Rattle traps

[pig n jig]

I was amazed by all of the responses saying a rattle trap is their stay away bait and that they don't work for them.

Let me try to get you started on the right path to catch fish with a trap.

1.First thing is reel speed.Most people try to use their crankbait reels for a trap since its a lipless crankbait right ? Most generally you need a faster reel for traps than you will use for crankbaits.

2.Baitfish don't really swim in a straight line.When fishing a trap , move you rod tip slowly right to left or left to right.Another thing is to move the rod tip up and down or pause or alter the speed as your retreiving the lure.

3. you want to keep your lure in the strike zone.Grass and traps work together to catch bass. When fishing grass, you want the trap to tick the tops of the grass on the retreive.

Many people get frustrated when trying to keep the trap from getting snagged in the grass on the retreive.If your snagging in grass you need to change to a heavier line or lighter bait or faster reel speed.

A heavier diameter line will hold your lures higher in the water colum on the retreive.if your having trouble ticking the grass, you may want to go to a thinner line.

Traps come in different sizes and weights.if your using a trap and its getting buried in the grass repeatedly or not hitting the grass at all, you can change the lure weight to adjust to getting the lure in the desired strikezone

Reel speed can help your trap travel at a faster rate so it doesn't bury down in the weeds as easily.I like a retreive rate of 25" or more per turn of the handle for traps.A 6.3:1 gear ratio will usually fall in that range nicely.

know your traps.All are not created equal for there are many different designs with the lipless line up.For example.

A Lucky craft LV500 Max trap will spiral as it falls through the water on the cast.It will foul up on the line easier than anything.You need to start your retreive as the lure enters the water so it doesn't foul on the slack line.

A spro Aruku shad and Luhr Jensen sugar shad will remain in an upright postion when the retreive is stopped or yo yo'd. When fishing bass on beds , the trap will sit upright when presenting the lure.

A red eye shad is an excellent yo yo presentation style bait. I get more bites with this trap on the fall from the baits design than any other I have tried.Use a yo yo presentation or pause the bait on the retreive more often to allow the fall of the lure on the retreieve and hopefully you will see better results when using the red eye shad lure as I have.


I am not good at typing what I want to express, but I hope this post will help clear up some of your trouble catching fish with a trap bait. If anyone has any thing to add, don't hesitate to add it.Hopefully I can learn something else to try a well.I love the trap for its capable of fishing different depths on the natural lakes that I fish.

Another thing, don't put that red trap up after spring, it works for me throughout the year, it seems to shine at ice out though. Ivan

[Tall]

While doing an internet search last year I ran across tip # 2 and that seem to help for me. The movement of the rod. Seems like a little thing but just may be what you need in clear water.

[pawpaw]

Ivan,

This is the best info I have ever read about using "Traps". I have caught my share of fish using this bait but have never used it as a "go to" bait. After reading some of the post on this forum, I tried the "Trap" on my last fishing trip I posted and caught two good fish using it. I have always used the yo yo motion when fishing it but never tried the side to side motion. Makes a lot of sense!! Thanks for sharing some very good info!

[quenston]

pnj I use the trap alot and thought I knew how to fish them until you posted this and now I know alot more thanks a million for the great info!!

[Joel]

Just an excellent post Pig n Jig. I use to get frustrated with my Rattle Traps getting hung up in the weeds, and catching nothing while working along a weed bed edge. switching from a 1/2 oz to a 1/4 oz trap worked wonders (spinning setup for the 1/4 oz traps). As you pointed out, lipless cranks work best by moving your rod tip up and down, as well as right and left. yo yo'ing works great along a weed bed edge.

I was shown two modifications for my Traps several years ago by one of Masters of the Reservoirs. One was to remove the back hook. The 2nd was to up the size by 1 of the bottom hook. Naturally I didn't believe it would work. The vast majority of weed snags were on the back hook, while most of my hookups were on the bottom hook. The exact opposite to what I thought it should be.

[pig n jig]

Thank you for the kind words and Joel, Thank you for adding some great information.

It used to be whenever you bought a Bill Lewis Rat L trap, as soon as you were home,you upgraded the hooks on them.The original hooks were junk. Ivan

[zooker]

lipless baits the original idiot bait..cause any idiot can catch fish on them..

to me the lipless bait has it place mostly i perfure slowrollin one over bare bank areas..
which lizzy lernt the hard way. when i caught 3 fish off a rock the size of a soccer ball..



zooker

[woody]

Like others have said, excellent post pin n jig and thanks for putting that together for us.
Something else that has helped me to catch bass on bright sunny days is the color Chrome and Blue back, this colored trap looks identical to the shad that the bass are feeding on.

[bamabassman]

woody... that is the mrs FAVORITE cranking bait,lmao. she caught her personal best with that rattle trap, 3#,8 oz.

[Joel]

Originally Posted by woody

Like others have said, excellent post pin n jig and thanks for putting that together for us.
Something else that has helped me to catch bass on bright sunny days is the color Chrome and Blue back, this colored trap looks identical to the shad that the bass are feeding on.

Woody, I completely agree. My favorite colors are chrome/black back, or on overcast days Gold/black back is my go to color. I've tried the Shad colored Traps but rarely does it produce for me. So all I carry these days are 2 of each in 1/2 oz and 1 of each in 1/4 oz. I've switched the bottom hooks to Red ones. Don't know if it makes any difference, but they do look real nice.

[pig n jig]

I got a couple of Rapala clack n raps for Christmas as well. 1 silver color and 1 bone chartreuse color.Anyone use these yet ? Pnj

[Rebbasser]

One thing to add to what PnJ said: If you are you using an original Lewis Rat-L-Trap, either sharpen or better yet change the hooks. The stock hooks are about as sharp as a Q-tip right out of the box.

[flfireman]

Amen brother. I have 2-3 traps in different size and colors tied on every time I fish. Everything you said is dead on. I also must say Rebs comment is very true also. I switch all my Traps over to #4 Daiichi trebles, all red(they were bulk and cheap) Love them, love the action and the #4 even work well with the Magnum traps(my top producer). I have become very proficient with these in various conditions. Like the Great Zooker said they are very easy to use.

[Frogman51]

Originally Posted by Joel

Just an excellent post Pig n Jig. I use to get frustrated with my Rattle Traps getting hung up in the weeds, and catching nothing while working along a weed bed edge. switching from a 1/2 oz to a 1/4 oz trap worked wonders (spinning setup for the 1/4 oz traps). As you pointed out, lipless cranks work best by moving your rod tip up and down, as well as right and left. yo yo'ing works great along a weed bed edge.

I was shown two modifications for my Traps several years ago by one of Masters of the Reservoirs. One was to remove the back hook. The 2nd was to up the size by 1 of the bottom hook. Naturally I didn't believe it would work. The vast majority of weed snags were on the back hook, while most of my hookups were on the bottom hook. The exact opposite to what I thought it should be.

Joel If you would take those mono and fluro leaders off and just use your braid you can rip those rattletraps out of that grass, I havent lost one yet. that's what the pros do. Good fishing Please go to this web site and you'll learn something about braid and when to use it.
http://www.fishin.com/articles/MikeG...ishingline.htm