The 3/4-ounce Rat-L-Trap is such a large lure that I couldn’t help but ask Capt. Eric Dumas why he chose to fish with it rather than the more typical 1/2-ounce Trap.
“The 3/4 gets down deeper and closer to the bottom,” he responded, “and that’s where the big trout are. You’re not going to get to the bottom trolling a 1/2-ounce Trap. With the same amount of line out, the smaller one is going to ride up higher off the bottom and pass by too high over their heads.”
Dumas also subscribes to the bit-bait-big-fish theory. When he’s trolling, he’s not after popcorn trout. He admits that big trout will eat the 1/2-ounce Trap if he could get it down to them, but he doesn’t want to bother with something that will also catch smaller trout.
“If I only troll the big one, I’m mainly going to catch big trout,” he insisted. “It kind of culls out the smaller fish so I don’t have to mess with them.”
If that’s the case, why not go with the even larger 1-ounce Trap?
“You can go that big if you want to, but I think it’s a little too big of a bait for their mouths,” Dumas said. “If you look at the 1-ounce, it’s a big difference between it and the 3/4-ounce one.
“Either way you go, though, you’ve got to expect to miss some fish when you troll Traps. Some eat them, but some only swipe at it and barely get hooked on the outside of their mouths.”
Rather than try to modify his Traps in an effort to hook more fish, Dumas fishes them as they come out of the package. He’s landed more than his fair share of big trout, so any extra modifications he might do probably won’t pay off in any more fish.
“And I believe I get extra vibration out of them by fishing them on braided line,” Dumas said. “With its lack of stretch, braid also helps me hook more fish when my baits are 60 yards behind my boat. But that same lack of stretch can also cause you to lose more fish, too, so be careful with it.”
