I found this old Rat-L-Trap in a unused tacklebox of mine, and its paint job was firetiger. Although it has dirt stained into it that I've tryed to wash out, and just can't manage to, its also missing some paint but its still pretty much firetiger pattern with a "dirty" like appear to it. Would you fish it with this ugly look to it? Or would you give it a paintjob?

I was planning to try painting it with nail polish and seeing if that would do the trick, what do you think? Also if I paint it with nail polish can I paint over the color with like a white or red or will the firetiger color show through. Whats your advice on fixing this lure up? Any paint ideas etc? Also it needs new hooks, but im sure I won't have a problem finding that.

when i was younger i liked to visit lakes tis time of year that was really low having the breast worked on and finding old crankbaits and that.  i found a real nice way to remake a lure  first sand off all the old paint but dont sand off any of the body or u will ruin the action   then replace the eyehooks in the spots if needed   after that  buy some different cans of nice spray paint  i like apple red and gloss black     i spray the body with the red real lightly then when dry spray again with red  and then spray the back or the bait black so the paint blends into one another   then i had the hooks to the bait   its time consuming but a fun thing to do in the winter and its satisfying to catch something on your own creation   have fun

Hmm, sounds good and I'll keep it in mind for the future, but im looking for a cheaper way of painting it. I don't believe I have any spray paint, so I could just buy a new rat-l-trap for the price of a can of spray paint. Is there a cheaper way? I heard somewhere aluminum tape? What do you think about the nail polish idea? Oh and thanks for the sanding tip, I never thought of that, and I'll definetly sand the paint off before I repaint the lure.

buy a new one.

buy a new one.

x2 or use as is. I don't think it's worth all the hassle to repaint a cheap lure. Those "ugly" lures sometimes catch even better!

Fish it "as is."   It will work fine.  

buy a new one.

x2 or use as is. I don't think it's worth the all the hassle to repaint a cheap lure. Those "ugly" lures sometimes catch even better!

R-Traps are one of those lures that will catch fish reguardless of what condition they are in. Some guys like to scuff them up right out of the box. Put some Gammakatsu hooks on and give it a try. I have found that you can have two of the exact same traps and one will outfish the other 10:1. Test it to see if it runs true and give it a try.

Agreed.I have had beat up cranks and rattle traps that didnt even have hardly any of the paint left on them and it seems the more beat up they get the more fish they catch.Have found a lot of dirty corroded lures in trees over the years and same thing,as long as I could replace the trebles and split rings they catch just fine.

Fish it as is.

I have the same bait in firetiger and silver/blue that I fished as a kid 10+ years ago. All I did was throw some new owner hooks on them and will change out the split rings when I get them in.

From what I hear beat up rattletraps can produce better than brand new ones. Again just what I heard.....not fact.

Put new hooks on it and fish it the way it is.

I used permanent markers on one and caught quite a few LMBs with it before I lost it to some under water structure.  Markers are a cheap way to fix up an old lure.

My theory:  If you think the lure isn't as purty as it ought to be, you might fishing it closer to potential snags (i.e, cover).  So, you'll either lose it (problem solved) or, because you're fishing it closer to the fish, you might find it's one of the best bait in your box.