Fishing the Rat-L-Trap Successfully

The Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap is one of the most effective year round lures that I fish. It comes in several different weights and many colors, but I usually limit it to the ½ oz blue and chrome.

The Rat-L-Trap is most effective in water 7 feet or less. During the past couple of Years I have had many clients that do not normally fish the Rat-L-Trap at all for Various reasons. The largest complaint I get is that they lose many fish while fishing the Rat-L-Trap.

I’ve fished the Rat-L-Trap for years and have used several different methods for keeping the fish on the line and into the boat. The following is what I have found that works best for me.

First thing is to change the hooks to a sharper premium hook such as Mustad, Gamakatsu, or Eagle Claw Pro series Lazer sharp, Replace the stock hooks with a # 4 and # 6 hook ( sure pays to have a good set of split ring pliers to do this with).

Next is the line selection,. This has proved to be important to me. I use 15 lb line on my setup. It is also important to select a line that does not have a lot of stretch. I use P-Line X-strong Copolymer. Some lines such as Berkley big game have more stretch and sometimes will cause me to lose fish. Another benefit of using the 15 lb test line is that the Rat-L-Trap sinks slower.

Another consideration is rod selection, which is very important, For me the best rod is a rod that is somewhat stiffer than a normal crankbait rod or spinner bait rod. It is also true for me that a graphite rod has many advantages over a fiberglass rod in this case. The best length I have used is 6’ 6".

The retrieve is also important. Most always I will use a YO-YO retrieve on the Rat-L-Trap. This presentation will work excellent in shallow water. Because of it’s design the Rat-L-Trap works excellent in windy conditions.

The Rat-L-Trap is one of the most used baits in box. It will catch fish. I have found out with experience that the above tips will help you land more fish on the Rat-L-Trap.

By: Larry S. Rosser