Anyone have any experience with these lures? Interested in both good and bad experiences as well as tips on how to get the most out of them. They were definitely out of my price range, but I was lucky enough to win Spro’s giveaway today and will be getting one each of their 30, 40, and 50 sizes. 

I have the 40 in morning dawn. Just a slow crank, just enough to get it swimming in an "s" motion. My favorite topwater lure! I cant wait to try the 50 out. 

I fish the 40 in the brown color.  Not a ton of time with it but it has caught me some good fish.  I did not want to go so heavy i had to toss it on a dedicated sb rod.  I feel as its a great size all around and its plenty big.  

I have no experience with the size 30 or 40, lots with the original size 50. 

You need a moderate action heavy power swimbait rod for the large size rat. It's a surface wake bait with a tail and a simple retrieve works best along weed or reed  breaks where rats tend to swim.

Tom

Prepare to lose tails.  Bring a box of toothpicks and a pack of roboworms for replacements.

 

Ive used 30 and 40...love the 40.  30 requires pretty light tackle as it wants to dive.  Some days they just kill the rat and youll know pretty quickly aftrr a few casts....other days they dont want it at all.  Ive caught dinks on the 40 and have caught tanks.  Its exciting as you just never know

Sounds like I’ll be putting the 50 up for sale from what you guys are saying. I’m not about to buy a whole new set up just to fish one bait and then, inevitably, buy a bunch of new baits because I have a new rod that can throw them. Heaviest rod I’ve got is a 6’ 9” MH. I usually run it with 50lb braid for my frogs, jigs, and anything else I want to throw in this local lillypad choked pond I fish. 

Remember these rats have treble hooks and Lilly pads pond may not be a good choice.

Tom

 

7 hours ago, BrackishBassin said:

Anyone have any experience with these lures? Interested in both good and bad experiences as well as tips on how to get the most out of them. They were definitely out of my price range, but I was lucky enough to win Spro’s giveaway today and will be getting one each of their 30, 40, and 50 sizes. 

I haven't ever used any of these, but I'm famous around here for catching a 10+ on a Live Lure Mouse Hollow Body.  I just threw on two treble hooks and bullet weight to make it go under water.  Fished it like an up and down roller coaster in the deeper water of the pond.  Cheaper and less rod strength needed.

Using a standard MH fast bass rod you are limited to the weight of the rats.

30 is 3.25" long body less the tail that weighs 1/2oz.

40 is 4" long body less the tail that weighs 1 oz.

50 is 5.25" long body less the tail that weighs 2 1/2 oz.

The 40 is pushing a MH standard bass rod, you may need to lob cast in lieu of trying to cast for distance.

Tom

 

I have the 40. I think your 6'9" MH would work for the 30 and 40 sizes. A slow wake works but also give walking it a shot. It does a good job of staying in place and combine a couple back forth twitches with some long pauses right in a pocket in the pads and hold on. I'd recommend 40lb braid for your setup and the cover you'll be fishing. 

I use the 30 in chrome and 40 in morning dawn for smallmouth and they love it. The 50 is a good bait too but I prefer a Slammer to the rat so I didn't fish it enough to feel the need to keep it. 

11 hours ago, WRB said:

Remember these rats have treble hooks and Lilly pads pond may not be a good choice.

Tom

 

 

Believe it or not, I most frequently fish that pond with one of 3 baits - frog, whopper plopper, or popper. I upgraded the hooks to saltwater versions of the same size trebles. When they get stuck in pads, which they inevitably do, I just yank them out. Half the time they get slammed after I do. With the rat, I’d be more concerned about stuff getting up between the segments constantly and messing up the action. So, I’ll probably stick to fishing the rats at a local lake and pond that have less cover on the surface of the water. 

7 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

I have the 40. I think your 6'9" MH would work for the 30 and 40 sizes. A slow wake works but also give walking it a shot. It does a good job of staying in place and combine a couple back forth twitches with some long pauses right in a pocket in the pads and hold on. I'd recommend 40lb braid for your setup and the cover you'll be fishing. 

 

The MH has 50lb braid on it already, so it sounds like I’ll give it a shot and see how it works out. Shame they don’t be here by Friday. Someone got a day off work where daycare is still open. Plan on spending the whole day at the lake, beating the bank. 

On 07/11/2017 at 10:38 PM, WRB said:

Remember these rats have treble hooks and Lilly pads pond may not be a good choice.

Tom

 

I got a Hippy colored one in 50 and had a great couple of days on it. I was amazed at how often it would get bit on even the smallest of ponds.  

 

Then I started throwing it too close some pads and as I was getting cocky, I tried to get too close and and lost it.  I am going to buy a pair of them on BF.  

Got the lures today along with a luggage tag and a bunch of stickers. My god! That 50 is ridiculous! Definitely going to sell that one. The other two might see some use this summer. We just had a heck of a cold front run through here. Seems like it may shut things down for quite a bit. Only caught one today in 3 hours. 

If it's a hippy colored Rat (morning dawn is the real name I think?), I will take it!

 

But you should keep it, they are a blast and I have been shocked how well big baits have been working in small MD waters.  

12 hours ago, fishwizzard said:

If it's a hippy colored Rat (morning dawn is the real name I think?), I will take it!

 

But you should keep it, they are a blast and I have been shocked how well big baits have been working in small MD waters.  

 

It’s the brown one. The size 40 they sent me was the ‘hippy color’ and size 30 was chrome.

 

I would love to fish it, just to see if I could actually get something to bite a lure that big. Unfortunately, I don’t have a rod that will throw something like that. Well, that’s not entirely true, I do have a rod that will throw it, but I’m not dragging my 10’ extra heavy surf rod down to the lake just to throw one lure. I would wear myself out 30 minutes throwing repeated casts with that thing.

Small fish will hit them, this guy smahed the 50 you see at my feet. 

http://imgur.com/4JZVWW7[\img]

You could get away with fishing the 50 on a heavy flippin stick or a punch rod. The BBZ rats get bit. Don't be intimidated by the size. 

I missed and lost a lot of rat bass using too heavy tip action swimbait heavy rods, a rod with less power and a more moderate action worked far better. The best rod I had for the 50 size rat is the original Okuma Giude Select 7'10" swimbait rod rated 1-5 oz lures. I would suggest Irod Swimbait Jr or Dobyns FR795SB for 50's, Irod Freds Magic IRG 754F for the 40's or similar rods.

Tom

Appreciate the suggestions guys, but I’m not in the market for a rod specifically to fish this bait. I’d upgrade my MH combo (BlackMax combo right now.) before I’d drop money on a rod I’d rarely fish (punching/heavy duty flipping), since I’m strictly a bank beater.