Rat bites

[bassturds]

I just watched the Toxic rat video. It got me thinking. I need to start tossin rats more. What do you guys look for when throwing rats?  Not just hey it’s night time and I have a loud wake bait. Are you looking for certain weather? Certain times of year? Moon phases? Water clarity? Certain areas you throw it in? Do you only fish rat baits in certain lakes? 

Edited February 15 by bassturds

[azfisher]

I've had good luck in my area during the rain/rising water conditions. If fishing a developed lake at night,  target the campground areas and the individual boat slips around the shoreline camps.    Always rodents around campgrounds at night, especially if there's a picnic table and trash can near the waters edge.  I do best tight to shoreline cover, tree lay downs and along tules.  Baby Possum gets crushed

[168 Rookie]

I've only fished the Spro Rat 50 (the big one) but I swear by it, thing gets absolutely chewed. I'll second @azfisher: tight to shoreline/shoreline cover/shallow water has been the ticket for me, can't say I've ever caught a rat fish over deeper, open water. The Spro specifically has a loud knock, so I prefer to use it when there's a decent chop on the water or some rain coming down. Glass-calm surfaces I usually opt for a quieter presentation (more a surface glide ie TK/K9). Mostly a nighttime game for me and the rat, but I've caught them early morning up to about 9 or 10a on overcast, prefrontal conditions and early evenings during the gloaming in the summer. I've never fished them midday so I can't speak on that but they absolutely get bit. Two of my top-5 fish have come on the Spro 50. Good luck in your search.

 

Edited February 15 by 168 Rookie

[Splitshot]

Cloud cover normally tight to cover but Iv caught out deeper as well especially if there’s grass. Little chop/wind never hurts either. Definitely at night rats get hammered 

[bassturds]

Thanks guys! Makes sense. I  haven’t done this retrieve often but had some good bites. I’ve used giant 8 inch jitter bugs for this! Cast out to an overhang, dead stick it with a few light twitches. Then start a faster retrieve. To me what is happening is, the fish think it’s an injured squirrel bird rat anything of that nature. It’s interested in it looking at it. Looks like it’s stunned when you start the fast retrieve it looks like it’s trying to escape so the fish has to make a choice to eat it or not 

[Mossyback Angler]

For me, it’s a spring, summer late fall bite. I tend to favor early mornings or evenings, but overcast days always give me confidence. 
 

Typically, I’ll target the usual suspect: parallel the shoreline. But getting tight to cover is very productive too. Standing timber, vegetation, rip-rap or Lilly pad edges, have drawn them out. 
 

One pattern that was very productive for me the past few seasons was open water over submerged vegetation that’s was about 2’ below the surface. The water depth was 8-10 feet, but the hydrilla had grown and not topped out.  I’m guessing the bass were near the top and just sensed the “rat” above them and took their shot at a meal.
 

I used to pay more attention to just barometric pressure changes, until last season, after a discussion I had with @Jim137a regarding moon phase and other factors.  Information I had read about, but didn’t quite buy into it. This season after that chat and some winter research, I definitely am going to pay more attention to them specific details. Anything that can give me an edge, even the slightest at a trophy caliber bass, is worth implementing in my opinion.
 

But remember: anytime you can fish is the time to go. Don’t let specifics determine what to use and when to fish. My PB came on a day when I didn’t want to go at all,  but I had that “gut feeling” to fish this one specific area, and it paid off with a confirmed PB 6lb-8oz NJ Bass.  A Hudd was used in this case, but I was more driving the point home about paying attention to specifics, but don’t let it limit you either. 
 

Chris~~~
 

 

 

[Jim137a]

When the waters over 40 degrees, daytime, brite sun, dusk - I have a rat tied rigged up and ready to go. 
 

I pitch them into cover, over grass flats and when the smallies are active I’ll throw them over deep water - pretty much I throw them in any area i think is fishy 

had some epic days with @NJSwimbatslinger tossing rats in the heat of they day. 
 

IMO they will draw out the most aggressive fish and smallies absolutely annihilate them  

 

Edited February 16 by Jim137a

[MurdaJ]

I use them to match the hatch, and at other times to stand out. My best luck has come on days that end in "Y" but I've had good luck when there is sunset followed by a moon set, or vice versa

[MurdaJ]

2020 was the year of the rat. I'm focusing on dragon profile baits for 2024

[Jim137a]

I forgot to add that as @Mossyback Angler pointed out I do follow the moon phases but I fish when I have time. 

When i’m on the lake and the moon phase is “ good “ I will focus my efforts on what I believe are “ prime areas “.

I have never said “ I’m not going cause the moon isn’t right “.

fish when you can and find the best possible structure your lake / pond has to offer. 

[bassturds]

35 minutes ago, Jim137a said:

I forgot to add that as @Mossyback Angler pointed out I do follow the moon phases but I fish when I have time. 

When i’m on the lake and the moon phase is “ good “ I will focus my efforts on what I believe are “ prime areas “.

I have never said “ I’m not going cause the moon isn’t right “.

fish when you can and find the best possible structure your lake / pond has to offer. 

Yea I never fished around the moon phases. I fish based on weather way more! To windy for that spot. Etc 

[Jim137a]

40 minutes ago, bassturds said:

Yea I never fished around the moon phases. I fish based on weather way more! To windy for that spot. Etc 

I’m generally think of fishing particularly bass fishing as a puzzle - wind, water temps, moon phase, bait, pressure from other anglers, predators like muskies etc.  

Once I consider all the variables I make a plan while I’m launching my boat and if it’s not working out I’ll make a move. 
 

I Fished a lot with @NJSwimbatslinger slinger in 2023 and if our plan of attack didn’t work out we quickly reevaluated and made adjustments - many times in the past year we found out that water temps were key - a seemingly small 2 degree plus or minus change in the temps were the difference between success and failure. 
 

obviously in the spring we looked out for the warmer water and in the heat of summer cooler water. 

[FishDr]

I mostly fish the Baby Possum and the MS Mini-Slammer and have success at night and by day. A lot of the time I’m trying to fish them close to any type of cover that sticks out of the water (riprap, trees, docks) where there’s a hard edge that a rodent might try to climb on, but I’ll also fish them along shallow shorelines. The Mini-Slammer is lethal fished tight along the edge of shoreline cattails/tules/grass.

The second most common location is in deeper water over weedbeds or along weed lines, as described by @Dsouth in some of his posts a couple of years back. That can be really effective with a cranking Baby Possum.

[chefchris]

I like different qualities based on condition. These are just my observations, these are my favorites and they all have their place in my line up. 

I like a rat that makes noise, like a deep knock on the joint or a squeaky joint. There’s so many options out there so you should get a lot of feedback, if guys chime in. I like my rats to wake or swim just under the surface, unless I’m fishing a crankdown version for a reason. 

cl8 baby possum has a dope knock and the more you use it the “squeaker” it gets. Excels in rougher windy conditions when fished more aggressively. But you can also slow creep it on calm nights and the hits are vicious. Clayton also makes a crankdown version that crushes. 

Illude gerbil (resin 2 piece version) calmer water bait, walks insane, swims great with an awesome knock, really only swims on a slow retrieve, I do a lot of pauses and walks, then slow short retrieve, repeat.

nez large and xl 2 piece, this is my go to for calm water, super subtle swim, low knock, swims at a crawl to a medium retrieve. Love fishing this around reeds and grass, gets absolutely smashed 

toxic mink, probably the best overall rat around, wakes or cranks down depending on retrieve, walks, pops, wakes, cranks, doesn’t wash out if you speed it up. I’ve caught more 2-4lb fish on this bait than any other rat over the years. Comes thru reeds/weeds really well too. He makes a wake only and few other versions. 

illude xl zombie, the biggest one of the group, for its size it gets bit from dinks and giants, had two epic nights on it, knocks super loud and only wakes. At 9-9.5oz it’s not a bait I throw a lot or often but it has its place. I find all his other rats crankdown and don’t wake enough for me at least the resin versions. 

one thing I find with rats is some years it’s all I can get bit on, and other years like 2023 I can’t buy a rat bite at all (but a slammer or gill wake will smash em), I’ve talked to a few other people that have also experienced the same thing. Not sure what that’s all about. 

[urbanhick]

I throw the Cl8 crankin baby possum all the time, they actually bite it when nothing else works and based on the way they demolish it it flat out pisses them off triggering a strike. Ice Water 7lber smoked it slow rolling it up tight in early April.  You really need to try a crank down rat, they get bit when the wake versions don't.