That’s One Big Bait!

[jtharris3]

Justin Kerr used this hand carved, custom Rat during the Bassmaster Classic. I’ve always been interested in these rat baits but, living here in the north I don’t know if they’re practical. 
How many of you northern bass anglers throw a rat and catch fish?

 

[Bluebasser86]

Your biggest issue up north is toothy fish. Your bass will 100% eat that rat, but so will pike and muskie. 

 

I'm not in big fish country by any means myself, but I've got 4 bait wraps full of big swimbaits that I use to catch little bass at a much slower rate than normal baits ? 

[Jig Rookie]

I'm in Northern IL and the big rat has been my go-to for my overnight/pre-dawn sessions. Your cheapest option that I know gets bit is gonna be the Spro Rat 50 (three sizes, the 50 is the largest). Check Tackle Warehouse. In the pic below the rat has no tail, it got destroyed. They still crush it ?

Edited June 23, 2021 by Jig Rookie
No idea why the kiss-face at the end, no idea how to remove it.

[MAN]

Do you guys think the bass actually knows what he is eating or are these rats getting reaction strikes? 

[TnRiver46]

2 minutes ago, MAN said:

Do you guys think the bass actually knows what he is eating or are these rats getting reaction strikes? 

Reaction. If they had never seen a rat before they would still eat it 

[evilcatfish]

Rat fishing has been really productive for me over the years, can catch both numbers and size. Not sure why the Bassmaster site didn't specify, but the rat Kerr fished was a Woodrow Rat

[Bluebasser86]

14 hours ago, Jig Rookie said:

I'm in Northern IL and the big rat has been my go-to for my overnight/pre-dawn sessions. Your cheapest option that I know gets bit is gonna be the Spro Rat 50 (three sizes, the 50 is the largest). Check Tackle Warehouse. In the pic below the rat has no tail, it got destroyed. They still crush it ?

The Spro is a solid bait. I call that color "Hippie Rat". My first experience with it was my buddy catching the biggest fish of the morning on it on one of his first cast of the morning with it. 

 

[Mikey99gofish]

MY PB at 7-1 came at night on a large size Nezuma rat.  I'm in MA

[gim]

That size lure is over kill for a bass in the north here.  Only a true monster approaching state record status would take interest.  A muskie or large pike would take it though.

[NorthernBasser]

1 hour ago, gimruis said:

That size lure is over kill for a bass in the north here.  Only a true monster approaching state record status would take interest.  A muskie or large pike would take it though.

A 3 pound bass would easily nail that bait. Obviously it isn't gonna be as productive as smaller offerings. But that's also the case in the south. 

[hokiehunter373]

Yeah, I had a 6-7" bass eat a 10" worm last night lol.  They're predators and I'm continually reminded that some of them don't give a crap how big the object is they're trying to eat, they'll still try.  I know a worm is different than that rat but the point remains.

[flyfisher]

On 6/25/2021 at 6:22 PM, gimruis said:

That size lure is over kill for a bass in the north here.  Only a true monster approaching state record status would take interest.  A muskie or large pike would take it though.

Remember, bass don't have hands and have a brain the size of a peanut.  They have to try and eat something to see if it is edible or if they even can eat it.  I have caught countless small bass on baits almost the size of the bass itself.

[gim]

I never said a bass here wouldn't try to eat an oversized rat lure.  I only said it was over kill.  If you want to throw it, then do it.  But I think you are weeding out too many fish solely based on the size of the lure.  Sure you might get an undersized dummy to hit it, but the reality is that its not practical for the average size bass that reside here.

[deep]

Like most everything with hooks, bass of all sizes will eat/ try to eat rat lures.

 

With that out of the way, a rat is not just another wake bait. Sure you can just wake a rat and catch plenty of bass, but that's not how I'll fish it.

 

In any of the small reservoirs I fish, there are only a handful of specific spots/ stretches of shoreline where I will prefer a rat over another wake/ crank swimbait. Think about where you'd usually fish a popper, and you'll find those spots. A rat and a frog are probably the only two topwaters I really like to fish on bright sunny days.

 

I feel there are "rat-eaters", and then there are fish you could have caught on any other topwater bait.

 

There are two good youtube videos on rats. I don't want to post links, but search for the "Toxicbaits" channel, and then look for "Rats!" and "Rat Theory".

 

I haven't fished a Spro (prefer my MW and OD and been lately fishing a resin PB quite a lot), but it (the Spro) seems to catch fish and is pretty cheap. I'd get one if I just wanted to try this thing out.

[Smells like fish]

I’ve had good luck with the Spro Rat 30 and 40, and today I will start using the size 50 I have. I have never had one of the handmade wooden single joint rat but I’d like to have one. To those that have used both what is the difference or benefit you have noticed with a wooden custom rat compared to a Spro? I would be interested in a rat both with and without a lip. I find that twitching my Spro Rats and getting bit on the pause up to 15 seconds is the norm for me. Whose Rat would you suggest for my style of ratting? 

[Jig Rookie]

13 hours ago, gimruis said:

I think you are weeding out too many fish solely based on the size of the lure...the reality is that its not practical for the average size bass that reside here.

Not sure about tourney fishermen, but for non-tourney guys, speaking for myself and others I know who throw these huge rats, that's exactly the point; we're trying to weed out fish. "Impractical for the average size bass," yeah, that's the hope. Then you catch a few of these and realize reality sometimes isn't what you thought it was.

[NorthernBasser]

13 hours ago, gimruis said:

I never said a bass here wouldn't try to eat an oversized rat lure.  I only said it was over kill.  

You also said this, which is what prompted my reply.

 

Quote

Only a true monster approaching state record status would take interest.

 

[Bluebasser86]

I catch a ridiculous number of "average" sized fish on big swimbaits. Actually, that's mostly what I catch on them ? I've got quite a few the same size and even smaller than the bait. 

[PhishLI]

Before I'd ever seen a really big bait in person, I'd held baits like the Shellcracker G2 and a Ganteral jr, and at that time they looked absurdly large to me compared to typical bass lures. I caught the fish shown in the bottom picture on a G2 last night. Super small. I lost a tank last week on the same bait. Under a full moon, and right in front of me, it went completely airborne, bent out a treble, then waved goodbye. It would've been my best this year for sure. My best caught fish of the year, so far, pictured in my profile pic, came on a 4" MB Hazedong shad.

 

My brother likes to fish swimbaits nearly exclusively, and catches plenty of 1-2 pounders on baits you'd never expect a fish of that size to attempt to eat. The hope for most people is that those bigger baits will weed out the smalls, but in actuality, it doesn't seem to play out that way.

 

 

 

[MassYak85]

My best fish last Fall in MA came on a Cl8 baby possum. That thing is LARGE.

[the reel ess]

On 6/28/2021 at 8:57 AM, gimruis said:

I never said a bass here wouldn't try to eat an oversized rat lure.  I only said it was over kill.  If you want to throw it, then do it.  But I think you are weeding out too many fish solely based on the size of the lure.  Sure you might get an undersized dummy to hit it, but the reality is that its not practical for the average size bass that reside here.

I think that's the point of a huge lure.

[Jig Rookie]

Just caught my PB rat fish the other night here in the NW Illinois burbs (21 inches, 4.91lbs), so yeah, they definitely work up here.

[Mr. Aquarium]

I personally don’t throw big Rat baits. I

have and caught fish. But I prefer other style of big topwaters. Like a giant 8 inch jitterbug and other wake baits like the slammer.  I know a lot of guys who throw big rats. They work well.  I believe a guy just got a 9lb NH largemouth on a rat