Probably 90 per cent of my crank baits are silent, I never did get into the noisy ones. For a while it was difficult to find baits that did not have noise makers inside, now it seems the trend is back to silent baits again.

What do you prefer and why?

Spooky fish or super tough bite = Silent or finesse for me.

Otherwise its noise, vibration and flash.

Both.

Good point!  I was wondering the same.  I have a ton of cranks that rattle, but not sure when, or where to use silent cranks.  Thanks for the advice.

I'm about to find out.  Bought a few of the new SK KVD 1.5 and 2.5 lures to try out this spring.

Good point! I was wondering the same. I have a ton of cranks that rattle, but not sure when, or where to use silent cranks. Thanks for the advice.

It usually comes down to water clarity for me. Obviously when its dark/dingy water conditions I pick up a rattling crank, and vice versa.

Also I exclusively fish rattles with deep cranks. I feel that the fish in that deep part of the water column are more incline to hit a bait with noise/rattling. A lot of that thinking comes from my experiences using both.

Most of my baits are balsa without rattles. A good design can move enough water that a bass can find it easily in chocolate milk colored water. I do have some baits that have a single ticker in them but not many. You'd be surprised how much noise the split rings and hooks moving around make.

If you will just go under water sometime and listen to baits you will be amazed. Even crankbaits without rattles can be heard 8-10feet away and if a human can hear them a bass certainlly can, plus the vibration that we can't feel can be detected by the bass. A bait with a rattle can easily be heard from 50feet away, sounds like a little man with a hammer in each hand.

Out here in our heavily pressured water silent square bills will out perform the rattling ones.   Probably because everyone is throwing noisy baits due to the dingy/murky water.  IMO.

I throw both letting the fish let me know what they want and they always do.

Tight Lines

Pa Angler