didn't want to hijack muddy's thread.

I have NEVER used a vibration or non ratling lipless crank

I always go with a balsa lipped crank when the situation calls for it.

What are the conditions that are "just right" for a non rattling vibe bait?

Zel uses them as a search bait. I asked the question Avid, because i throw Cabela's Version of the Jointed Glass Rap, into schools of breaking shad , miod lake. I go by the idea that when the bass are hitting a school, that bait sticks out, doenst act with the shad and I catch quite a few fish. THE ONE THAT ALWAYS WORKS BEST HAS A STUCK< BROKEN RATTLE  What a you want for 3 bucks. So i was thinking same pattern, with a lipless should work

I mostly use them in very clear water or when the fish are spooky.

I mostly use them in very clear water

What's clear water?

All the water I fish is stained.

If it's muddy........go home

but off color, is what we have down here except for phosphate pits or other places I have never been to.

Dom.........when the bass are schoolin and bustin shad is when the trap is in it's glory for me.

I also like the rico popper in that situation.....I have had two occasions where the bass were chasing the rico so hard they lept clean out of the water and crashed down on the bait mouth first......awesome..........better than wathcing a fat chick at an all you can eat buffet.  8-)

I usually utilize a lot of the same "rules" that I go by when fishing clear water as I do when I am fishing shallow water particularly under 4 foot.  Which means I will a lot of times use a bait with no rattle when fishing shallow water as well, as most fish in shallow water tend to be more spooky than the bass that are schooling or positioned on a wing dam, hump, brush pile when there is a lot of room to get away or very deep water close by.

Hope this helps,

Steve

What's clear water?

Water where you can see the bottom 30 ft below.

Just like most of my home lakes, those maddening kind of places where fish can see you and won 't bite  

I use a lipless crankbait as a search bait, but more importantly as a bass feeding activator. Rat'l'Trap calls the sound it makes "Liv-N-Sound," which is supposed to reproduce the life-like sound of a distressed baitfish. Studys show distressed baitfish activate bass into feeding. I remember reading once that the BSX Biosonix Fish Attractor Unit ($699) is based upon the sound of a Rat'l'Trap. So a lipless crankbait is my "poor man's Biosonix." I usually start out with a lipless crankbait in a new area. But when I pull up to an area, and I'm throwing a worm and nothing bites, I'll follow it up with a lipless crankbait for about 5 casts, and then go back to the worm again. It really works at times for me, and seems to activate the bass into feeding.

Who knows, maybe I'm just overthinking the whole thing. :

Avid I use them any time on the water, they are a fish catching machine. I have drilled the center of the bait and taken the rattles out

but the bait doesn't work good any more. :

Avid I use them any time on the water, they are a fish catching machine. I have drilled the center of the bait and taken the rattles out

but the bait doesn't work good any more. :

Take a look at the other Lipless thread, without rattles!

I like them in almost any shallow condition with decent visibility - - especially for pressured fish!    

One of the big differences in silent vibes is the sink rate....you can fish the bait more slowly if need be, and drop it by stuff with a more natural fall.  Of course, I commonly fish vibes like a worm - - especially on deep rocky banks - - so I think of lipless cranks as something you can fish at almost any depth or speed.  

I have a Mamiya-OP lipless crank that is just nuts.  I took the front hook off and replaced the back with a single.....you can get crazier moves out of that thing than you can with a Pointer.       Plus, this particular bait nose-stands, and vibrates at even the slowest crawl.  You can do a lot of cool stuff with lipless cranks!