Just curious I've been fishing them lately with no luck ..haven't used these in years and years..picked up a few the other day thanks.

Like a yo yo. Pick it up and let it fall. The mood of the fish and season determines how fast i do it. Very rarely do i just chunk and wind, and when i do chunk and wind, i add twitches, pauses, and i kill it over cover.

I usually vary the speed of my retrieve and yo-yo the bait up and down the column.  I usually end up burning them, I'm impatient.

The only real time I've had success with them is ripping them out of grass. Cast it out, let it sink, slowly reel until you hit grass, rip it up, reel, rip......

Like a yo yo. Pick it up and let it fall. The mood of the fish and season determines how fast i do it. Very rarely do i just chunk and wind, and when i do chunk and wind, i add twitches, pauses, and i kill it over cover.

X2. That yo-yo technique is my primary way to fish them. Cast, let it sink to the bottom (or desired depth). And then begin yo-yoing.

Ok thanks.. Haven't fished these in a long time..all I ever did with them was let them fall and reel them back slow

X2 on rippin them thru grass. One of the lakes i fish (Roanoke Rapids Lake) is COVERED in milfoild and hydrilla and a rattle trap is my go to.

Dude, if you have grass. Line your reel up with Fluoro, and when it hits the grass u will feel it, then snap your rod up sharply and let it fall. If you are on the fish, you will get bit.

My two favs are the Rapala Clackin Rap and thr Red Eye Shad.

Mainly a stop and go retrieve. If im on fairly clear water, I will burn it back to the boat and kill it about 10 yards before I finish my retrieve and just let it flutter down.

Mainly a stop and go retrieve. If im on fairly clear water, I will burn it back to the boat and kill it about 10 yards before I finish my retrieve and just let it flutter down.

That is what I usually do.

 

Will I have to try out the "yo yo" technique and ripping out of the grass this season.

I used to just vary my retrieve and try and bounce it off cover. I watched an episode of Facts of Fishing and Mercer was jigging it off the bottom and when he would find a ledge, he would yank it up and let it fall.

He was going bust on Smallies with tubes and plastics. Switched up to a Red Eye and this method and cleaned house.

That method is now on the bucket list!

Very aggressively! I like to do it over grass. Long cast on 15# fluoro, slow roll until your bait catches in the grass. Then I rip it V-I-O-L-E-N-T-L-Y out of the grass. I mean, get mad at it. Pretend you and that grass are mortal enemies. After you rip it, it falls as you take up the slack. That fall is when they choke it.

Rip em, drop em, burn em, twitch em, straight retrieve, vary the speed, yoyo, tick grass tops, rip em out of grass, flutter them... Red Eye Shads are endless.

The only other rattle bait I really use is the Aruku that I tend to fish more as a jig.

I fish them the way Rockchalk described. Sometimes I will go with a slow retrieve if that doesn't work, but there's very few times that method doesnt work.

Very aggressively! I like to do it over grass. Long cast on 15# fluoro, slow roll until your bait catches in the grass. Then I rip it V-I-O-L-E-N-T-L-Y out of the grass. I mean, get mad at it. Pretend you and that grass are mortal enemies. After you rip it, it falls as you take up the slack. That fall is when they choke it.

Pretty spot on to what I like to do. It seems sometimes you can't rip it hard enough through grass they just attack it. most of my bites come from that or med retrieve/burn and let it drop. seems the bite comes on the drop more often than not.

Yesterday in our club tourney, my son out fished me with a steady, fast retrieve, while I was yo-yoing, and ripping grass. They weren't aggressive but just loaded up the rod when reeling fairly fast. So try various retrieves until you figure it out.

Might as well consider the methods used by the angler who is at least partially responsible for the lure's design.

 

A-Jay

 

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Yo-Yo is most effective. Ripping grass second. Burn retrieve last.