Bill lewis Rat-L-Trap lures

MrMakk · 12-27-11, 12:00 PM

How well do you folks across the pond do with em?

I just had an impulse buy with one of these. I'm now looking through the net, not many folk selling them over her and there is some very good talk about this type of lure.......... especially regarding the bass fishing over where you guys are.

Anyway heres a clicky to the lure

joedog · 12-27-11, 01:20 PM

Bill Lewis I believe was the originater of the lipless crank, which is used by almost every single bass fisherman on this side of the pond at some point. Great search bait. So many ways to fish, straight retrieve, yo-yo, rip and stop, I even know folks that troll them. Great for fishing over grass or vegatation. Can easily (at least easier) remove most grass and vegatation with a couple of snaps of the wrist. I would venture to say, It may be the most popular lipless on the market. Now understand alot of folks probably started lipless with Lewis but over here almost every crank producer has at least one line of the lipless in thier line up. As with all lures, individuals find one brand that just seems better for them. Usually if tournament fishing a new body of water, the Pros will have at least one poll set lipless.
Your impulse (or the monkey's impulse) was very wise this time. Good for large mouth, small mouth, strippers even pike and crappie. You will or at least should get alot of use of this lure. It's good over hard bottoms of rock and gravel too. The most recent fad over here is the one-knocker, simply one pellet as opposed to multiple BBs making the rattle sound. Creating big following over here.
Good fishing to you.
Hey where your at, can you fish year round or are there seasons that the water freezes during?

bassboogieman · 12-27-11, 01:33 PM

Rattletraps are a good bait - but they come with lousy hooks. There are many similiar baits to the original traps, but if I buy a Bill Lewis trap it gets new hooks before it goes in the tackle box.

Bassboss · 12-27-11, 01:53 PM

Love em! Definitely my best producing hardbait of any kind last year. I like to rip em through the grass early in the spring!

MrMakk · 12-27-11, 03:06 PM

interesting, very interesting

but as I mentioned there are not many folk that sell em here in Blighty, only two places that i know of at this very moment. one is ebay very few in the UK and the other is a supplier here in the UK too, that imports the old stock from a few place over there from the states, but as the same very few to choose from.

the way I feel these should work well on a local lake that is full of perch and a section of a canal I fish.....plenty of perch, pike and chub swimming around in there so there is plenty of fish that'l be likely to have a go at the lure.
With regards to the chap asking of my location and seasons, I'm born and bred here in the UK, Nottingham(Robin Hood county), regiards to the seasons By law over here the statutory coarse fish close season applies between 15 March and 15 June (inclusive). It applies on all rivers, streams and drains in England and Wales, and to some canals and some stillwaters. but traditionally the predator season is Oct-March but some still fish throughout the whole year (myself included.)

bamabassman · 12-27-11, 05:57 PM

mrmakk, the rattle trap is one of lisa and mine's FAVORITE baits. our favorite color is the chrome with a blue back. lisa caught her personal best on a rattle trap. 4#11oz. does this help oyu out buddy? lol.

WatterBoy · 12-27-11, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassboogieman

Rattletraps are a good bait - but they come with lousy hooks. There are many similiar baits to the original traps, but if I buy a Bill Lewis trap it gets new hooks before it goes in the tackle box.

Hey Boogie, I was sharing your post with my fishing buddy who throws the Bill Lewis Rat-L-Traps all the time. Could you elaborate on what makes the hooks they come with lousy? Too dull or ???????

He uses the 3/4 oz size most often. Any thoughts on what brand/size/type of hook you would use as a replacement on those? Thanks!

And to MrMakk, my friend has great luck with them -- he caught his personal best walleye (30.5") and LM bass (20.0", 5lb 13oz) with them last year. He uses them quite a bit with good success, but I'm not (yet) much of a crank/rattletrap guy, so I use them only sparingly.

bluebasser86 · 12-27-11, 08:57 PM

Not a big fan of the orginal rattle trap except for white bass but Excalibur XR50 and XRK50 are two of my favorite hardbaits I've ever fished. I would for sure try them since your fish probably don't see them very often.

bassboogieman · 12-27-11, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Hey Boogie, I was sharing your post with my fishing buddy who throws the Bill Lewis Rat-L-Traps all the time. Could you elaborate on what makes the hooks they come with lousy? Too dull or ???????

I find them to be dull and they bend pretty easily. I replace them with Owner Stinger-36 hooks of same size. But like the post above, I don't use a lot of Bill Lewis traps anymore, I really like the Excalibur XR50 lipless cranks, as well as the Koppers Live Targets and Lucky Craft LVR-D10, and those baits all come with good hooks.

WatterBoy · 12-27-11, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassboogieman

I find them to be dull and they bend pretty easily. I replace them with Owner Stinger-36 hooks of same size. But like the post above, I don't use a lot of Bill Lewis traps anymore, I really like the Excalibur XR50 lipless cranks, as well as the Koppers Live Targets and Lucky Craft LVR-D10, and those baits all come with good hooks.

Good info. Thanks!

WTL · 12-27-11, 11:23 PM

Welcome to the board MrMakk. Those traps should be great for coarse species. I hear pike are starting to get abit of a following in the uk. Last time I went across the big lake, I actually took just a handful of bass lures just in case - but ended up spending my time dabbing for parr and tiny trout with wet flies.

MrMakk · 12-30-11, 06:25 PM

first one came today, I'm impressed with the build quality of it, and I'll be totally honest I was expecting it to be tacky and cheaply made for the price I got it. and now I've ordered a few more!

joedog · 12-30-11, 11:01 PM

MrMakk, just read that the Rattle trap is the WORLDS number one selling lure!
I think your going to enjoy.

keithdog · 01-02-12, 12:08 AM

Hey Makk, don't be suprised if you get quite a few pike on your Rattle Traps, especially since they probably havn't seen any from what you said. Let us know how you do!

MrMakk · 01-05-12, 03:47 PM

well first session of the new year and the first session with the lighter lures.........

they're definitely going to be in the tackle box......

I'll do a full report in a moment time

bamabassman · 01-05-12, 08:19 PM

Awesum mr makk!!!!!!

Bassboss · 01-05-12, 08:24 PM

Nice fish Mark! Great baits, the pike tear em up here too!

12-27-11, 01:20 PM	#2
joedog BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: JANESVILLE,WI. 53545 Posts: 3,415	Bill Lewis I believe was the originater of the lipless crank, which is used by almost every single bass fisherman on this side of the pond at some point. Great search bait. So many ways to fish, straight retrieve, yo-yo, rip and stop, I even know folks that troll them. Great for fishing over grass or vegatation. Can easily (at least easier) remove most grass and vegatation with a couple of snaps of the wrist. I would venture to say, It may be the most popular lipless on the market. Now understand alot of folks probably started lipless with Lewis but over here almost every crank producer has at least one line of the lipless in thier line up. As with all lures, individuals find one brand that just seems better for them. Usually if tournament fishing a new body of water, the Pros will have at least one poll set lipless. Your impulse (or the monkey's impulse) was very wise this time. Good for large mouth, small mouth, strippers even pike and crappie. You will or at least should get alot of use of this lure. It's good over hard bottoms of rock and gravel too. The most recent fad over here is the one-knocker, simply one pellet as opposed to multiple BBs making the rattle sound. Creating big following over here. Good fishing to you. Hey where your at, can you fish year round or are there seasons that the water freezes during? __________________ "Fishing isn't life or death... it's more important than that."

12-27-11, 01:53 PM	#4
Bassboss BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Shawano, WI Posts: 7,761	Love em! Definitely my best producing hardbait of any kind last year. I like to rip em through the grass early in the spring! __________________ If you can't fix it with heavy squats or fish oil, you're probably going to die.

12-27-11, 03:06 PM	#5
MrMakk BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: UK Posts: 118	interesting, very interesting but as I mentioned there are not many folk that sell em here in Blighty, only two places that i know of at this very moment. one is ebay very few in the UK and the other is a supplier here in the UK too, that imports the old stock from a few place over there from the states, but as the same very few to choose from. the way I feel these should work well on a local lake that is full of perch and a section of a canal I fish.....plenty of perch, pike and chub swimming around in there so there is plenty of fish that'l be likely to have a go at the lure. With regards to the chap asking of my location and seasons, I'm born and bred here in the UK, Nottingham(Robin Hood county), regiards to the seasons By law over here the statutory coarse fish close season applies between 15 March and 15 June (inclusive). It applies on all rivers, streams and drains in England and Wales, and to some canals and some stillwaters. but traditionally the predator season is Oct-March but some still fish throughout the whole year (myself included.) __________________ Alex,

12-27-11, 05:57 PM	#6
bamabassman BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: cedar bluff, alabama Posts: 15,292	mrmakk, the rattle trap is one of lisa and mine's FAVORITE baits. our favorite color is the chrome with a blue back. lisa caught her personal best on a rattle trap. 4#11oz. does this help oyu out buddy? lol. __________________ so many lures, so little time.

12-30-11, 06:25 PM	#12
MrMakk BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: UK Posts: 118	first one came today, I'm impressed with the build quality of it, and I'll be totally honest I was expecting it to be tacky and cheaply made for the price I got it. and now I've ordered a few more! __________________ Alex,

12-27-11, 12:00 PM	#1
MrMakk BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: UK Posts: 118	Bill lewis Rat-L-Trap lures How well do you folks across the pond do with em? I just had an impulse buy with one of these. I'm now looking through the net, not many folk selling them over her and there is some very good talk about this type of lure.......... especially regarding the bass fishing over where you guys are. Anyway heres a clicky to the lure __________________ Alex,

12-27-11, 01:33 PM	#3
bassboogieman BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Parkesburg, Pa. Posts: 3,762	Rattletraps are a good bait - but they come with lousy hooks. There are many similiar baits to the original traps, but if I buy a Bill Lewis trap it gets new hooks before it goes in the tackle box.

12-27-11, 08:57 PM	#8
bluebasser86 BassFishin.Com Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Gardner, KS Posts: 605	Not a big fan of the orginal rattle trap except for white bass but Excalibur XR50 and XRK50 are two of my favorite hardbaits I've ever fished. I would for sure try them since your fish probably don't see them very often.

12-27-11, 11:23 PM	#11
WTL BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Huntsville, Al Posts: 7,466	Welcome to the board MrMakk. Those traps should be great for coarse species. I hear pike are starting to get abit of a following in the uk. Last time I went across the big lake, I actually took just a handful of bass lures just in case - but ended up spending my time dabbing for parr and tiny trout with wet flies. __________________ Selling live waterdogs for less since 2005.

12-30-11, 11:01 PM	#13
joedog BassFishin.Com Super Veteran Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: JANESVILLE,WI. 53545 Posts: 3,415	MrMakk, just read that the Rattle trap is the WORLDS number one selling lure! I think your going to enjoy. __________________ "Fishing isn't life or death... it's more important than that."

01-02-12, 12:08 AM	#14
keithdog BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: IN Posts: 8,308	Hey Makk, don't be suprised if you get quite a few pike on your Rattle Traps, especially since they probably havn't seen any from what you said. Let us know how you do! __________________ Just one more cast, and then some!

01-05-12, 03:47 PM	#15
MrMakk BassFishin.Com Active Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: UK Posts: 118	well first session of the new year and the first session with the lighter lures......... they're definitely going to be in the tackle box...... I'll do a full report in a moment time __________________ Alex, Last edited by MrMakk; 01-05-12 at 04:11 PM.

01-05-12, 08:19 PM	#16
bamabassman BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: cedar bluff, alabama Posts: 15,292	Awesum mr makk!!!!!! __________________ so many lures, so little time.

01-05-12, 08:24 PM	#17
Bassboss BassFishin.Com Premier Elite Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Shawano, WI Posts: 7,761	Nice fish Mark! Great baits, the pike tear em up here too! __________________ If you can't fix it with heavy squats or fish oil, you're probably going to die.

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)