EVERY TIME I GO FISHING,I HAVE A BILL LEWIS RAT L TRAP TIED ON.MY GO TO IS 1/4OZ BUT I RECENTLY STARTED FISHING 1OZ. AND 1 1/2OZ.  .INTIMIDATING TO THROW AT FIRST. MY FRIENDS CANNOT CATCH FISH ON THEM .IS IT THE RETRIEVE SPEED? JUST CURIOUS HOW MANY OUT THERE THROW BILL LEWIS,SIZE,AND RESULTS. I HAVE TRIED OTHER BRANDS,WITH LITTLE TO NO LUCK!

THE BIGGEST RAT L TRAP I THROW IS A 1/2 OUNCE RED CRAWFISH FOR COLD WATER PONDS AROUND WHERE IF FISH. Please dont yell on the forums!

Welcome to the forums. You should go introduce your self in the intro section. 

twocast - welcome to BR !  Just so you know, typing in ALL CAPS is considered to be the same as SHOUTING and is generally frowned upon.

To answer your question, I generally use lipless cranks in the 1/2 - 5/8 ounce range but do occasionally toss 3/4 and 1 ounce baits when I want to run deep and better hold that depth on the retrieve.

I mainly throw a 1/2 ounce I like to keep it simple.

NO SHOUTING ON AN ONLINE FISHING FORUM! MIGHT SPOOK THE ANGLERS...

 

I second the 'heavier for deeper' train of thought, although the only time I find myself throwing something heavier than 3/4oz. is when I'm targeting the toothy critters.

5/8oz for me almost exclusively. And pretty much these 3 are my go to.

• Spro Aruku Shad Perch
• H2O Xpress Rattlin' T Sexy Ghost
• Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap Red Crawfish

I don't even own a 1 ounce.  

Not the Bill Lewis but I use to fish a 1oz Super Spot a lot and did well with it. I still fish a 3/4oz RES or XR75 occasionally, but mostly stick to the 1/2 or 5/8oz baits. 

Not yo-yo them off the bottom!

I have a 3/4 trap that I use in the fall.  The bigger bait seems to work better than the 1/2 ounce size.

3/4oz red eye shad

I do own a 1 oz trap but I mainly throw 1/2 oz or 3/4. If I could only pick one size it'd be 3/4oz.

Most of the time I have a lipless tied on I'm ripping it through grass or yo-yo'ing it. Most of my fish have come out of the grass and I very rarely catch them on just a steady retrieve. 

Rat L Trap and Rapala Rattlin Rap are the only lipless cranks I throw.

1/2 oz, 3" Rat L Trap all the time. I keep a metallic gold one tied on because there are shiners where I usually fish. I have some smaller but the big ones seem to work even in winter. I might try a larger one, but it's grassy where I use them and they're already weed-fouled enough as it is. The trick is to keep them just above the weeds to trigger strikes. When I get in shallower water that gets difficult. I usually switch over to a Colorado blade spinnerbait then.

 

My buddy has a little better "luck" than I do when we're on this pattern. He uses a CC Super Spot that's a couple shades darker gold. His seems to be "in the weeds" less. I might go buy a Spot, but I have 2 Traps and they do well. No real need.

Biggest rattletrap I have EVER thrown?  Up at Lake of the Woods, Canada we've caught smallmouth (yes, SMALL mouths) using 1 1/2 ounce rattletraps.  And not just a few.  Sometimes that's the size they wanted.

i use 3/8 to 3/4. weight depends upon depth, sink rate needed, and possibly off setting the wind (posted in all lower case to quite things down using an 'indoor voice')

The past 10 years or so I've mostly used half ounce lipless cranks - various brands, but very similar weight wise.   I have a box of quarter ounce ones, that I haven't gotten wet in 5 years or so.   In December, a tackle store I frequent had some serious close outs and I got a dozen 3/4 oz Excalibur lipless cranks at $3.50 each.   They are only slightly bigger than the half ounce size I generally throw.   Since a large part of my lipless crank game is covering water, I think I'll be able to throw farther and cover more water - that is the plan, anyway.

One ounce on Lake fork, Texas. 1/2 ounce for about everything else..

Hello twocast and Welcome to Bass Resource ~  Please Lighten up on the All Caps.

The 3/4 & 1 oz Mag-Force Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap  comes with quality upgraded split rings & Treble hooks - catches fish.

The 3/4 oz Strike King Red Eye Shad  accounted for my PB as well as several other bass in the Beast category. 

Just started throwing it this season, The 6th Sense  S n a t c h  70 X Lipless Crankbait  weighs in a 5/8 oz but offers a decent size profile.  Catches fish too.

The above baits catch but when a lipless bait bite is on, for me the standard SK 1/2 Red Eye Shad is the confidence bait.

A-Jay

3/4" oz Red Eye Shad...I hope I don't get yelled at

I use some 1oz baits but that's for Stripers...other than that I basically only throw the 5/8 oz Spro Arukus

Normally throw quarters, but started throwing 1/2 ounce, last season, especially one in red craw. That one netted me a 2 pounder on a local lake where nobody was catching much of anything.

I almost always throw 1/2 ounce.

6 minutes ago, bonzai22 said:

I almost always throw 1/2 ounce.

Same here, I believe that is the biggest I own. As much as I love crankbaits, not a big fan of lipless cranks.

I throw a lot of the Xcalibur Xr75's for smallies and Largies.  I picked up some 25's and 50's more recently but that 3/4 oz size drives them wild here in Idaho with all the rattles.

 

I've got some 3/4 and 1 oz Xcalibur lipless crankbaits that I'll toss around every now and then. Not very often though.