Just wondering if anyone is still throwing and catching fish on old, beat-up rattle traps.  I've got two that the finish has come off on a bit.  I was thinking about puttting them away but was just wondering if they will still produce.

Rat-L-Trap type lures, well all lures as far as I'm concerned, never get "old". Lot's of "new" lures never produce and after trying them for awhile, they need to be retired. Lurers that "work" tend to continue to produce no matter what they look like.

Just wondering if anyone is still throwing and catching fish on old, beat-up rattle traps. I've got two that the finish has come off on a bit. I was thinking about puttting them away but was just wondering if they will still produce.

Absolutely!

The bone colored blank of a Rat-L-Trap can be deadly.

I would change the hooks if needed,which they are needed as soon as you take them out of the box.

they catch even more when they lose their color  

they catch even more when they lose their color

What he said^^^^

there like a fine whine better with age :) ;D :

I've had a few of my RT's for what seems like forever.  I've had them so long because they are one of my best producing baits.  

there like a fine whine better with age

^^ x2

they do seem to get better with time seems to me, the more beat up they are the more fish they catch, the beat up ones catch better than the new ones

I will take them out of the package and scratch them up on the asphalt brand new.    So yes, the more they looked "injured" , the beter I like them.

Matt

I have multiple traps with many "tours of duty" traps get beat up really easy but they seem to keep on truck'n.

i have a beat up bomber model a and it seems like it just keeps getting hit more and more... its going to be clear soon if it loses any more paint

i have a beat up bomber model a and it seems like it just keeps getting hit more and more... its going to be clear soon if it loses any more paint

I have a Lucky Craft RC 2.5 that is barely copper perch cause the paint is all but gone!!! Still works well too

Every crankbait has it's own fine characteristics and I don't mean types or brands,all of them.Especially traps.If you shake one,then shake another while putting them to your ear,you'll notice different pitches to the rattles.Lipped cranks and jerkbaits too.What I'm saying is if you got one that is a "fish catching machine"and the paint wears off of it,send it to me,it's no good anymore ! No,really,that lure has something about it the fish really like!It's usually the action.Not the paint.

I will take them out of the package and scratch them up on the asphalt brand new. So yes, the more they looked "injured" , the beter I like them.

Matt

I do the same thing as Matt.  Rat-L-Trap has gotten tons of reviews from customers saying that they catch just as many fish with a blank trap than a new one.  Take a brand new chrome/black trap and scrape it up.  It looks AWESOME in the water.

Every crankbait has some fine characteristics and I don't mean types or brands,all of them.Especially traps.If you shake one,then shake another while putting them to your ear,you'll notice different pitches to the rattles.Lipped cranks and jerkbaits too.What I'm saying is if you got one that is a "fish catching machine"and the paint wears off of it,send it to me,it's no good anymore ! No,really,that lure has something about it the fish really like!It's usually the action.Not the paint.

Very True-

My best trap is a silver w/blue back. It's so beat up it almost looks bone colored like CJ mentioned. As long as I still have that bait I'll still throw it. I have new ones, but for some reason this old bait catches fish and till it falls apart or lodges in a snag, I will use it.

My best trap is a silver w/blue back. It's so beat up it almost looks bone colored like CJ mentioned. As long as I still have that bait I'll still throw it. I have new ones, but for some reason this old bait catches fish and till it falls apart or lodges in a snag, I will use it.

It is a sad day when a trusty bait passes on... :'(

When I was a kid living in Miami, FL, I used to save all my old baits (plastics included) that caught nice fish, put them in a ziplock and write a note as to how many/what type/how big the fish were that the lure caught.  Sometimes a barracuda or something would just wrench apart a Rapala, so that the wire hook holders tore out of the body, and I'd still save those babies just so I could look at them and reminisce.  Ahhh, good times.  I wish I could find my old collection of those lures.

I take steel wool to them right out of the package.

As long at it still rattles, it will catch fish. One thing I do with my Rattle Traps is take off the rear treble hook. It rips through the weeds a lot better as it tends not to get hung up as easily. Also, nearly all of my hooks ups have been on the bottom hook.