Rattle Trap Presentations

Rattle Trap Presentations

This time of year one of the best baits on any pre-spawn lake is a rattle trap; the flat sided bait can be presented many different ways all presentations work it just a matter of which works the best for you. Some of the presentations that we see mostly have no limitations and can only be limited by your imagination.

First and foremost is one retrieve most folks use that being just a constant reeling of the trap over structure, one of the keys is to make sure that this presentation contacts the structure, so it reacts off the bottom structure and moves with a reaction presentation. If you’re ticking the structure it moves the bait in many different ways causing reaction bites. Also constant retrieve allows you to slow it down or speed it up depending on the depth of the fish in the water level. Next is a presentation I like when it seems the bite is tough and that is to yo-yo the bait up and down snapping it off the bottom structure causing the fish to not only see the snapping action but to feel the vibration of the bait. This is one of the best retrieves for a rattle bait especially over grass where the bait grabs the grass and then snaps quickly upward making it irresistible to the bass. I also use a stop and go retrieve over structure especially over thick structure because you can control the depth the bait drops by the amount of time in between the pause and restarting the reel movement. This presentation also allows you make use of different speed reels as the pause can be quick or slow, what ever is needed to utilize your favorite speed reel.