For MLF pro Brent Ehrler, there’s only one way to go
when it comes to throwing a ChatterBait.
“A lot of people don’t realize that it’s better to throw a
glass rod when fishing a ChatterBait,” he says. “You land
more fish. People throw it on a graphite rod, and you miss or
don’t land fish because you’re too quick to the punch. With a
glass rod, it absorbs a lot of that strike, so you have more of a
delayed response to setting the hook on the fish.”
Ehrler’s ChatterBait rod of choice is an offering from Daiwa
– a 7-foot, 4-inch Tatula Elite Crankin’/Bladed Jig model that
Ehrler himself helped design. It’s a medium-heavy rod with
parabolic action that allows the rod to bend deep into the
blank to load up on the hookset and keep fish buttoned.
Ehrler was also very specific about grip length – 15 1/4
inches – when he was offering his design advice.
“Sometimes people make a grip length too long, which is
great for reeling,” he says. “You get that good leverage where
you can put the butt of the rod in your ribs and get good
leverage on the fish, but it’s not good for skipping and target
casting. I have that good balance between casting length,
but leverage length as well. It’s that happy medium.”
As the rod description suggests, Ehrler will also use his
ChatterBait rod for throwing small and medium-sized
square-bill crankbaits, but you won’t ever catch him throwing
a ChatterBait on anything but his fiberglass Tatula Elite.
BRENT EHRLER’S
FIBERGLASS CHATTERBAIT ROD
JUSTIN ATKINS’
DROP-SHOT SPECIAL
When it comes to dropping straight down on fish below
the boat, Atkins turns to one very specific rod that he doesn’t
really use for much else: a 6-foot, 10-inch, medium-light Abu
Garcia Fantasista Premier spinning rod. He’ll use the same
(though slightly longer) model in a medium power for regular
drop-shot applications, but the medium-light gets the call for
one thing in particular.
“If I’m trying to drop on fish I’m seeing on my
Humminbirds, I’m going to drop straight on those, and that’s
the rod I’m going to use,” he says. “I like to pick up and feel
those fish a little bit before I set the hook. That limber rod has
a lot of tip. I can pick up and feel those fish without putting
much pressure on them and then set the hook into them.”
Turning to a medium-light rod also provides the added
benefit of allowing Atkins to play those fish a little more easi-
ly when hooked, especially considering how little line is often
out at the time of the hookset.
“Even though you’re dropping straight down on them, if
you’re in 35 feet of water, that’s not but 35 feet of line,” he
adds. “That’s close to the boat if you’re talking about a cast. I
feel like having that rod that has some more play to it keeps
you from breaking them off. Any time you’re in close combat,
a rod that has a little give is always good.”
FEBRUARY-MARCH 2020 | MAJORLEAGUEFISHING.COM | FLWFISHING.COM
61