6's....We-We-We..Piggy Time.

Matt..ya try the Salmo Zippers yet? Shhhhh! The New rattling cousin to the Chubby Darter. You just might want to get your fishy mitts on a LFT (Luminescent Fire Tiger), LRR (Luminescent Real Roach), and maybe a GT (Green Tiger) Zipper.

Nice crappie by the way, very nice.

[Matt Breuer]

Ed,

The Zipper is definitely sweet! It was a needed addition to the line up, and I can't wait for this Summer to try the Maas Marauder too!

People are always skeptical about big baits, but we use bigger baits all the time and do quite well with them. This Fall we were fishing suspended crappies and one guy was using a 1/32 oz. jig and a minnow, I said screw that and started vert. jigging a yellow dace Darter and did better than the live bait presentation! We did this for walleye as well with the CD6's.

[Ed Carlson]

I find the 1/2 oz weight and the shape of the Zipper works well on rivers while ice fishing. They slip, dart, rattle, and glide well in the current and center again well, making them more flasher frendly. The clatter gets the walleye and saugers blood up too. Great pike callers too! Rip-Zip-THUMP. Working on feeding them to the cats now, looks promising too.

[Matt Johnson]

That's a pig Matt!! Nice slab!! I saw the other pictures of the Cubber Darter crappies you caught too, very nice!! Crappies on Chubby Darters, who da thunk it?...Now you're going to make me buy more to have for my crappie arsenal

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[Ed Carlson]

Good on Cats too.

[Eric Wettschreck]

I've heard a lot about chubby darters. Down here where I live I've never seen them anywhere. I don't even know what they look like. Where can I get them?

[Ed Carlson]

Most sporting retailers carry them, like Thorn Bothers, Scheels, Gander Mt, and Mills Fleet Farm. Good bait shops are also getting wise to carry them too.

The only place I know who carries all colors (like the new LOD) and sizes (CD-4, CD-5, CD-6) of the Chubby darter is Salmo USA on-line.

Do a quick Goggle search and you will find the site. If you visit the Salmo main site look for the distributors link and fallow that to Salmo USA.

Chubby Colors I recommend are GMO, LOD, and HP.

[mistermom]

Nice crappie!

I also have had some recent luck with chubby darters. I caught a 6 lb walleye and several northerns just the other day. I was using a perch color. I noticed that I was missing quite a few strikes too and wonder if anybody has put bigger trebles on there chubby darters? I was sight fishing and could see the fish actually swallow the lure; but still missed some of these hits. I was thinking bigger trebles might help on hookups.

mm

[Ed Carlson]

I would not jump up on the treble size if you can help it. It will mess up the action of the lure.

Instead try opening up the gap of the treble slightly and add a 10 degree offset to the barb so it looks like an Excalibur style treble hook. You get a better sting to the set this way.

Use a tiny Berkley CrossLock snap or a Rapala loop knot to tie on the Chubbys. Do not tie the knot direct to the eyelet as it diminishes the action and also diminishes the cam action of the lure on the hook-set. You will get better hook-ups with a good snap then a straight knot.

Also fallow the Chubby down on a semi taught line so you lessen the slop on the strike and the set. A longer slightly slower rod works well for Chubby jigging in my opinion. I feel you gain a better Yo-Yo and shudder action on the upswing and the fall with the slower action rods.

It also helps to do the "Official Chubby Darter Dance" too Eh.

I hope this helps.

[Borch]

LOL Ed!

I just tried that dance and the only thing it got me was being laughed at by my wife. Not a single bite.

[mistermom]

Thanks Ed!

I'll give your suggestions a try. Definetly like the lure!

mm

[Moose-Hunter]

ED, that dance is out of hand!!! I'll have to give that a shot... IF I EVER GET BACK ON THE ICE AGAIN!!! (see post concerning whiner support...)

Hey Matt!! You're up next for "the dance"!! And we want VIDEO!!

[Matt Breuer]

I already did the dance, how do you think I caught the fish?? Sorry, no video! Maybe next time!!

[Northlander]

Nice Crappie Matt! Those Darters work for everything. I have even caught Coho on them in Ashland. Of course we all know how deadly they are on LOW eyes.