6 Great ChatterBaits for Bass
By: Steve Quinn
The Chatterbait was introduced in 2004, and sales quickly soared from 5,000 to 25,000 in just one year. (Steve Quinn photo)
Back in 2003, the father-and-son lures design team of Ron Davis Sr. and Ron Davis Jr began tinkering with a new lure unlike any before. Ron Jr. reports, "My father named this lure the ChatterBait during a fishing trip to the Saluda River. While reeling it in, he said it was enough to make his teeth chatter."
Its beginnings were humble. "In 2004, we sold about 5,000 lures," Davis reported. "But the following year, we demonstrated it at outdoor shows, including the Bassmaster Classic, and sales jumped to 25,000."
They were poised for further expansion in what had become RAD (Ronald Anthony Davis) Lures when FLW pro Bryan Thrift used one to win a Stren Series tournament at Lake Okeechobee in Florida in early January 2006. "Four of the top-10 finishers used our lure. Suddenly we had orders for 500,000 baits," Ron Davis Jr. recalls. "But at 10 cents apiece for the hook alone, we couldn't afford to make them." Anglers were spending $100 apiece on eBay for one lure.
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