Best Rattle Reels

[senco 1]

Just bought a fish house on wheels. I need to buy some rattle reels, which ones do you like the best? Wood, plastic? Do you remove them from the wall when pulling the house a long distance?

[kilkercal615]

I use the Fish Alert rattle reels. They are electronic and buzz when you got a fish. I have never had any problems with them. I think they cost about 20 bucks a peice.

[Marmot]

Walleye Wheel is about $10 and rings (no electronics) when you got a fish. I like to minimize the electronics like that as much as possible.

[adamr]

I really like the looks of the wooden ones made in mn has any body had any issues with them

[Jesse Drummer]

i hand built my rattle reels out of wood and they work awsome!

[Random guy]

We are trying out some of Nature Visions "Rattle Snake" rattle reels. Pretty cool deal with neat features like 1 revolution = 1 foot of line. Flexible and quick remove mounts that allow you to pop out the Rattle reel and snap in a flexable rod holder in seconds long with what I feel is basicaly a good tough design for our rental shacks.

Check out the Rattlesnake reels, pretty cool trick form Nature Vision.

[tspotout]

I bought some on HSOList they are plastic with aluminum spindles and comes with aluminum arm for mounting to wall very nice reels they cost 8 bucks.

[spinnerboy]

The best bang for your buck is the small red plastic ones you can buy about anywhere. Usually about $6 or $7. I use nylon coated tip-up line,then a swivel,3 to 5 feet of mono. Very affordable and work great, just weight your bobber so it barely floats and wait for the rattle. If you are on red lake,reel them up when you go to bed or you will get no sleep.

[senco 1]

Thanks Guys. I will have to check out the Rattle Snake Rattle Reels. Sounds like a great idea!!

[Drewski]

I would check out the Lewandoski Rattle reels. They are all I use!

[MuleShack]

We are trying out some of Nature Visions "Rattle Snake" rattle reels. Pretty cool deal with neat features like 1 revolution = 1 foot of line. Flexible and quick remove mounts that allow you to pop out the Rattle reel and snap in a flexable rod holder in seconds long with what I feel is basicaly a good tough design for our rental shacks.

Check out the Rattlesnake reels, pretty cool trick form Nature Vision.

I have 2 of these in my wheel house from last season and i like these better than the Lebowski ones. These stick out farther and dont get caught on the side of the hole. Plus easily removed or just pulled to put in another base over another hole.

I've been waiting for Gander to get these in, but doesn't look like they weill have them. So gonna have to look elsewhere for a couple more.

[Corey Bohn]

The Lindell Ice Rigs are a superior rattle reel when compared to everything else out there. No wooden spokes, no wingnuts, no bells sending unwanted vibration down your line. One revolution equals one foot. They glow in the dark and they are by far the smoothest rattle reels on the market. The spools are durable and the cut glass beads inside the spool alert you without alerting the fish. When quality counts there is no better rattle reel. They also offer some sweet rod holders if your are interested check them out at lindell ice rigs dot com.

[s2h]

All I know is there is nothing better than the sound of a rattle reel buzzin away.

[wintertim]

Not to get off point on your querry, but when growing up ice fishing, before the rattle reels that are popular now, my father had some metal reels that clicked as they turned. They were shaped more like a wagon-wheel; about 5" in diameter and only about 1/2 to 3/4" wide and turned very smoothly. They had some type of metal reed inside that clicked against a gear as they turned. Haven't seen anything like them since then. If they were spun fast, they made a buzz-like noise. When they turned very slowly, it was like a bait-caster slowly back spooling (can you say JAWS?)- click-click-click. It was a sound that became ingrained in me. It was much more subtle than the chaotic sound of today's rattle reels.

And then there were those nights that I laid in bed, in the dim light of single candle burning, listening to the wind howl and the occassional ice crack, then silence, and then a solitary click from one of the reels... oh! the anticipation. Might as well have been a fire bell!

Sorry, didn't mean to get all poetic on everyone

[dougger222]

I really like the looks of the wooden ones made in mn has any body had any issues with them

I have had them in all three houses for several years. One had a dowel come loose but was fixed with some wood glue.

In one of the houses installed burgler alarms on the back side of the wooded spool which works great.

[Blaze]

No wooden spokes, no wingnuts, no bells sending unwanted vibration down your line...They glow in the dark and they are by far the smoothest rattle reels on the market.

I have to agree with Corey here regarding vibrations and smooth reels. After having many, many light bites last winter on wooden rattle reels and the fish dropped it after pulling out 6-12" of line, we came to the conclusion that the *tink* that we know and love was sending more noise down the line than we liked. We were also fishing shallow - 12-14'.

I will be testing this theory this year since I have re-rigged with Lewandowski reels that are much smoother and have smaller beads inside rather that the one large bell. Less resistance to trigger the beads, less jarring than the bell as well. Have to say, though, that I will miss the *tink*

[MNfan]

I also agree with Corey I have tried a bunch including Lewandowski and the Lindell is the smoothest I have found work even for a crappie bite.

[Blainebob]

I used the lindell reels once and thought they worked sweet.I'm gonna try to rig one up to the portable sled base so I can jig with a rod and have a small shiner or minnow down a couple feet away. Ive learned this sport is all about trial and error,and I dont have as many errors as I used to.

[LindellProStaf]

The Lindell Ice Rigs can also be attached to a bucket for fishing outdoors. Put inside the bucket you are sitting on so the ice doesn't freeze as fast. Then jig with your other line in your other hole. This also works in portables.