rattle Reels

when you are fishing rattle reels during the day and night do you switch baits for evening? do you run shiners or fat heads or change from morning, to day, to evening to night as a presentation.

biggest thing I have noticed/done is evening/night bite closer to bottom (6 inches) where if running 1 during the day a foot or 2 off bottom? let me know your opinions.

also what are your preferences on Mille Lacs especially? as taking the kids and wife out for the first time ever on a over night chritmas week. let me know.

thanks

Jeff

I find on Mille Lacs that down sizeing is critical some days and can mean the difference between 2 fish or 12. Also I find that the fish will come up along ways during the day to snatch a bait. When fishing off the bottem I seem to get alot of sniffers and less takers. When above them you can instantly see a change of mood in SOME fish, they will scream off the bottem and smash baits. The aggressive reaction coupled with water clarity on the Pond has me starting further off bottem always then dialing in from there. I LOVE a fresh half of fat head, sometimes tail or head or hole! im no expert but I do waste plenty of time out there and this has been workin for me

I guess I didnt read your post title close enuff, do you mean rattle traps or Buck shot rattlein jigs?

I think he means rattle reels in a permanent shack but not 100% sure.

yes reattle reels. changed the heading. but yes rattle traps are cool.

going to try to be getting a camera for at mille lacs so the kids can “watch the bite” so we will see what happens as we had one the last few years and definately helps for perch when they are taking it off the bottom. definately going to be fun trying to teach the kids and wife how to jig and fish with flashers and a camera. guess we will really see just how much patience I have as I did coach baseball but guessing this will be a different animal all together.

if anyone has a spare flasher or 2 to loan for 2 days during x-mas break pm me and see what we can work out. yes I am know I am reaching here but you never know.

To your original question, it depends on the lake as to whether you should switch baits.

On the lake I keep my perm on, there is no day bite for walleyes and no night bite for northerns. Accordingly, I run shiners or suckers on my rattle reels during the day to target northerns and then switch to a light mono leader with a jig and a fathead for walleyes at night.

I go with bigger baits and fish them further above bottom after dark. During the day I let the fish tell me what they want but typically it will be a fathead on a light jig. After dark the 4″ – 5″ shiners come out and I’ll run them 2′-6′ off the bottom. Not sure why… but it seems to catch bigger fish. And fewer eelpout.

I have always used a #6 chartreuse Gamakatsu hook on the rattle wheels, never switched baits. Always a lively fathead about a foot off the bottom. Most rental shacks on Mille Lacs have some sort of braid or even tip up line attached to the rattle wheels, so bring a extra spool of #6 or #8 florocarbon line for a leader. I would also bring a extra cork or 2, however setting the rattle wheel tension very light is just the same as using a cork.

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if anyone has a spare flasher or 2 to loan for 2 days during x-mas break pm me and see what we can work out. yes I am know I am reaching here but you never know.

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If you don’t find a loaner, Lundeens rents flashers. (or anything else a guy needs to fish Mille Lacs.)

http://www.lundeens.com/other.html

-J.

never thought about the line as normally just left what they had set up before. thanks calvin.

and James my son is looking forward to catching the ugly big fish as he puts it. I am just hoping we get something as heading out of appledorn’s for a day. and praying as it will be the first time for the boys, daughter and Wife for a fishing trip. could be interesting.

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I have always used a #6 chartreuse Gamakatsu hook on the rattle wheels, never switched baits.

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I’ve had good luck with kahle hooks. A while ago, I acquired an experimental jig head with a kahle attached to it by a swivel. I use that a lot on my rattle reels and tip ups and have had a really high hook up percentage with it.

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I have always used a #6 chartreuse Gamakatsu hook on the rattle wheels, never switched baits. Always a lively fathead about a foot off the bottom. Most rental shacks on Mille Lacs have some sort of braid or even tip up line attached to the rattle wheels, so bring a extra spool of #6 or #8 florocarbon line for a leader. I would also bring a extra cork or 2, however setting the rattle wheel tension very light is just the same as using a cork.

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x2 on bringing extra line and also the chartruese Gamakatsu especially after dark.

During the day I’ve had great luck using “Gemini” hooks on rattle reels for perch during the day 18-24″ off the bottom.