What can I do to reduce hangups in standing timber with a rattletrap?

It 's the nature of the beast and there 's nothing you can do about it other than not fishing with a lipless crank where there 's timber, but as they say: if you are not fishing where your bait hangs up you are not fishing where they are.

for 1/2oz trap :

I place a no 2 st 36 owner in the front only

Take off the treble hooks and put a fairly short-shank single hook on the back (I use a circle type of hook) - - some baits will lose balance of behave negatively to this...some work fine.    

What can I do to reduce hangups in standing timber with a rattletrap?

Quite fishing timber or get use to hang ups  

for 1/2oz trap :

I place a no 2 st 36 owner in the front only

I do what Vyron does but instead of a #2 I go with the #1 and it's always a Gamakatsu. It doesn't make it completely snagless, but it will reduce the hang-ups by a good margin.

Hope this helps

Thanks for all the tips guys I neede to know because tommorow I'm fishin in a Jr. Club tournament that is fish anywhere and me and my dad are fishing Lake Graham. When it was built in the late 70s all the state did was cut out boat lanes and flood a forest. Now just about all the trees have broke off about a 1 1/2ft above the water. The fish are really chasing minnows right now so I figured a chrome/blue trap would be a great bait.

I seem to have better luck in timber with the wider bodied rattle baits such as XPS, Strike King Redeye Shad, XCalibur, etc.

ive used rat l traps, red eye shads and sinking rattle'n rapala's

and i still need more so i can match the hatch where ever i go   but im getting there.

oh before i lose my train of thought theres a product out i saw somewhere thats an o ring for traps and cranks so that if you get huntg up ya just give it a major pull and it opens up so you only lose the hook yall ever hear of this?

vyron's got it.

It 's the nature of the beast and there 's nothing you can do about it other than not fishing with a lipless crank where there 's timber, but as they say: if you are not fishing where your bait hangs up you are not fishing where they are.

+1   8-)

As a comparable alternative, spinnerbaits get through timber more easily and when they do hang up, they are relatively easy to retrieve.

A couple of other options:

Cut off the front facing hook of each treble.

Replace the trebles with doubles and face the hooks to the back of the bait. This is the better option since the hooks they come with aren't the best.

It won't completely get rid of all the hang-ups, but it will reduce them.

... alternatively you can use instead of o-rings mono line to attach the hooks on the lure. You may loose the hook but not the lure 8-)

what size mono line would you use?

i agree with roadwarrior about spinnerbaits

It 's the nature of the beast and there 's nothing you can do about it other than not fishing with a lipless crank where there 's timber, but as they say: if you are not fishing where your bait hangs up you are not fishing where they are.

+1 8-)

As a comparable alternative, spinnerbaits get through timber more easily and when they do hang up, they are relatively easy to retrieve.

Try a Bandit 100 series.  There not another crankbait I like better to throw in timber.  the square bill deflects off cover and is surprisingly snag free, and they flat catch fish.

personally I love hanging up ratltraps.

now i'm talking in grass not wodd, but rig that sucker outta there and hang on.

yeah ripping those traps outta weeds and grass to have a bite effect to dont they avid  ;D ;D

I've found if you pop the rod tip just as you feel the lure strike the branch, the lure will pop off. I think the nose catches on the branch and the rest of the bait pivots around it.

It works about 1/2 the time.  

what size mono line would you use?

one size smaller than what ur using on the main line or leader

The key to not getting hung up with a Rat-L-Trap is to keep reeling; if you hesitate or stop it'll get hung every time. Traps are like spinner baits if you keep them moving they're pretty weed less; I slow roll a trap through brush like spinner bait and hardly ever get hung up.

yeah i guess your right i wasnt thinking when i asked that one  ;D

what size mono line would you use?

one size smaller than what ur using on the main line or leader