RES do different colors have a different sound 2024

cgolf reply :

Recently I scraped the paint off two RES and found that one had a clear body and the other a white body. This got me to wondering if they were made of different plastics which would give off a different sound. Talked to a guy at work that knows plastics and the thought was it is the same, but we did get into a discussion on how different paint schemes could give off a different sound. If they are different plastic formulations that would be interesting to know.

Take clear sexy shad which has very little paint on it, vs say the orange craw which has a lot. The paint could dull the sound some. Same goes for the chrome covered baits. In the past I would have thought that a slight change in sound wasn't a big deal, but @A-Jay has me convinced it makes a difference with his non-silent silent RES. I also have a silent one that clicks very slightly I want to try out this year.

A-Jay reply :

You may be onto something.

Might explain why some baits are just better producers.

Beyond the difference between, the RES traditional rattle, the silent bait & now the 2-tap, if there is a subtle difference, I'll admit that it is well beyond anything I can detect.

And where I do believe that the size, color, flash, profile, sound & vibration all play some role in peaking a bass's interest in the bait, many of the bites I get with these lures come on the fall.

So whatever is going on with the bait for that brief moment in time must be fairly critical as well.

A-Jay

cgolf reply :

Here is a picture of the two baits that look quite different. Ultimately I had scraped the paint off the one to get an all clear bait to see how it would work.

J._Bricker reply :

cgolf, great topic and observation. I look at the Vision 110 and Megabass use of an "outbarb" hook as furtherance of your point regarding paint.

I have Luhr Jensen Speed Traps made in the U.S., Mexico, China, and now Indonesia (which I didn't purchase). I noticed they are all basically the same lure, but original one (U.S. made) appears to be have a lighter, airbrushed paint scheme than the other two. And to my ear, the sound from the internal rattles between the three seem different. I believe this could be attributed to the thickness of the plastic, the type of plastic used, the type of metal rattles used or a combination of the all of them.

I guess if it makes a difference to the bass, it will and does make a difference to us fishermen. Good fishing, JB

cgolf reply :

On 3/21/2017 at 8:43 PM, A-Jay said:

You may be onto something.

Might explain why some baits are just better producers.

Beyond the difference between, the RES traditional rattle, the silent bait & now the 2-tap, if there is a subtle difference, I'll admit that it is well beyond anything I can detect.

And where I do believe that the size, color, flash, profile, sound & vibration all play some role in peaking a bass's interest in the bait, many of the bites I get with these lures come on the fall.

So whatever is going on with the bait for that brief moment in time must be fairly critical as well.

A-Jay

Have you ever tried to create a second not so silent bait? I know when I got a RES kit when they first came out from BPS with the BBs glued in place, SK replaced the lures for me, but also told me to whack them to see if I could get them loose. I was able to smack them on a table to free them up, probably with some glue in the chamber though. Perhaps you could do the same to replicate that bait you have. Not sure though how much abuse the bait would take before it would crack.

Now I am curious if one of the baits that produced for me last year was one that I had to do this to? I have heard of guys putting stuff in the rattle chamber and resealing it to change the action/sound of a bait. Didn't sebile have an oil filled lipless at one time?

A-Jay reply :

On 3/22/2017 at 1:46 AM, cgolf said:

Have you ever tried to create a second not so silent bait? I know when I got a RES kit when they first came out from BPS with the BBs glued in place, SK replaced the lures for me, but also told me to whack them to see if I could get them loose. I was able to smack them on a table to free them up, probably with some glue in the chamber though. Perhaps you could do the same to replicate that bait you have. Not sure though how much abuse the bait would take before it would crack.

Now I am curious if one of the baits that produced for me last year was one that I had to do this to? I have heard of guys putting stuff in the rattle chamber and resealing it to change the action/sound of a bait. Didn't sebile have an oil filled lipless at one time?

I have Exactly One bait, that is supposed to be silent but instead clicks a little.

This is it.

Clearly whatever's going on inside there is an accident and although I've purchased a few more with the hopes of reproducing the 'magic' - it hasn't happened & probably never will. So all that means is there is No WAY I'm going to knock, whack, smack or even flick this bait in any way that might "Fix" something that in the minds of the couple hundred bass that have totally swallowed it, does not exist.

I may even consider storing it in bubble wrap.

A-Jay

wdp reply :

On 3/22/2017 at 2:12 AM, A-Jay said:

I have Exactly One bait, that is supposed to be silent but instead clicks a little.

This is it.

.

Clearly whatever's going on inside there is an accident and although I've purchased a few more with the hopes of reproducing the 'magic' - it hasn't happened & probably never will.   So all that means is there is No WAY I'm going to knock, whack, smack or even flick this bait in any way that might "Fix" something that in the minds of the couple hundred bass that have totally swallowed it, does not exist.

I may even consider storing it in bubble wrap.

A-Jay

Ahhhh, there it is. The infamous RES with all the battle scars. Lol. I've had a couple like that, but eventually threw them out & got new ones. Now I'm 2nd guessing that decision. ?

Was the color originally Summer Sexy Shad? If so, one of my favs. It's usually the Chrome Sexy Shad that chips & peels the worst for me.

But this whole discussion brings up a good point. Never thought about the paint schemes or type of plastic causing subtle differences in the sounds emitted from the BBs inside. Definitely seems plausible and, as stated, might explain why certain colors produce better. I know my top 3 producing colors for 5+ yrs now have been chrome SS, summer SS & plain ole Sexy Shad. Got plenty of other colors, but 1 of these 3 seem to always catch at least a few fish. And some days the bass will absolutely choke it.

A-Jay reply :

On 3/22/2017 at 2:30 AM, wdp said:

Ahhhh, there it is. The infamous RES with all the battle scars. Lol. I've had a couple like that, but eventually threw them out & got new ones. Now I'm 2nd guessing that decision. ?

Was the color originally Summer Sexy Shad? If so, one of my favs. It's usually the Chrome Sexy Shad that chips & peels the worst for me.

But this whole discussion brings up a good point. Never thought about the paint schemes causing subtle differences in the sounds emitted from the BBs inside. Definitely seems plausible and, as stated, might explain why certain colors produce better. I know my top 3 producing colors for 5+ yrs now have been chrome SS, summer SS & plain ole Sexy Shad. Got plenty of other colors, but 1 of these 3 seem to always catch at least a few fish. And some days the bass will absolutely choke it.

It was a Gold Sexy Shad before the carnage ~ and this pic is 2 years old.

Although it still runs & fishes perfectly, it's condition has been down graded to 'seriously wrecked' and it's missing an eye.

I have replacement eyes but kind of like the 'distressed look'.

A-Jay

cgolf reply :

On 3/22/2017 at 2:12 AM, A-Jay said:

I have Exactly One bait, that is supposed to be silent but instead clicks a little.

This is it.

.

Clearly whatever's going on inside there is an accident and although I've purchased a few more with the hopes of reproducing the 'magic' - it hasn't happened & probably never will.   So all that means is there is No WAY I'm going to knock, whack, smack or even flick this bait in any way that might "Fix" something that in the minds of the couple hundred bass that have totally swallowed it, does not exist.

I may even consider storing it in bubble wrap.

A-Jay

Sorry you misunderstood. Take a truly silent new bait and knock, whack, smack it to make it sound like the above bait giving yourself a backup:)

A-Jay reply :

On 3/22/2017 at 3:04 AM, cgolf said:

Sorry you misunderstood. Take a truly silent new bait and knock, whack, smack it to make it sound like the above bait giving yourself a backup:)

Got ya.

Sometimes it takes a little time for the light to come around and shine on my mostly marble head.

And ~ I could totally do that.

I've got that kind of time.

A-Jay

CTBassin860 reply :

I heard the chartreuse perch color makes a "mooooo" sound.In all seriousness its a good question.I never really thought of it.

Cranks4fun reply :

I have Rat-L-Traps, CC Spots, Red-Eye Shads, Booyah lipless, Rapala Rattlin' Raps, and one H2O lipless bait. I have personally caught more on the Rat-L-Traps, but in all honesty, I have used them more. Oddly enough, I just rescued myself (sort of) from a bad day fishing with a Chrome/ Blue Rat-l-Trap. I was fishing in NE Oklahoma for white bass and could hardly buy a bite. Talked to guys in 5 other boats they were striking out too. No one was doing well. I usually slay them on #5 shad raps in a shad color. In frustration, I just started experimenting with different lures: jigs, grubs, various crankbaits, and then... I chunked this 1/2 oz, chrome/blue Rat-L-Trap and it happened. My rod bent over and started pulsating. I giggled, yelled, nodded my head up and down, and smiled with a Mr. Bean grin at fellow fisherman in nearby boats as I pulled in a 12-inch white bass. I cast a few more times and caught another... then another... and another...five total. I felt like the pro among amateurs. Then these finicky fish just shut down or moved away or something. It was not a great day, but I do have a renewed affection for Bill Lewis' noisy, plastic, football-shaped contraption! I grabbed some more of those in chrome and stuck them in that box when I got home.

BASS302 reply :

Cgolf,

Interesting topic. Let us know what you find out on the clear vs white plastic.

A-Jay,

I have a non-silent RES that is in Sexy Ghost Minnow (partially clear). It wasn't made right and the cylindrical weights rattle slightly when I shake it. I haven't used it yet (because of the other lures filling my tackle box) but I guess I should. I know that some of the old versions of the Cotton Cordell Spot would have the lead in the head portion of the lure loose and it would make a different noise. I used to go to the store and shake the lure packages searching for them because they seemed to work better. They probably thought I was crazy shaking the lures next to my ear!

cgolf reply :

Last vacation I caught 50+ fish and 6 species on an orange craw RES including a 40" class musky. On the last trip I retired it and switched to a bluegill RES and caught like 10 fish in a short time snc had a pike and musky jump out of the water trying to hit it as I pulled the bait in the boat, it was nuts and I got a 30" class musky on this bait.

Well after posting about the original batch of baits that had the rattles glued down, I checked out this bait and low and behold, the back rattle chamber had one rattle still glued in the tail of the bait. While this bait caught many less fish due to the limited time I threw it, it was all scratched up and the orange craw looked pretty clean. They seemed more aggressive when they hit this one. I now have to rethink the retirement of the bait. I want to compare it against a new fully functional bait

attached a pic of it, hope it is clear, but like @A-Jay I think this is truly a one off bait, I may be better off saving it in case I tourney fish some day. Even though the pic is sideways, it was held tail up.

BassWhole! reply :

I don't know if it's the different plastic, stuck BBs or different paint, but I absolutely have RESs that catch better than others. I just mark them, and move them to the $ box.

WRB reply :

Most lures of this type are molded from polycarbinate and ultra sonic weld together. The difference is resin color may be due to regrind % it would be rare to change resin type.

The difference that jumps out is eye color and that matters. Changing hooks changes action and sound, different paint lots changes the UV and IR colors, lots of variables to consider.

Bottom line is some cranks of the same brand, size and color out fish others.

Tom

cgolf reply :

On 3/22/2017 at 11:04 PM, WRB said:

Most lures of this type are molded from polycarbinate and ultra sonic weld together. The difference is resin color may be due to regrind % it would be rare to change resin type.

The difference that jumps out is eye color and that matters. Changing hooks changes action and sound, different paint lots changes the UV and IR colors, lots of variables to consider.

Bottom line is some cranks of the same brand, size and color out fish others.

Tom

Totally agree, but if one has a flaw that works in our favor, I would try to replicate that flaw. The one with the stuck ball is probably not possible to duplicate, but the slight rattle in a silent bait might be doable. I even have drilled holes in a Bandit 100 to let water in, after cracking one that took on water and caught a bunch of fish before it was too cracked thinking the water in side the bait changed the action. I haven't tried that bait yet, but will this year.

mixel reply :

absolutely paint can change sound because paint will change the surface texture. Ask anyone in the guitar world.

however, the total deviation from the mean of a group of those same types of lures is probably minimal. only way to tell would be so set up some tests in a controlled environment, measure to obtain results, and then analyze said results.

cgolf reply :

On 3/23/2017 at 2:36 AM, mixel said:

absolutely paint can change sound because paint will change the surface texture. Ask anyone in the guitar world.

however, the total deviation from the mean of a group of those same types of lures is probably minimal. only way to tell would be so set up some tests in a controlled environment, measure to obtain results, and then analyze said results.

I have a guitar tuner app for my Ipad, if I could find a consistent method to shake and hold the baits in the same spot, perhaps I could get some info out of that. That might be an interesting experiment to do. Wouldn't get the exact frequency, but it might work for comparisons.

WRB reply :

On 3/23/2017 at 3:09 AM, cgolf said:

I have a guitar tuner app for my Ipad, if I could find a consistent method to shake and hold the baits in the same spot, perhaps I could get some info out of that. That might be an interesting experiment to do. Wouldn't get the exact frequency, but it might work for comparisons.

The only results that matter is how bass react to the lure. Buy 6 each of the same lure/color and fish all 6, keep the lures that catch bass and sell the others.

Tom

BassWhole! reply :

On 3/23/2017 at 2:10 AM, cgolf said:

I even have drilled holes in a Bandit 100 to let water in, after cracking one that took on water and caught a bunch of fish before it was too cracked thinking the water in side the bait changed the action. I haven't tried that bait yet, but will this year.

I did the exact same thing after I cracked one on a rock. It caught bass like a champ. I patched it with epoxy. I think it was the slower rise, and slightly more subtle action/sound, but I don't know for sure. Now I drill them fill them with a syringe till I'm happy and then seal it with caulk. [move to early spring tactics]

BassThumb reply :

On 3/22/2017 at 2:12 AM, A-Jay said:

.

I wish I could get my baits to look like that, but unfortunately, I lose most of my crankbaits to northern pike before they can get more than a few scratches in them.

A-Jay reply :

On 3/23/2017 at 4:02 AM, BassThumb said:

I wish I could get my baits to look like that, but unfortunately, I lose most of my crankbaits to northern pike before they can get more than a few scratches in them.

I hear that ~

And a good bit of the butchery noted here can be attributed to northern pike.

Accordingly, this as well as many of the pike magnet baits I throw, are fished behind a foot or so of knottable wire.

A-Jay

cgolf reply :

Went through all my RESs that I can see through with a bright flashlight and found four with stuck rattles in the tail. Funny thing was the gill replacement bait I just got for Xmas had two stuck instead of one. Will be interesting to see how they work this summer. Now that I know, I will try a good and stuck rattles in the same color and see if I get different results.

mixel reply :

On 3/23/2017 at 3:16 AM, WRB said:

The only results that matter is how bass react to the lure.

Yes, but the OP was asking whether or not paint makes a difference with regards to sound emanating from the lure itself. Sure, since this a bass forum, it could be inferred the OP was really wondering if the paint would make a difference in the lures ability to attract bass and entice them to bite. But it's not the question he originally posed.

WRB reply :

Paint changes the color, would 1 layer of paint be different than 3 layers regarding sound...yes.

Does the slightly muted sound make any difference to bass? If you painted 12 lures white with 12 different suppliers of white all 12 would be identicle to a human eye and all 12 would look different under UV or IR light. Is sound more important than color? I catch bass on both wooden crank baits and hollow plastic crank baits with rattles, don't know before trying both first.

Tom

cgolf reply :

On 3/23/2017 at 9:15 AM, WRB said:

Paint changes the color, would 1 layer of paint be different than 3 layers regarding sound...yes.

Does the slightly muted sound make any difference to bass? If you painted 12 lures white with 12 different suppliers of white all 12 would be identicle to a human eye and all 12 would look different under UV or IR light. Is sound more important than color? I catch bass on both wooden crank baits and hollow plastic crank baits with rattles, don't know before trying both first.

Tom

This is where tossing the bone copper head RES where I have one with stuck rattles and another with them free, will give me an idea if it makes a difference. If I had a fully rattling bait last vacation would the musky have jumped at the bait as I was pulling it out of the water? All I know is they killed that bait, this summers test will be more telling because I will know which bait is different. Until last night I had no clue the gill bait had a stuck rattle.

Obviously rattles or no rattles make a difference since SK makes three versions of the RES and XCalibur had two versions. Even saw a new bait on TW that has two types of rattles in one bait. Just not sure if minor changes make enough of a difference, but will be marking the good baits this summer.

If I did buy multiples of certain colors and some were better than others I would want to know why. If I could pinpoint the reason and like someone said with the Cordell spots pick out the good baits in the store that would save me some cash and fishing time weeding out the bad baits.

With a lipless bait I would think sound matters much more than color, just due to the nature of how they are retrieved. A Jay's magic bait is proof of that.

Cranks4fun reply :

Regarding those RES with "stuck" weights: Somewhere on these forums in the past someone shared that they complained to Strike KIng about the QC and frequent stuck weights in RES baits. The Strike King rep suggested wrapping them in a towel and smacking them on a table to jar the weights loose. In fishing situations, how often do these baits with "stuck" weights have their weights jarred loose after rattling through water, banging on rocks/ wood, and being shaken in a bass' mouth? Are they relatively stable in their flawed condition?

Cranks4fun reply :

While digging through my hoarded baits hoping to find some "glued-up" RES lures, I found two really awesome-looking Rat-L-Trap colors. The one that is red craw/chrome on the bottom looks like a stab at blending the two favorite colors together. Both main forage types (shad & craw) in one bait. I need to get that one in the water. I also found that I have some silent RES. I have never chunked them either.

WRB reply :

No 2 crankbaits fish the same, no rattles, free rattles, stuck rattles, cracked, water filled, etc., keep what works.

Tom

Cranks4fun reply :

Yeah, I guess that confidence element is a big part of "what works" too. I definitely have confidence in the plain 1/2 oz Chrome/ blue trap. I would love to have confidence in those Red Eyed Shads but I haven't had any good days with them yet.

cgolf reply :

On 3/24/2017 at 11:47 PM, Cranks4fun said:

Regarding those RES with "stuck" weights: Somewhere on these forums in the past someone shared that they complained to Strike KIng about the QC and frequent stuck weights in RES baits. The Strike King rep suggested wrapping them in a towel and smacking them on a table to jar the weights loose. In fishing situations, how often do these baits with "stuck" weights have their weights jarred loose after rattling through water, banging on rocks/ wood, and being shaken in a bass' mouth? Are they relatively stable in their flawed condition?

They appear to be at least relatively stable, I had one with at least 10 fish on it including a decent musky and it stayed in place. I was able to smack some of them loose as well. Seeing that I have multiple baits that have this issue, they were never able to fully fix the problem, except it might not be a problem.

I did get a device to capture the frequency of the different baits, I will need to take multiple readings and try to capture the max value for each bait. It will be interesting, because I have an orange craw that sounds like it has half its balls stuck.

I will label the baits and as the summer progresses note which ones do better, stuck or unstuck, or heavy paint or minimal paint.

On 3/25/2017 at 12:39 AM, WRB said:

No 2 crankbaits fish the same, no rattles, free rattles, stuck rattles, cracked, water filled, etc., keep what works.

Tom

Agreed, but with all the R&D companies put in, I would imagine that the pitch of the rattles definitely plays a factor. The scientist part of me wants to know why one bait works better than the other. If they seem to want a bait with a certain pitch, i can give it to them. What I am finding with the RES is that the variability bait to bait seems to be pretty high. If I am buying them in store, I can of course check, but mailorder sites make it a crapshoot.

The other reason for doing the work of finding out what pitch each bait is in the off season, is that it will save me time on the water, I won't have to waste time weeding through all the baits in my box to find one that works, because to be honest, if they didn't hit the RES, I would try a rippin rap or XR 50 first.

WRB reply :

I have no idea what your back ground is? High production lures are never the same as pre production prototypes for the following reasons; multiple cavity molds on multiple injection molding machines and automatic fabrication of loading sound devices and ultra sonic welding. The end result is differences in action. A rattle BB may be stuck temporarily due to cold or hot temperatures for example or missing. All these variables affect how a lure performs.

Tom

cgolf reply :

On 3/25/2017 at 2:21 AM, WRB said:

I have no idea what your back ground is? High production lures are never the same as pre production prototypes for the following reasons; multiple cavity molds on multiple injection molding machines and automatic fabrication of loading sound devices and ultra sonic welding. The end result is differences in action. A rattle BB may be stuck temporarily due to cold or hot temperatures for example or missing. All these variables affect how a lure performs.

Tom

I am very analytical, keep a log of my fishing and have a list of baits that have caught fish for me on a couple of different bodies of water. For example when I saw two completely different tube colors work at different times on a clear body of water, with very little overlap, I spent time thinking about why it was, and came up with light penetration in the water and what the prey fish look like under the prevailing light conditions. While the colors are particular to this lake, the thought process serves me well on other lakes. This is why I am trying to figure out the rattles on the bait to see what works when, frontal bass, active bass, etc. I can use the data to figure out when a higher or lower pitch bait works best. Probably more info than I need, but it keeps me thinking about fishing even when I am not out there.

I do go with my gut at times too along with throwing random baits to expand my knowledge base and learn new stuff, but I feel the prefishing analysis helps me optimize my limited time on the water.

WRB reply :

Some of just go fishing to enjoy the outdoors, a few a curious why they catch bass. Being analytical is a trait that curious people share to seek answers. I was a curious youngster and one of the things the caught my attention was watching predators hunt prey. Living on a lake with bass population I could observe first hand how these predators behaved. What I learned was applied to my pursuit of catching bass that evolved to catching the biggest bass in the lake. There are no panaceas, the key is being at the right place at the right time with a lure with movement and the appearance the bass mistake as prey. Sound like clicks are something that is picked up by bass at close range, water displacement forming waves bass can detect at long range via their lateral line nerve system. Bass also have extremely good eye sight, put all this together so the lure doesn't give something negative.

Tom

scaleface reply :

I snorkeled a clear Ozark stream several years back . I would tap a fingernail against my watch and the bass would come have a look . This happened repeatedly up and down the stream . I would also tap rocks together and get the same results . What does it mean ? Who knows . My silent Red Eye Shad that makes a similar tapping sound is a killer bait . A-Jay reports the same thing .

cgolf reply :

On 3/25/2017 at 11:08 AM, scaleface said:

I snorkeled a clear Ozark stream several years back . I would tap a fingernail against my watch and the bass would come have a look . This happened repeatedly up and down the stream . I would also tap rocks together and get the same results . What does it mean ? Who knows . My silent Red Eye Shad that makes a similar tapping sound is a killer bait . A-Jay reports the same thing .

I have one of those too that I can't wait to toss this year. I have heard that smallies in particular are very curious fish, maybe because craws are a staple in their diet, especially River fish.

To the results, I found that some baits showed a wider frequency range, while others had a more narrow range. Some baits were centered on the top of the range while others were centered on the bottom. Haven't analyzed the results fully yet, but the biggest test will be on the water.

I will say that comparing the RES, RES 2 Tap, XR 50, Bill Lewis Trap, and a Rattling Rap, they were all in the same frequency range, so that must be pretty important. Now of course some were louder, different rattle sound, but the frequencies were pretty consistent across brands. One thing I didn't do was test multiples of other brands to see if they were more consistent than the RESs.

This was a really interesting experiment, now I will let the fish finalize the results:)

7400

RES do different colors have a different sound 2024

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