J.B. Lures Rattling Varmint

[Scott M]

Quick, if you had a gun to your head and you could only use one lure next winter, what would it be?

Without a doubt, my answer would be a J.B. Lures Rattling Varmint. It's always on at least a couple of my ice rods and with good reason.

First, it makes a great search lure. Rip this bait through the water column and you should pull in some lookers. For the fish that do bite, you have a winning lure. For the fish that don't bite, you still have a winning lure. More often than not, my Rattling Varmint is my ace, and then a deadstick or setline with a live minnow plays Joe Nathan to the Varmint's Johan Santana by closing the deal. Jig them in with the Rattling Varmint and let them pull down your minnow on your second line.

The glass rattles in these things are phenomenal. This is a lure that outperforms others because it appeals to a fish's most primitive and for most ice anglers overlooked sense, the sense of feel. How many of your ice jigs and spoons have blades or rattles? Unlike any other group of animals on this planet, fish can feel vibrations through the water using their lateral line. Yes these fish can hear the lure, just as they can almost any other bait. But with a rattling varmint they can feel and locate the bait from the rattling vibrations sent through the water.

Another advantage I've found with the Rattling Varmint is the price. While some of the competition's rattling spoons are around the 5-6 dollar mark, I can usually find a rattling varmint for a buck or so cheaper. And for a jigphile like me, that's a buck to spend on another jig or a package of plastic tail trailers. Call me cheap but I like to save a buck anywhere I can.

Lastly I just believe in this lure's appeal to a variety of fish. This winter I caught channel catfish, lake trout, pike, walleye, perch, and crappie on this lure. Not a bad combination at all.

If you're ready to finish the ice season strong for cats, perch, or crappie or just want to stock up for next year's ice season, consider a few packages of J.B. Rattling Varmints from the Outdoor Pro Store or your local tackle shop.

I'm curious, did anybody else hit some home runs with Rattling Varmints?

[harvey lee]

I typically always start out with a glo red for eyes,crappies and perch. Now, when I started fishing channel catfish this winter, well my go to lure was a Rattlin Varmit in glo red and yes, it caught fish too.

I may use a smaller 1/8oz size for the perch and crappies and sometimes walleyes but, the 1/4oz will also fill the bill. Most always I will tip the treble with a minnow or part of it or some smaller euro larvae.

[wayne123]

Was fishing Mille Lacs a few weeks ago. We fished Friday night through Sunday Morning and had two fish. One was a 26" on a Rattling Varmint.

I mostly fish crappies in the winter and a glowing demon seems to work the best for me.

[DEADhead]

da_chise31, the question more like it is, what color rattling varmit is your favorite?

My go to color is the minnow glow. the red throat on the lure is deadly. I've caught more fish on the minnow glow over the past two seasons than any other jig combined. The perch glow is a nice looking jig, but since the minnow glow never fails me, it never comes off my line. I've had to replace the hook on my rattling varmit a couple times already because it is that effective.

What do you have tied on?

[Scott M]

 Originally Posted By: DEADhead

the question more like it is, what color rattling varmit is your favorite?

What do you have tied on?

I've been a big fan of Neon Red and Sunfish Glow.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Perch for me... Thats the color I grab first!

[mille lacs muskie bum]

i had good luck on upper red with a 1/8 ounce blue glow, and a 1/4 ounce red glow with a 2 inch dropper and a red treble.

[Eric Wettschreck]

This is my go to lure, every time. I'm a big fan of either perch color, or glow red, depending on the water clarity I'm fishing and the amount of sunlight getting into the water. For darker or stained water I found the glow red works great. For clearer water, or water that is getting a lot of sunlight, I like the perch color best.

The 1-2 punch is a Rattlin Varmit with a deadstick next to it.

[DTro]

Scott....dude....you stole my post. I swear I had a two paragraph detailed post ready to go about how this is pretty much the main lure I used all winter.

I caught Walleyes, Jumbo Perch, Bull Gills, Slab Crappies, Kitty Cats, and a nice 35" Slimer all on the same glow red rattling varmint. Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I caught a Laker as well on that lure.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Whatever DTRO LOL 8-) --- I made this post 2 years ago... when they first came out(and they were probably out before that).. Its the only lure with a Glass rattle molded into the lead.. totally different sound than any other lure!.. and way more action that it looks like in the package!

[Borch]

It's one of my favorites. Another one is the Pro Varmit with the little spinner and dropper chain. The perch just love that setup!

[Scott M]

 Originally Posted By: Deitz Dittrich

Whatever DTRO LOL 8-) --- I made this post 2 years ago... when they first came out(and they were probably out before that).. Its the only lure with a Glass rattle molded into the lead.. totally different sound than any other lure!.. and way more action that it looks like in the package!

Old Man Dittrich is probably right about an earlier post...He's also spot on with the glass rattle in the mold. It is a more subdued rattle so it doesn't overpower fish....that probably explains how you can catch those bull gills and slab crappies without spooking them off like you might with a louder or more aggressive sound.

[harvey lee]

Check out those hot Varmits right here.

http://www.outdoorprostore.com/jb-lures.html

[Jon Hanson]

For crappies my go to lure is Northland's eye dropper spoon, silver tipped with a minnow head. I have caugh 4-5 limmites of crappies with it this winter. For walleyes I usually start of with a silver or gold buckshot spoon and a minnow head if they dont hit that they usually hit the dead stick.