RATTLER FLIES

Streamer flies normally appeal to a fish's vision. Size, color, and silhouette are the primary considerations when tying or selecting these flies. While appearance is very important, you should be aware that a fish's sense of hearing often performs a significant role in its feeding habits.

Fish have an acute auditory sense that allows them to hear at lower decibel levels than those detected by humans. A fish's highly developed hearing system consists of an internal car on each side of its head that is connected to a lateral line extending along both flanks. External pores on the lateral line transmit low-frequency vibrations by way of nerves leading to the inner ear and brain.
In the 1970s, some tournament bass anglers began to insert small rattle chambers into their plastic worms to appeal to large-mouth bass.

Rattle chambers are made from plastic, glass, or metal. Each chamber contains several small ball bearings that strike against the chamber and produce a rattling or clicking sound when the capsule is moved.

Flies incorporating these rattle chambers started to appear in the 1980 mostly for saltwater gamefish.

I hadn't thought much about this for some years until Danny Smith started tying Bass and Pike flies this year with glass rattles. I thought I'd give them a go.

I devised a way to secure them to the hook shank which takes a bit of time but they are pretty much impervious to damage. Using Danville's 210 thread I secured large diameter mono to both sides of the hook shank to create a base for the glass rattle. I then secured the capsule to the base and applied a coat of 5 minute epoxy. After the epoxy dries, one can tie-in mylar tubing to create a finished body. Another option is to apply some flat diamond braid prior to the application of epoxy.
Assortment of Patterns…..



Boy do they work!