# Floating Rat-L-traps



## jkbirocz (Jan 20, 2008)

In my teen years, lipless crankbaits were all the rage, they were the so called "idot proof" bait, so I bought tons of them. Truth is though I have not caught many fish on them, looks like I was the idiot. I do, however, catch fish on the floating version of the rattle traps. Does anyone know of any other companies that make a floating lipless crank other than Bill Lewis? It is very hard for me to find anyone that sells the floating rattle traps. The only place I can find them sells them way over priced so I only pick up a few here and there. Also the Bill lewis baits don't run nearly as well as the yo-zuri and lucky craft lipless baits I use, but as far as I know they don't make floating one. Most of the rivers, lakes, and ponds I fish are too shallow to fish a sinking lipless crank. I lose them left and right, and it gets pretty annoying. Any help?


----------



## SMDave (Jan 20, 2008)

Lol I like how you spelled "idiot" wrong first.

Anyway, here's one; not sure how shallow it runs though. https://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/...1_45154_100005001_100000000_100005000_100-5-1

There is a serious lack of floating lipless crankbaits. Good luck finding one. Why not just a Mann's -1 Minus? Just my opinion


----------



## Captain Ahab (Jan 20, 2008)

SMDave - Is the Bass Pro Shops® XPS® Tri-Vibe Crankbait a floater? I did not see that in the descrption


----------



## little anth (Jan 20, 2008)

no it just runs shallow i was thinkin of getting one


----------



## shamoo (Jan 20, 2008)

Mann has a new bait Waker Elite runs 1-3 inches


----------



## Captain Ahab (Jan 20, 2008)

Yeah, that is what I thought, they sink!


The problem that Jake (and myself) run into is that we want to be able to stop and jerk the baits over the weeds, just ticking the tops. When you stop your retrieve with a sinking trap, well it sinks into the weeds. The lure becomes fouled and you have to reset and recast.

Same goes for the streams we fish - you stop, it sinks and instant snag


----------



## Jim (Jan 20, 2008)

These look cool! A little pricey but cool!


https://www.cjbasscustomlures.com/carved_crank.html


----------



## redbug (Jan 20, 2008)

Jim those look great, thanks for the link. I love floating trap baits. I will even throw them on a c-rig great way to fish deep weeds grass slowly and not get hung up. 
The Mann's baby minus one is a good bait but it doesn't run or give the vibration that a trap does.

I have a friend that will have 12 rods rigged on his boat with 12 different traps. 
it is neat to watch the many ways he fishes these style baits

Wayne


----------



## jkbirocz (Jan 20, 2008)

Thanks for the replies. Jim those baits look really nice. I actually just saw on Bill Dance today that cotton cordell makes a suspending lipless crank, I will have to look into those too. I mainly want the floating ones for smallies, since most of the rivers and streams I fish are no more than 4 or 5 ft deep. In shallow water like that the sinking baits need to be fished too fast for my liking.


----------



## slim357 (Jan 21, 2008)

I havent seen any floatin lipless baits for a while cotton cordell makes a suspending bait tho, ill look around see what else i can find.


----------



## nicdicarlo (Jan 22, 2008)

I was going through my tackle last night and found a floating trap. I've never used it much and its somewhat of a strange color. If I hadn't seen this thread I probably would have tossed it or packed it away with stuff I never really intend to use. I'm giving it a shot this spring.


----------



## Waterwings (Jan 22, 2008)

redbug said:


> ...The Mann's baby minus one is a good bait but it doesn't run or give the vibration that a trap does.



Have you tried the new Mann's Elite series? They have a louder rattle/vibration than the originals. I've caught quite a few Spots using the Aurora Black color in 1' - 3' of water.  







(lost the Ghost Minnow one in a snag that was impossible to get to and had to cut the line  )


----------



## jkbirocz (Jan 22, 2008)

I havent tried that exact baby 1-minus, but I have used them before and a variety of other shallow running cranks. A shollow runner and a flaoting rattle trap have totally different actions. Most shallow running cranks have a wide wiggle, while a rattle trap is super tight. 

Here is a link to the Bill Lewis website, they still make the floaters....but even their online store doesn't have them, or I just didn't find them. https://rat-l-trap.com/2007/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=41&Itemid=68


----------



## redbug (Jan 22, 2008)

Waterwings, I am a huge fan of the minus one and have hung a bunch of bass over 5lbs on them. but they run a lot different than the traps. 



For guys that fish the NOCK the minus series are fantastic I use the minus 4 in the red craw color and the minus 1 over the grass beds in a blue shad or the purple shad if you can find it.

Just change the back hook to the next bigger size

Wayne


----------



## Captain Ahab (Jan 22, 2008)

There are no fish in the Nock!

I just found a few Minus Ones in the bottom of my tackle pile - will try them next spring


----------



## Waterwings (Jan 22, 2008)

> Waterwings, I am a huge fan of the minus one and have hung a bunch of bass over 5lbs on them. but they run a lot different than the traps.



Concur on the running different aspect  . I've not had much luck using the Rattl-Trap type lures for some reason, and did better with the -1's . Where I fish there were major weeds (unitl they killed them off this past summer late in the season) in shallow water, and the traps would sink into the vegetation and get stuck 99% of the time, so I quit using them. Some of the problem is probably contributal to my technique :roll:


----------



## redbug (Jan 22, 2008)

Get yourself a burner 7.0 to 1 reel hold that rod tip up and go !!!
in the spring before the grass gets to high you should kick butt with a trap. give it a slight pause then rip it out of the grass and hold on


Wayne


----------



## Waterwings (Jan 22, 2008)

> Get yourself a burner 7.0 to 1 reel hold that rod tip up and go !!!



Looks like I need to learn to use a baitcaster so I can catch something, lol  . Wondering now if I could do it using my spinning gear? :-k


----------



## Jim (Jan 22, 2008)

Waterwings said:


> > Get yourself a burner 7.0 to 1 reel hold that rod tip up and go !!!
> 
> 
> 
> Looks like I need to learn to use a baitcaster so I can catch something, lol  . Wondering now if I could do it using my spinning gear? :-k



Lots and lots of spinach! Doesn't a spinning reel take up more line per turn anyway?


----------



## Waterwings (Jan 22, 2008)

Jim said:


> Waterwings said:
> 
> 
> > > Get yourself a burner 7.0 to 1 reel hold that rod tip up and go !!!
> ...



Good point! I believe my Quantum Pti40 does 29" per full turn


----------



## redbug (Jan 22, 2008)

It might take up more line ... But I dont like using a spinning reel with crank baits... if it works for you go for it.. 

wayne


----------

