Rattle traps and their color

[Kal-Kevin]

I'm not a big rattle trap person I turn to them only when nothing else is working. I can run a rattle fast and cover a lot of water in the hope to find fish that are feeding. The only one that works for me is this gold colored one that I run after I count down  to ten. What I would like to hear is there something that I can do to get better at them and some other color that will work for me up here in Michigan.

Thanks for your help on this.

Kal

[GotstaFish]

Try the chrome with blue back in the bleeding series.

[Fishaholic]

the only fish I ever caught on a trap was a blue/black/chrome combo...I got a bunch of em here and outside of the one, not one of em has been bit.

[GotstaFish]

also try ripping them through grass beds and working offshore humps. You can count this lure down and work them in a jerking motion at any depth.

[supermat]

I struggled with lipless baits for years! It seemed like I could hardly buy a bite when friends were slaying them with it. One day I slowed down until it seemed like the bait wasn't even vibrating.... its become a staple bait in my arsenal ever since. Try slowing down with the same color or a new one, it may change things for you. Personally, I throw 4 main colors. From rattle trap I throw a grey backed shad color and a brown back-red side-orange belly color. In lucky craft I throw "ghost minnow" and "american shad". That's about all I throw in them.

[Big Cat Hunter]

As a member of the Rat-L-Trap pro staff I would like to offer the following
This lure is one of my favorite search baits. I can work it from skinny water all the way down to deep points. This is the most productive bait on Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn in the spring when all the fish are headed to the bank to do there thing. I use them in the summer over grass, I let it hang just in the top of it and then rip it free, allow it to fall on slack line then rip it free again.
They are coming out with some new cool colors soon. But the best down here is Rayburn Red (Crawfish), Chrome, Chrome Blue, All the perch colors.
There will be some exciting news released at the ICAST show, So be on the look out for some new products from Rat-L-Trap   

[clubber]

I use more shad-raps than rattle traps. Main colors for me are the crawfish and gold. Gold works exceptionally well for me when there is an algae bloom going on. And I have done well on the rattle trap, red crawfish. I fish them mainly over wind blown points or any vegetation. I'm sure there are a lot of different ways to fish them, but this works for me.

[o2bfishing]

I found the Rat-L-Trap last year as a great tool for spring bass, it has worked great to cover water and produce strikes.  I use the 1/2 oz blue and silver mostly but depending on water clearity there are loads of colors to choose from

Steve

[Warpath]

I use diamond shads from Strike King in a handful of colors.  I use red crawfish in the spring, and as the spawn finishes up I switch over to some colors that depend on water clarity or cloud cover.

If it's sunny out and the water is to stained, I use chrome with a blue back or a black back.  If the water gets more stained than that< i have a chrome with a chartreuse back or a firetiger color that I prefer.  If it's cloudy out, I use a white one in clear to stained water, and switch to the firetiger color if the water is more than stained. 

I cast and wind them at different speeds and different depths.  I'm not real good at it, but you can actually skip these under trees and docks just the same as any other lure.  If you have grass present, crank it at a speed where you can touch the top of the grass and rip it away from it to get a reaction strike.

Eric

[Hawgwild]

Well..I'm a huge rattle trap fan and those lures have accounted for more fish in my boat that nearly all the others combined...

Colors..that could be a tough call as conditions are a litle different in Northwest Louisiana than in your state..but here is what works for me..

Early spring and on into summer the natural crawfish pattern works best for me...till the shad really start to come on...then several colors work well although I still will throw the crawfish one  on into the fall...

When the fish really start to feed on the shad chrome/blue will be a good choice, but another that did well for me was a 1/2 oz in Blue Streak..and sometimes the Bleeding Shiner color...These colors have a more subtle flash than the chrome baits and sometimes work better..especially when everyone else is throwing the chrome one...

A few other colors have worked at time including baby bass, and sometimes even a chartruese one....but unlike you, I've not done too well on the gold ones...just difference in locations I guess..

BTW: I generally use the 1/4 oz early in the year and then the 1/2 oz later on toward the end of summer, etc.

One of my favorite traps is called the "Spin Trap"...it is the one with the willow leaf spinner in place of the back hook..I do generally replace the front hook on these..the others I usually just stay with the factory hooks and keep a hone handy...Then run just a little more shallow that the regulay traps and are great for working shallow banks and over shallow grass flats....yes you loose some hookups with just the one hook, but I also feel I get more hits with the lure also...kind of a trade off..

It is also a great lure for a yo-yo type retrieve in deeper water...the willow leaf spinner just gives more action on the fall and I get many hits on the fall usint that retrieve....

Another tip..some times the fish hit the lure and no don't get hooked..when possible I immediately stop my retrieve and let the lure jsut fall...they come back and gobbled it up think they have injured what ever fish/creature they thought they were going after....

They also bump off cover better that many of the other lipless baits I've tried..they can really increase you odds of a strike..

You may also want to try some 200 and 300 series Bandits in similar colors...The 300 series will go a little deeper that the 200 or 100 series..could be a better choice working the debth you are fishing..

Scottie

[topcat]

Very good Rattlin Scottie...I also throw the lipless crank a lot love crankbait fishing....the one thing I would like to add to the already outstanding informations the reel you use I use a 5.1:1 for all of my crankbait fishing...even with the lipless baits I get more hits at that ratio than I do at the 6.3:1...this may help you when cranking a lipless bait and I use 16 lb test as opposed to 10 lb test when fishing shallow I like that bait to be off  the bottom...and when fishing deep water 10ft or better I use 10 or 8 lb test depending on the structure I am fishing.........

Topcat

[Jared LeBlue]

Lipless crankbaits and jigs are in same category as far likes and dislikes of the lures. People either love them or hate them. The reason is the same for both baits and it boils down to lack of confidence. I see people take a jig or a lipless crankbait and throw it for about 10 minutes and then put it down and grab something else. the same person will throw a spinnerbait for 3 hours without a bite and still fish it with all the confidence in the world. The bottom line is if you don't throw it and work it properly like you would with your favorite bait it's not going to produce. Like any other bait stick to the basic colors and you will be fine.