Use of rattle reels

[Lost]

I've seen rattle reels in the stores. I've heard about people using them. But I have no clue how one you set it up for use. Is a rattle reel solely for use in a permanent ice house? Or is it something that is also useful in a portable? At what times and in what circumstances would I want to use a rattle reel?

[woodman]

Lost- I use rattle reels in my permanent houses and what a blast it is. I tie fly fishing line on them so it is easier to grab and does not cut your hand. Some I have screwed to the ceiling and other to the walls. It is an awsome sound when more then one goes off and you are scrambling to pull it up and send your partner after the other one.

My dad made mine out of 1/4 inch plywood. He drilled holes around the edges and glued dowel rod in the holes.

Works awsome for me.

[Lost]

Thanks. So you wouldn't recommend them for a portable that probably wouldn't be moving around much?

[huskiesplayer15]

you can clip them to the cross bar of your portable joe, you can use them in you portable just fine.

Best Fishes

Chris

[hanson]

Lost-

There is absolutely no reason why you couldn't use a rattle reel in a portable. Quite honestly, it could be very effective. It would get you to leave one line alone (similar to a deadstick) and pay attention to how you work your other line. The dingling bell sound would then alert you to a bite.

But more often, rattle wheels are used in permanent sleeper houses. Honestly, any hole you wouldn't want to watch a bobber in would be a candidate for a rattle reel. When sleeping, the rattling sound would alert you, and hopefully awaken you, to catch a fish on the line. If you were playing a game of cards, hopefully the rattling sound would also alert you to a fish on the line.

[Ed Carlson]

You can make Rattle spools by gluing two like sized filler spools together and adding BB shot or glass beads to every other chamber in the center. Engineering a cradle and tightener system is more work then anything but it can be done with little work. Basically it is a stove bolt and a wing nut with a set of washers and a light spring. You will want to add double nuts to the end so the hardware will not wobble off and fall down a hole or in your pail.

Some of the handiest I seen in the home-brewed rattle reels had light carpenter clamps on them so you could quickly clamp them on a piece of tubing or the sled, or pail. My Bro in law made some that I thought were nifty, worked great.

The heavy fly line is a good recommendation as you can see it well and it is easy to work with even with mits on. Add a tippet of mono or Power Pro to the end and your set. Using all mono is a pain, it will spill off and mess up in the cold, likely wrapping up in the tightener system you made...a big pain!

There are many very good ready made store bought rattle reels systems out there too. But if you want to McGiver up your own system this basic formula will get you going.