clear water and rattles

[Guest rich mc]

whats your take on the use of rattles in your bait in clear water ? do they scare the fish or attract them? rich mc

[Andy C]

Depends on how heavily it is fished. I like rattles in early spring and muddy water, but after the masses start pounding the water and it gets to clear summer conditions I start using silent cranks.

[Kev-mo]

I have a square billed crank with rattles that I throw in clear water (dupe) in summer and fall and the fish seem to eat it up. On two seperate occasions in different years I was bringing the bait back and had 2 and 3 fish following. They must not have seen me as they were just hanging in the current watching my lure like a cobra to the swaying flute guy. Lure was rolling and I pulled it forward a skosh so it was definately making noise. It took a 20 seconds or so (hard to gauge time) and each time a fish flared it's gills and ate it up. Pretty cool to watch an 18 and 16 inch fish eat your crank bait. Both of these days were good numbers and big fish days.

 

With that all said.. I think it depends on the day and the fish just like anything else, as on one of the days above I threw this lure all morning and caught squat. Decided to have lunch and switch locations and stick w/the same lure and they tore it up!

[ronk]

Why would you need rattles in clear water when a fish can see the lure? Seems to be over-thinking it. No need for extras unless you're doing something specialized (night fishing?) where a rattle might give you an edge.

I agree.Subtelty is preferred in low clear water.

[Kev-mo]

Good points Eric!

[sambennett]

Eric-

 

My bad. I just come from the "even more is even more" camp. And my jig + twister + leader + snap + splitshot is KILLER in the fall...

 

That's what I get all of my 7 lbers on.

 

-SB

[Guest rich mc]

now we know who taught that rig if it works for you we cant knock it. do you add a rattle to that hardware? I fished part of the south branch of the kish today. water was pea green last week it was 2ft visibility probably could have used a rattle. rich mc

[Mike G]

Logic says that the fish will find the rattler easier in murky water. But that is human logic. And will the bass hit it? To use human terms, we can ask, "If I can hear it and find it, does that automatically mean I will eat it?" And besides bass are not human.

 

Yes and no in clear water or murky water. Rattles are part of a total attracting and triggering package you throw at the fish. That is Doctor Doug Hannon's take. Trial and error will tell what package to use. On any given day the noisiest bait may be the best in the clearest water while a quiet soft plastic may do it in murky water. In flies sometimes it is the slider; sometimes it is the popper. Over a morning I will try both no mater what color the water is.

[Guest rich mc]

what about you kish anglers. do you prefer a rattlin chug bug or not ?

[Kev-mo]

what about you kish anglers. do you prefer a rattlin chug bug or not ?

 

thought they all rattled...

[Eric]

Eric-

 

My bad. I just come from the "even more is even more" camp. And my jig + twister + leader + snap + splitshot is KILLER in the fall...

 

That's what I get all of my 7 lbers on.

 

-SB

You gotta throw that shirtless on at least a 7' Ugly Stik!

[Mike G]

 

thought they all rattled...

 

Just when they walk or shake their heads...

[sambennett]

You been stalking my FB profile Eric?

 

-SB

[Tom L]

I've been toying with rattles on my new fly, iBait.

http://illinoissmallmouthalliance.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=10914

 

But haven't fished it much yet. I'll report how it works out.

 

[Ed Buric]

Hot damn, are you ever creative.

[Mike G]

Since I saw him at the Woodstock show, Bob and I have been keeping in touch. He just Sent me this note:

 

"Mike,

 

Didn't rich read my book? Here's what I said on page 47:

 

When I first saw rattles, I thought they were going to be the ticket for muddy water. Bass are triggered by noise, so I figured rattles in my flies would help me catch more fish when the river was dirty. I experimented a lot with rattles in flies when they first came out in both fresh and salt water, and I didn't see any increase in any strikes except in clear, deep water. This was completely opposite of what I had expected. When smallmouth fishing in ten feet or more of clear water, in crystal-clear lakes as well as clear rivers, after two or three strips of the fly, I would see a bass come up—somewhere, not right near the fly—and dart as if it were looking for something. If the fish happened to see the fly, it would often move to take it.

Spinnerbaits and rattles in spinning lures provide a continuous noise that both alerts the fish and allows them to track the direction of what they perceive as bait. With spin-fishing gear, you can continuously retrieve a lure so that it never stops moving and constantly makes noise. When you fish a fly with a rattle, however, the only times it makes noise is when you begin and end the strip. You can pull that fly two or three feet before it makes another noise. If you try to fish it slow and with short strips, you can make an almost continuous noise…

Catch a whopper on a popper,

 

Bob

[Guest rich mc]

I don't read articles just the photos . I may see your friend bob at the iowa fly show next year. rich mc

[Mike G]

I don't read articles just the photos . I may see your friend bob at the iowa fly show next year. rich mc

 

Say hi from me. He'll remember I was the guy that wanted to throw him into the pool after his talk.

[Rob G]

I was the guy that wanted to throw him into the pool after his talk.

 

What's the story there? He didn't make an off hand remark regarding Lefty did he?

[Norm M]

all crankbaits rattle to some extent, there are no truly silent cranks. it is just a matter of degree.

 

I fish rattlebaits year round in every current/clarity/temp condition and catch smallmouth.

[Mike G]

 

What's the story there? He didn't make an off hand remark regarding Lefty did he?

 

He gave the talk in the high school pool which seems a good idea till you realize that such pools are heated and the air temp is kept at about 80 for the soft youth of America. I joked about tossing him in the pool but his cohort of 60-80 year old groupies surrounded him and really glared around looking for the terrorist threat. Luckily at 70 I blended in and was able to exit with the crowd. Something I can tell my grandchildren.

[mikea]

Rattles work the same way a blockhead popper works, the sound both of these make get the attention of the bass that than elicit a reaction strike.