Today was my first time out this year, only two 14/15in. ers. but I was throwing a rat'l trap and had a huge bass follow my trap in to the shallows 4x, on 4 casts in a row, he chased it but but backed off when it got to shore. the first two times i was ripping it fast, then slowed it down on the last two,chased but no bite. what would you throw next? or just keep throwing the rat'l ?

theres a few things i would do. first off give the bait more eratic action(sorry spelling is horrible) make that fish bite. thats what i would do and thats what my buddy kvd would tell you to do. if that doesnt work maybe try changing colors and/or sizes. third add some scent or red bleeding hooks. and last would be to throw something different. i would suggest a spinnerbait if water was alil dirtier or a jerkbait if cleaner.

Throw something that will cause what many people like to call "reaction strikes".

Change colors.

Try a silver #5 Shad Rap on 6 pound test on a spinning rig.

Depending on the water clarity, go to reds and dark colors if stained to dirty.

But try that silver Shad Rap and see what happens. 

smallieking hit the nail on the head. make that fish bite. Bigger bass hit outa anger rather than hunger. so slowing down the bait would be the wrong move cuz you allow the fish to have a better look at the bait. you said it first followed the trap when u were using a fast retrieve? maybe you should have tried an even faster retrieve. Rick Clunn says that you can not work a bait faster than what a bass can swim to grab it. no reel or anything can out race a bass so by speeding the bait that bass wouldnt have a good look at that trap but the vibatrion and look of the trap would have told that bass that the bait was an injured baitfish and it would have ate it. no question

A suspending jerkbait or suspending crank bait. Let it suspend with a few second pause, make it wiggle (not jerk) and pause again.

Jackall Flick Shake worm on a wacky jighead. Let it hit the bottom and shake that sucker like there's no tomorrow.

Either that or a senko. The senko is probably the most dependable 'follow up' bait I've ever used. The Flick Shake worm is coming on strong though.

when reeling, give some pauses to imitate an injured prey.  sometimes you have to let instinct take over.  If a bass is following, and not biting, and you stop reeling for a second and the bait hits the bass in the face, now it has a split second to make a decision.  A steady reel gives it all the time in the world to decide if it will bite or not.  (well, maybe not ALL the time in the world... depends how far you cast lol)