Rattles

[shallowist]

I got a PM from a site member, asking my thoughts on the relevance of rattles, and thought that maybe some of the crew might find it interesting.

I am a firm beleiver in sound attracting fish. Virtually every lure that I fish has a rattle in it. Most everything that I buy has rattles. There was a period of time when I would buy the small glass bead rattles used by bass anglers and put them into the belly of soft plastics. Years ago, Paul Brown didn't make rattle versions of the Corky, and these rattles worked well to add sound. I still have a few that have the belly hump of the glass bead.

Fish are all very in tune to sound and vibration, both of which you can achieve with rattles. This is magnified in off colored water or low light conditions. I'm sure that certain rattle sounds are more appealing than others which is probably why some days they want a she dog, and others are better for a spittin' image.

My generalities are: rough or dirty water, louder rattle. This also applies around shell, where I typically want a loud rattle. In clear or calmer water, I tend to gravitate to a more subtle rattle sound. Extremely shallow or clear water are some of the only situations where I would opt not to use the rattles. I haven't seen them in stores like they once were, but if you check the bass fishing aisles, you can find the pakcages of glass beads. These will allow you to add sound to any soft lure that you want. They are good for adding the sound, yet won't alter the action or sink rate of the bait much at all.

Jim, I hope this helps. If there is something more specific that I didn't mention, post the Q and I will try to answer.

[Milkjug]

I believe that. Need to try some rattles out on the 'ol jerkshads. I wonder if sticking a rattle in the butt (of the bait) would affect the durability.

[FP10]

I use them all the time in the winter. Sometimes in the summer.

[castaway300]

a shrimp filcking /poping its tail makes a sound....and as a old bass man... im a great believer in rattles. and if you dont believe how sound travels in water go get in as pool. Ive been under water in 40 ft long pool, and had someone drop split shots at the other end of the pool and heard them hit the bottom. i no longer call it a pool, its a tackle testing tank. its amazing what ive learned in the TTT. just my .02
castaway300

[WestEndAngler]

We all know sound does not travel at the same speed in air as it does in water... In dry air at 68F, sound travels about 1,125 feet/second. In water it travels 4.3 times as fast.

[shallowist]

I have been known to fish some strange contraptions at times, most are noisy. here's the disturbing part, one of the most prolific days of CATCHING that I have ever seen was in horrible water conditions, where the visibility was less than two inches. We were in the land cut, Rolloff channel to be exact. It was winter and a front blew in at about 45 mph out of the NE. There was a group of birds working way up on the flats and we went for a look. Me and two friends sat in an anchored boat and wailed on trout and reds for 2 hours non stop. I'm sure that we caught over a hundred trout and reds, none were small! After a few minutes of throwing noisy topwaters, I switched to a tail that Paul Brown made a long time ago. The fish would find it every time!!!!! It was clear with silver glitter and a chartreuse tail, had no rattle, and you couldn't see it beyond an inch below the surface. The point.... fish will find their food when they are eating regardless of sound or color or other factors. Every fish we kept that day had at least one if not two or three of the following in it's stomach. Shrimp, croaker, or mullet. Most of the fish were coughing up something as we landed, and many had tails sticking out of thier throats and were still full bellied.

I still like rattles though! They add an advatage that hopefully improves my odds, and certainly can aggrivate a fish to bite at a lure sometimes.

Aslo to Coe's point, sound travels very far and fast under water, so keep those outboards away from the intended fishing areas. Foot power rocks!!!!!

[JimD]

Really the question is what size and were on the different baits do you stick your rattles and do you punch a hole in the bait esp in the harder baits like TTK brand?

Seems with all the different plastics you would have to place the rattle in a different location. You have the Norton eels and paddle tails, hard plastics like the TTK baits in rat tail, and paddle tails. Then you have the much softer Ba's with the bottom slit.

What is the trick to get a rattle in these baits?

Thanks,

Jim

[shallowist]

I never really tried with a BA, you would have to go to the Texas Assassin without the belly slit. With the Norton and other solid bodied, and firmer baits, I go with the belly. Yeah they look pregnant, but it works fine. If you went to the back, you could change the sink angle of the bait, ie, hook down versus up. I always used the glass rattles that are pointed on one end and rounded on the other. This will allow you to insert the rattle without digging a hole in the bait. It works fine with a firm plastic.

Last suggestion is to use a screw lock hook, which will hold any plastic on through more bites. By the time you buy the bag of plastics, and the rattles, the rig is getting closer to the price of a hard bait and not as fun to tear up. You can pop the rattle back out and move it to another plastic if you catch it before it's destroyed by the fish.

[Explorer21]

WOW, this is way over my head I can't keep up with all you guys and tricks you have to catch fish.

[kenny]

Also to Coe's point, sound travels very far and fast under water, so keep those outboards away from the intended fishing areas. Foot power rocks!!!!!"

I agree, but more than a few times I've anchored and walked/fished toward a spot only to have some yahoo pull in on me, but here as you know boats will pull in anyway that wanted to fish the same spot!

[JimD]

My old Yankee kayak fishing buddy used the large rattles with the brass cutter that the old rattle kits had and cuts all his Norton eels then places the rattle with a dab of super glue do not to lose the rattle on the first fish or two.

Works but you have to stay with the same jig head size as not to have the hook and rattle in the wrong spot.

Guess you could find some old Rockport rattlers but my baits had a hard time sticking.

Sounds like there is not sure fire way to put rattles in the different baits.

Steve,
As always Thanks for the time. Let us know how your talk does on Thursday. I have to work. Jim

[corndog]

Good info swallowist. Confirms my thoughts.

[screamindrag]

I caught an episode of Hunt for Big Fish on Versus last night and they were mentioning how important sound is to fishing. The used an underwater microphone and threw out about 10 different lures and compared the sounds each one made. It was very interesting. On a side note, he caught this huge muskee using a a topwater almost the size of a coke can about a foot from the boat.

[dbarham]

I caught an episode of Hunt for Big Fish on Versus last night and they were mentioning how important sound is to fishing. The used an underwater microphone and threw out about 10 different lures and compared the sounds each one made. It was very interesting. On a side note, he caught this huge muskee using a a topwater almost the size of a coke can about a foot from the boat.

Dude i seen that what a rush! man I would love that I may have to go there one day im a topwater phene!

[SCHU]

Just for the &*^5 of it, I tried 2 glass beads in front the leader using a glow/chart cocahoe minnow to see if it made a difference. You know, when all else fais?....The wind was howling and we could hardly drift. I am here to tell you that I caught 3 reds before my dad scored even one. I have to say that the beads had something to do with that.
OBTW - there is a product on the market called Sonix, I think, or something like that, that actually sends out recorded sounds of fish feeding.