Lipless cankbaits??

[Guest Texas_Bass_Pro]

What is yalls favorite lipless crankbaits?  Size, color, brand?  How would you suggest to use (fish) one?  This is something that I want to start fishing with this year but haven't had much success in the past with.

What type of forage do you fish these baits around?  What season are they best used in?

Lots of questions but I really need help on this one.

[Cajun1977]

i like  the original rattletraps      firetiger is my fav            this is a bait that can be great year round under any circumstances          burn them fast troll them   rip them thru weeds or slow roll them back to the boat       only  thing i would suggest is sharpening the hooks every so often     i put a beating on the hooks ripping them thru   areas   with weeds and   and such       good luck   they are a very fun bait

[Brad_Coovert]

Lipless baits are a year round bait for me.

In spring, I will fish a crawfish pattern slowly over the bottom on rock, clay, gravel banks and points.  I caught my PB doing this in March.  I will also try a baitfish pattern over newly emerged grassbeds.

As the water warms, I will throw these as search baits looking for shallow prespawn fish.  I will throw them around grass, rock, wood - no fear of any cover.  Yeah, they get hung up, but they catch fish.

In summer through fall, I will concentrate mostly on grassbeds, deep and shallow.

In late fall, I will use them on the deep edges of grass beds where the grass is still green.

As for brands, I prefer Cordell Spots, Lucky Craft LVRMini, LVRD7, LV500, LV200, LV300N, LV0.

The LV200 has one knocker instead of rattles for a different sound.

The LV300N has no rattles at all.

The LV0 has a small lip that makes it very easy to run the bait in 1' or less of water.

I also like the Aruku Shads by Spro.  They run at a nose down angle and will actually sit on their nose when you stop them.  Kinda fun to fish on beds at times.

Good luck!

Brad

[Guest Texas_Bass_Pro]

What size would you recommend?

[RoLo]

Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap 1/2 oz - Chartreuse Crawdad

Delivery is the essence of simplicity: Just wait for bottom contact, then reel the trap at a slow steady speed,

the slowest speed that causes a visible throb at the rod-tip. Sometimes a faster retrieve is more productive, but usually not.

The 1/2 oz trap may also be counted down at about 10" per second, and since it lacks a diving lip it holds the depth reasonably well.

Rat-l-traps work year-round regardless of the forage that's present.

Roger

[Catt]

When: early pre-spawn

Where: main lake points 10-15' of water

Technique: reel keeping the trap a couple of feet below the surface and bounce it off wood.

When: pre-spawn

Where: feeder creek channels 10-15' of water

Technique: make a long cast, let the trap free fall to the count of 10, kneel on the deck, stick 1 1/2 to 2' of your rod tip in the water and slowly reel.

When: slightly before spawn

Where: feeding/spawning flats

Technique: slow roll like you would spinner baits

When: post spawn

Technique: reverse the first three

I prefer Bill Lewis' Rat-L-Traps in either ½ oz Red Chrome or Gold/Black Back/Orange Belly.

[castaway]

I fish traps quite a bit because I can catch fish on them.Basically I fish them the same time and conditions most people are fishing spinnerbaits, but the traps are deadly when the water first reaches 60 degrees here in the spring. I really like the Lucky craft, LV0, Spro Aruku shad 75, Cotton Cordell minnow spots ( discontinued bait ), but I have alot more others that I fish as well.The easiest way to be successful with a trap is find grass and fish over top of it, letting the lure tick weeds on the retreive.Its very frustrating as it will get snagged in the weeds alot, but the rewards are well worth the effort.The first thing I do is put a lucky Craft split ring on the line tie and most generally change the hooks out, with the exception of the Lucky crafts, they have excellent hooks on them, but like with Bill Lewis brand, the hooks suck, I change them out as soon as I open the box .I like the VMC  barbarian hooks, but most generally I buy Gamakatsu EWG trebles, they are easier to find locally. For small traps I like 10 lb mono and the bigger traps, I use 14-20 lb test. Buy an assortment of colors and brands and switch as your fishing. Some times they will prefer a certain color , or brand over others.I hope this helps, Ivan

[MALTESE FALCON]

I like the Rapala Rattlin Rap in size 07. The color I've had most success with is red crawdad. As far as when and where it's the same as all the above posts.

As far as what fish I catch with them, I've caught smallmouth, largemouth, muskie, and walleye.

Falcon

[RoLo]

kneel on the deck, stick 1 1/2 to 2' of your rod tip in the water and slowly reel.

Excellent point!

Trouble is, my lake is infested with chain pickerel and they keep chopping off the shiny tip-top guide ;D

Roger

[Vyron]

kneel on the deck, stick 1 1/2 to 2' of your rod tip in the water and slowly reel.

Excellent point!

Trouble is, my lake is infested with chain pickerel and they keep chopping off the shiny tip-top guide ;D

Roger

muaahahahahahahahahahahahaha

thats frickin' hilarious

[berkley]

i like the original rattletraps      firetiger is my fav            this is a bait that can be great year round under any circumstances       burn them fast troll them rip them thru weeds or slow roll them back to the boat       only thing i would suggest is sharpening the hooks every so often i put a beating on the hooks ripping them thru areas with weeds and and such       good luck they are a very fun bait

thats what i recomend to

[The_Natural]

When: early pre-spawn

Where: main lake points 10-15' of water

Technique: reel keeping the trap a couple of feet below the surface and bounce it off wood.

When: pre-spawn  

Where: feeder creek channels 10-15' of water

Technique: make a long cast, let the trap free fall to the count of 10, kneel on the deck, stick 1 1/2 to 2' of your rod tip in the water and slowly reel.

Catt- you should check out Lucky Crafts LV500max, which is a 3/4oz bait that is the size of a 1/2oz bait.  It runs deeper, and would prevent you from kneeling and reeling.  I use the 500max in prespawn on main lake points and ledges, and go with the standard LVR's when hitting pockets.  Mad Craw (red craw) and Chartreuse Shad are my go-to LVR colors in the stained water I fish.

[Catt]

I've tried Lucky Crafts LV500max; it does not have the same vibration and noise I want in lipless baits.

No other bait has the reflection of Rat-L-Trap's Red Chrome

[Brad_Coovert]

What size would you recommend?

The baiyts I throw all range from 1/4 oz. up to 3/4 oz.  All depends on depth and speed needed.

Brad

[Guest Texas_Bass_Pro]

Thanks for all the great information guys.  I should have no problem catching fish with this type of bait after reading what all you wrote.

Thanks again.

[The_Natural]

No other bait has the reflection of Rat-L-Trap's Red Chrome

I don't think I've ever seen that color...looks pretty good.  I also use the original Bill Lewis traps, but the LV is just my go-to deeper water trap.  

[castaway]

Catt, At first I thought you dipped a chrome trap in red blade dip dye, but then I found it on their site. Ivan  http://rat-l-trap.com/ratltrap/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=31

[ga_hawghauler]

bill lewis rattle trap blue and chrome in 1/2" size. I like to burn this bait around weed lines

[bassnleo]

I use some of the Lewis traps but mostly I throw the Strike King Diamond Shad. It seems to have just a little different sound than the original traps and sometimes works if alot of other anglers are throwing traps.

I mostly use 1/2 oz, chrome w/ blue or black back, all chartreuese, orange craw.

My favorite time is pre-spawn when water is just topping 50 degrees here. You wouldn't believe the fish I have caught in 50 degree water by burning the bait around grass or old pad stems.

[Vyron]

My favourite is Yo-Zuri hardcore drum 5/8oz in ghost color.That low frequency sometimes works wonders

[hi_steel_basser]

I really like ripping a rattltrap over submergent vegetation in the spring. color does'n't seem to matter much on most days, because I am going for a reaction strike. But I like the rattltrap because I can hear it coming thirty feet away,so the fish can too.

[eulerentinc]

Rat-l-trap as well for me.  All year round kind of bait and like they said just rip them through the weeds or over stumps.  They are the best.

[Guest Texas_Bass_Pro]

I just looked in a catalog and saw some Bass Pro Shops XPS Tri-Vibe.  Has anyone ever tried these?

[FishTank]

I like the X-Calibar version of the lipless crankbait.  I like the chrome and brown color.  

I have used Rattltraps for years.  They seem to work ok but never last very long.  Either the paint comes off or the hooks go bad.  I have tried the LC version but was not impressed for the money.

[Catt]

Rat-L-Traps last longer enough for me to catch a couple dozen bass then it's worth the $2.68 I pay for them.

As for the hooks I change them right after I open the box with Excalibur rotating hooks.