tying a half and half rattler

piketrek rattles

leading UK pike fly and fly tying company piketrek have recently introduced into there kit a new plastic rattle that to be quite honest makes a far better rattle than the more traditional glass rattle and a bloody lot cheaper (the link to the rattle is at the bottom of today's post) so i got asked how to use them so i thought the best way was to tie up a half and half clouser as this pattern can be used not only for pike but for a bucket load of other species both fresh and saltwater

half and half rattler

1 - so the rattle itself has a lovely and dead handy little lip that helps to secure it in a number of ways , what I've done is to park it at the back of the fly and given it a couple of wraps on the lip and added a touch of super glue to the whipping to secure i then bring the clear mono thread up to the hook eye and then back to secure a dumbbell eye

2 - added in 4 cock hackles (2 each side) and tied them in right behind the dumbbell eye (as you can see the rattle has disappeared in the tie already) bring your thread down to level with the hook point

3 - add in some crystal flash and lay on some white buck tail pushing down slightly so that the buck tail goes round the hook shaft as above

4 - tie in another thinner clump of white buck tail from the hook eye and tie back using a figure of 8 around the dumbbell

5 - add a red throat or if you like another colour or not at all that's up to you i find it best to add a touch of varnish to seal each step , i use piketreks final overcoat which is a nice consistency for big ties

6 - turn the fly upside down and add the back colour , again this is really down to personnel preference and to what species your trying to mimic I've done white and chartreuse simply because its a great all round colour

7 - finish of with an eye (6mm epoxy eye has been used here) although again you can use what ever you like , this fly works very well with normal dumbbell eyes also again its down to your personal preference

so there you have it a great fly with a nice rattle easy to make and great to fish with and will catch pretty much anything that swims if you wish to buy the rattles they cost and incredible 2.50 UK for 25 buy them buy clicking the link below

RATTLES

tight lines fellow fishers

mcfluffchucker