MeatEater, Inc. is an outdoor lifestyle company founded by renowned writer and TV personality Steven Rinella. Host of the Netflix show MeatEater and The MeatEater Podcast, Rinella has gained wide popularity with hunters and non-hunters alike through his passion for outdoor adventure and wild foods, as well as his strong commitment to conservation. Founded with the belief that a deeper understanding of the natural world enriches all of our lives, MeatEater, Inc. brings together leading influencers in the outdoor space to create premium content experiences and unique apparel and equipment. MeatEater, Inc. is based in Bozeman, MT.

Video: How to Fish for Bass with Vibrating Jigs

Angler holding large fish on boat; hat reads "CATCH FISH NOT FEELINGS"

Oliver NgyOliver Ngy is a self-taught angler from Southern California. He learned the values of commitment and dedication at an early age, and has since become a familiar face in the bass scene. He's renowned for catching monster fish of many species with a specialty in double-digit largemouth and 5-plus-pound smallmouth bass. Oliver is currently competing nationally in the Bassmaster Open Tour while exploring multi species fishing opportunities along the way. He has appeared on every season of MeatEater's fishing show, Das Boat.Nov 2, 2021

While a lot of the basic lures and techniques we use in bass fishing have been around for decades, thevibrating jigis the new kid on the block. Also known as chatterbaits, these bladed lures throw off a lot of flash, pulse, and wiggle—all of which absolutely trigger fish. In this video, we got to watchbig smallmouthcrushing this big, white bait in shallow, clear water on a fast retrieve. Doesn’t get much better than that.

This is a great searching bait for covering water quickly because it performs so well at high speeds. To accomplish that, I like to use a longer rod, in this instance a 7-foot 5-inch medium-heavybaitcast rod. I paired that with a super-fast8:1 gear ratio reelloaded with 50-pound braid to a 20-poundfluorocarbonleader. Not only does that speedy reel allow me to move the bait quickly, but it also helps with my hookup ratio. With a fast retrieve like this, wind fast when you feel a strike instead of swinging the rod and introducing slack into the line. This has the secondary effect of giving fish another chance to eat the bait if they miss the fish time.

Like many great jighead-style baits, these vibrating jigs leave a lot of room for creativity with your trailer. I used a 4-inchswimbaitin this video, but you can use a number of other options so long as they don’t spin under tension. It always helps to add a little dab of super glue to the hook shank when you thread on that plastic to keep it in place longer when thosebig basstry to rip it off.