Mark Daniels Jr. has been catching his fish this morning on a square-billed crankbait. But you can expect a lipless version, specifically a Rat-L-Trap, to be Daniels’ lure of choice soon. It’s what he caught four of his five bass on yesterday, including the 6-pound, 3-ounce big bass.
“It ain’t no secret. Everybody knows I love to throw a Rat-L-Trap,” said Daniels yesterday. “I’ve been catching the majority of my fish on a Bill Lewis Original Rat-L-Trap. Red crawfish is the color.
“What’s really key to know on that bait is that I’m changing out the hooks. I think it’s so, so, so important and overlooked. I’m throwing Owner ST-56s, which is their short shank. They’re the same size – No. 4s – that are standard on them.
“Everyone knows a Rat-L-Trap is notorious for losing fish. I had four bites on a Trap (Saturday) and I didn’t lose any of them. If you saw it on ‘Bassmaster LIVE,’ I didn’t panic when that (6-3 big bass) came to the top. Usually, with a fish that big, I’m praying, please don’t come off. But I could see that she had the front hook in the mouth and the back hook underneath the chin and was never coming off. I just took my time.”