TackleTour

Anyone throwing big top water rats,who's do you like? I looked at a few and I'm thinking about ordering a 5 or 6" Woodrow Rat.I was on the fence with the Johnny rat but to me it sort of slithers like an eel or water snake more than some of the others that have a "rocking" motion to them which I would prefer.Feed back on the BBZ rats is slowly coming in and they seem productive as well.

I don't know about PA jiggerjake, but come see a summer night tournament in SoCal and you will see every rat out there. One of my team partners makes his own behemoth version out of table legs. It's comical to watch fellow competitors walk by my boat waiting for launch trying to get a look at them. It's a good thing we have lure covers.
Unfortunately, the cat is out of the bag here, and like most large swimbaits, the fish have gotten used to them where they see them frequently. You will catch some of the biggest fish in the lake if you can find some places where the fish haven't seen them. I would imagine the smaller versions will work in your area.

Table legs,,,I'm cracking up from the mental picture of those I'm seeing in my head But yes I have no doubt they get crushed.I'm leaning toward the 5" version of the Woodrow for this part (N.E.) of the country. I have a # to call Tim-the guy that builds them.Maybe get some size/color advice.

jiggerjake wrote:Table legs,,,I'm cracking up from the mental picture of those I'm seeing in my head But yes I have no doubt they get crushed.I'm leaning toward the 5" version of the Woodrow for this part (N.E.) of the country. I have a # to call Tim-the guy that builds them.Maybe get some size/color advice.

My home lake (Diamond Valley) has a few protected smallmouth. It's comical to see a two pound smallmouth eat a ten inch bait at night. Unfortunately, we can't weigh them in and most are under two pounds. The fish in your area may go nuts over the rats. The good ones create a big deep knock when moving side to side. When you get one that works, protect it with your life.

i love fishing rats , i make my own

I throw the 10" BBZ-50 size Spro Rat. It's cheap, and I can make it do anything I care to. I started throwing wakebaits and floating swimbatis about 10 years ago or more, and since I don't fish ultra-clear water that bait creates the profile/action/presentation I need to trigger more bites in highly pressured lakes near my house.

The BBZ rat works great.

Yup, the BBZ 50 at under 30.00 is a pretty good rat bait.

OD or Rago

Tokugawa wrote:The BBZ rat works great.

Agree

But spins out at speeds I wish it were stable.

I like my El raton

Ajaustin44 wrote:I like my El raton

Are those the ones that you get out of the dumpster behind the local Mexican restaurant and flyline on a wacky-rig frog hook?

I toss out trap bass rat, works great for me.