Does anyone recomend using a rat-l-trap anymore or are they old fashioned?

use em! they might be old but they still work...

a few months ago

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1205126064/0

just a few weeks ago (last 3 fish)

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1210804036

I still use them and have caught some nice bass on them. The one in my avatar was caught on a Knami shad rattle, it was 6lbs 8ozs.

I used em' a lot in the spring but in my opinion unless you hit the right time of day as far as when they are aggressive and feeding right now the bites are limited.  But you always get a chance at a big fish when tossing these.  So if you can find some fish that maybe aren't even aggressive and put it right on top of them burning it you can get some great reaction strikes.

It's a very versatile bait and it can be worked in so many ways that it's always a good option.  I just think this time of the year there are better bets like plastics and spinners and slowly but gradually working in the top waters over the next few weeks or so (since we are post spawn).

So yea they are definately a great bait, just have to use them at the right times and vary your retrieves to see what will work on the fish that given day.

My favorite Rattles are the Original Rat L-Trap in 1/4oz (smokey joe) or the Strike King Red Eye Shad in White, or the chrome w/ blue or black top.

rat-l-trap = least durable paint on the lipless crankbait market... so, if you like chrome they are great, because your bait will be chrome after 1 fish.

The Rat-L-Trap and similiar lipless crankbaits continue to be some of the greatest producers of all-time.

8-)

I enjoy fishing them, but on the little grass choked lakes that I most often go to, I can't really fish them effectively.  THere are dozens of lipless crankbaits on the market and the Rat-L-Trap is still somewhere high on the list.  One was used to win the Classic by Boyd Duckett...so they definitely still work

don't use them. so when I fish your wanter I'll catch them on traps. just cause they are old doesn't mean they don't work.

and I don't know what somepeople are talking about the paint coming off. I have traps that are old that have caught many many bass, been bounched of rocks and have some scars and  some paint that is worn off ( but so are my Lucky Craft LVR's). but they have last way more than one fish. also the one that the paint has be worn off are not "chrome" under neath they are just white.

I caught my personal best of 12.8 on a Bill Lewis's Rat-L-Trap ½ oz Red Chrome

I change the hook to Excalibur Rotating Treble Hooks which reduces thrown baits.

Yea the paint comes off after a couple dozen fish  

also the one that the paint has be worn off are not "chrome" under neath they are just white.

no question the trap catches fish, but...

are you a bill lewis rep?  cmon, admit it.

every year in my pond the bass spend a few weeks gorging on shad after the spawn so last year i did a test on schooling bass after too many banged up traps, and i wish i had the camera to show the results.  my green/chrome/red belly rat-l-trap, against a yozuri baby bass.  baby bass was eyeless by the 16th fish, but still had good paint, while scratched a bit.  the rat-l-trap lost all the outside paint (except for a tiny patch up by the split ring) by the 3rd fish, and was chrome, and yes, white, by the 8th fish.

the results were not inconsistent with what i have experienced in the past.

so i figure w/ the trap you are spending an average of $3 a fish, and w/ the yozuri you are spending about $.50...

for me the trap situation is: wood and grass with light line.  that way when i snap off im not $8 worth of angry, just $3.

They work really well in certain conditions.

also the one that the paint has be worn off are not "chrome" under neath they are just white.

no question the trap catches fish, but...

are you a bill lewis rep?  cmon, admit it.

every year in my pond the bass spend a few weeks gorging on shad after the spawn so last year i did a test on schooling bass after too many banged up traps, and i wish i had the camera to show the results.  my green/chrome/red belly rat-l-trap, against a yozuri baby bass.  baby bass was eyeless by the 16th fish, but still had good paint, while scratched a bit.  the rat-l-trap lost all the outside paint (except for a tiny patch up by the split ring) by the 3rd fish, and was chrome, and yes, white, by the 8th fish.

the results were not inconsistent with what i have experienced in the past.

so i figure w/ the trap you are spending an average of $3 a fish, and w/ the yozuri you are spending about $.50...

for me the trap situation is: wood and grass with light line.  that way when i snap off im not $8 worth of angry, just $3.

Well, that hands down answers the original poster's question...atleast you know they still catch fish being totally white =D

on a side note, I've caught many many fish on my bill lewis traps and none have lost their paint as dramatically as you say. scratches yet but total paint loss, no.

on a side note, I've caught many many fish on my bill lewis traps and none have lost their paint as dramatically as you say. scratches yet but total paint loss, no.

i suppose its possible wal-mart (where i bought most of these on a great sale) got an inferior run of them, kind of like the michelin tires they sell.

42 yesterday on a Bill Lewis 1/2 oz. Big fish was a measly 7 pounds. Paint loss was a reality with the older Bill Lewis traps. Look at the new ones: new hooks and much better paint.

42 yesterday on a Bill Lewis 1/2 oz. Big fish was a measly 7 pounds. Paint loss was a reality with the older Bill Lewis traps. Look at the new ones: new hooks and much better paint.

That's probably it, all mine are of the new generation Lewis traps.  

I will only but the new generation.  Comparing the two in the store the hooks are night and day different.  I have 17 bass and 3 pickerel on one of the new traps and I still have 95% of the finish

OOOOOOOH one of my favorites I love rippen them through the weed's!!!

I personally own 68 traps in varing sizes and manufacturers. When the chrome comes off I rechrome them with Renaissance Foil. You can buy it at art deco stores and they look brand new when done. I have a few that continue to catch more bass than the others and I guard them well. I have found that once you recover them the finish tends to last a lot longer and does not affect the action.

OLD FASHIONED??? THEY'RE CUTTING EDGE!!!

Take a look at the BSX Biosonix, the new $699 electronic fish activator unit.  And who is the president of Biosonix none other than Buddy Lewis who happens to be the son of Bill Lewis, inventor of the Rat-L-Trap.  The BSX unit is basically actual reproductions of the sounds of shad and bass feeding on shad.  I guess its a new take on the breakthrough in activating bass via sound that started with the Rat-L-Trap.  

I like to start out in an area throwing a Rat-L-Trap with Liv-N-Sound to activate the bass.  Then I follow up with plastics.  I guess you might call my technique The Poor Man's BSX.  But NO, you can't program it, and it doesn't have dozens of variations of the sound, but for $3, the Rat-L-Trap serves my purposes just fine.

okay dude,

sorry for the thread hi-jack... to your original question... i agree with all these guys that the functionality of the rat-l-trap is as good as any of the lipless crankbaits, and more inexpensive...

if i am around heavy grass i prefer the yo-zuri as it seems to hang less... but that may be because of the hooks i put on the the rat-l-trap when i change them...