Overview
A favorite of touring pro and renowned bladed jig angler Brett Hite, the Z-Man Chatterbait Jack Hammer Baby Jack is a smaller version of the legendary Jack Hammer made for fishing in tough conditions. Precisely engineered with a downsized blade that starts vibrating with the very first turn of the reel handle, the Z-Man Baby Jack is crafted with a compact head that features an enlarged collar for improved balance and action.
Fully armed for big bass battles, the Z-Man Baby Jack features a wire-tied silicone skirt for supreme durability, sticky sharp 3/0 medium-wire Decoy hook, Decoy Egg Snap line tie, and double-wire bait keeper to ensure your favorite trailer stays locked in. Whether you're fishing in clear water or targeting bass that get pressured on a daily basis, the Z-Man Chatterbait Jack Hammer Baby Jack boasts the size, action, and color schemes that get results.
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Customer Reviews
Not a fanThe evo version is far superior in my opinion.
Great ProfileI really like the smaller blade option for those pressured fish. I like the hook too as small fish arent going to do me any good. Zman makes the best stuff. I throw the 1/4 on spin gear and the heavier models on baitcast gear.
Amazing lures!!!I cannot believe how great these lures are! My husband and I went fishing together and I out fished him the whole day with this one lure! I am amazed how cool they are. I am going to buy a bunch more of the colors to see how they work. Love these!!!
Crushed it todayThey were hitting my other baits but I wasn’t hooking up picked up my baby Jack after missing a bite and stuck that fish on the first cast. Caught 7 more and all them on the baby Jack and all chocked that was on 12/12/25
I love the Baby JackI love the Baby Jack! Never an issue and it catches! These bad reviews I’m seeing are ridiculous, I’ve never had an issue!
YOU HAVE TO FISH THIS RIGHTThis will roll and hunt once you snap it out of the weeds. This is NOT a good chatterbait for open water. I use it more as a jig in heavy grass, I use to use the mini max for that but this made much better.
WTH?I have zero idea what everyone is complaining about. I fished a 3/8oz Baby Jack this weekend on 15lb Mono, with a super fluke jr as a trailer. It started right up after casting, and caught plenty of fish. I love the mini max and this is just an expensive alternative to it, IMO. $20 is too steep for these though, so the one I do have will sit in my chatterbait box solo until there is a sale.
Blade is too small, or poorly designedAs many other reviews have noted, this chatter bait is garbage because you cannot get the blade to run. Wish I could get my money back for the several I bought. Even with no trailer, getting the blade to chatter is a challenge. The Jack Hammer series is supposed to be known for fast blade start up. This lure is a colossal failure in that regard. I'll just use mine as standard compact jigs, because there is no charter to these.
Normal jack hammer>This thing needs to be refined and took off shelves. Rolls like crazy and inconsistent action.
Pass on this oneTo me the hook is too big to be considered a “Baby”version and you can’t feel it vibrate unless you use very light line. Not worth $20. Stick with the mini max or Elite evo mini for sure.
TrashIt's already hard enough to find a jackhammer that has a snap that doesn't suck but it really doesn't even matter with these, you won't get them to vibrate regardless. I live to chatter and I wish I could get my $100 back for these. I wouldn't even use one to go pond fishing for fun. I bet you could throw them naked and still not get them to vibrate. The Mini Max Evo blows these out of the lake in every single category and so does the OG mini max.
It has specific uses.This lure is probably the best Zman I've used for blasting through and snapping weeds. I've had my most luck with this casting it parallel to the shore with a mix of popping through weeds and slow-rolling it in the open spaces. In my opinion if the hook was slightly smaller I would probably see a better hookup rate with the smaller fish that go after it. They tend to either get hooked through the outside top of their lip or they miss the hook completely. As a result of the too-large hook size I give it 4 stars. It's definitely a nice lure for late summer when you have alot of spaced out dead floating weeds. I'm happy with the brett bluegill and I will be grabbing a couple more in the future.
Garbage not worth the moneyit has no chattering action and the hook is way too big for the size of the bait do not buy.
Not Quite the OriginalThis is a good lure, I have caught fish with it. I have only used the 1/2oz so far. I will say something is off about it. The just don't thump quite as fast as an original sized Jack Hammer. I still catch fine with them, just might take a light jerk to get them going and sometimes they still don't have that signature thud. Still worth a shot, but for the price of an original, I would just get the full size. The Mini Max does fine with a 1.5 sized Decoy Egg snap.
So CloseIt is SO CLOSE to perfect. Love the subtle vibration, not as hard as a jackhammer or mini max but more than the stealth blade. Love the hook size, nice 3/0 but shorter shank for a compact size rather than completely down size. Same great hardware as the jackhammer that can handle anything.
Only downside is consistency. I bought 5 and 2 do not vibrate immediately or at all. Those 2 require a really hard jerk to start and they can still die out unless burned in.
THIS IS NOT SUPPOSE TO BE A MINI MAX VERSION!Seriously not sure what everyone below is talking about. I’m absolutely loving the baby jacks! Haven’t had a bite yet that I didn’t land! The snap is soooo much better than the mini max (which I love btw). Wish they would slide that snap over to the mini max line.
The colors are awesome! The blades are great! The hooks are perfect size for unlimited trailer options! (The mini max hooks are so small it limits trailer options). The slim zako is absolutely a match made in heaven for the baby jack. Don’t listen to these guys, this is a game changing chatter! This will become my new “jack hammer”. But to be honest I kind of like the nay sayers. It’ll be fun fishing behind them catching all the fish that didn’t want their chatter they’ve seen 40385 times.
Garbage. Super disappointing money grab.For context I am not one of those "I've never caught a fish on a chatterbait" guys. I use minimaxs and minis to RELIGIOUSLY catch river smallmouth and they do an amazing job. Naturally I was super excited when these came out. Unfortunately they are not nearly as good as the OG jacks, the minimax, or mini. The blade wobble is so subtle you cant feel it at all. One of the most vital parts of these lures is the ability to give you extra feel on what's going on at the other end of your line and these just don't have that. Not even close to worth the money unfortunately and I hope Zman sees these reviews and reviews their product. I have stood behind a lot of Zman stuff and think they make some of the best stuff in the game but this one was a total miss.
Buyer beware...
Stick with the Mini Max or Elite Evo Mini MaxThe 3/0 hook size defeats the purpose of a “MINI”
Other than the smaller blade the profile of the bait is the same as the original Jack Hammer. The worst thing about this is the blade doesn’t start right away, it doesn’t want to start at slower retrieves, the blade even gets stuck at times.
Mixed feelingsThis doesn’t run as good as a mini max or evo mini. I had high expectations. I would take either of this as the baby jack hammer doesn’t run right on retrieves. I agree with the previous reviewers.
Not sure if I got a bad batch or whatHave 3 Plano edge 3700 jig boxes filled to the brim with jackhammers, mini Max's & Evo Elites, big blades, stealth blades.. u name it . Went down the rabbit hole years ago.. been throwing the Bass Puzzle Grass pieces lately but was stoked seeing these drop.. mini max is such a staple for everyone.. now we have a higher end version of it...
But in true evergreen fashion .. NONE of my 5 I bought run right, the blade gets hung up or stuck and have to really pull like your getting a 10xd to dive before it'll wobble right.. or the blade is so tight or loose (all mine are different sadly) & flat out don't wobble at all, feels like their stuck in grass. I shouldn't have to play Doctor with expensive chatterbaits to get them to run correctly.
P.S. -- the metal skirt wraps holding the skirts on are going to be a problem just like in the past, already had skirt strands loose & falling out like grandpa's hair
EhhhhI was excited for this lure it looks great.
The start up speed is iffy. I found myself having to twitch the bait to get the blade going.
Something isn’t rightI’ve been on a killer mini max bite. I was excited for these but something isn’t right. The 1/2 runs like a 3/8 OG. It got bites but I never got a hook in one. Mini max was getting choked.
I tried different reels, rods, etc. I’d fish the Baby Jack until I got a bite, throw the mini max and catch one, then pick up the baby jack.
I got more confidence in a mini max
GreatBought one and it’s great! I’ve gotten so much bass on this lure, but I wish it was a little more cheaper.