His Rat-L-Trap Remains One Of The Critical Baits

The modern era of fishing began in 1959, when the theories of Buck Perry met the technology of Carl Lowrance's "Little Green Box." In the years that followed, fishing – and fishing education – progressed rapidly.

One stem of the fishing tree that rapidly flourished was lure design. Earlier this year, Tom Mann passed away. His contribution to lure design included the Mann's Jelly Worm – the first to incorporate modern colors and scent.

Fishing lost another father shortly afterward. On Fri., June 17 William "Bill" Lewis passed away in his Alexandria, La. home after a long illness. Although the Cotton Cordell Hot Spot had already been available, Lewis' Rat-L-Trap incorporated an internal sound chamber. The effect of sound set fishing on its ear, and despite numerous knock-offs, the Rat-L-Trap remains one of the most important tournament baits ever designed.

Lewis was born in Laurel, Miss. on Feb. 14, 1921. He served his country in WWII as a B24 bomber pilot, when he logged 30 combat missions in the European Theater, which included bombing missions in support of U.S. ground troops during the D-Day invasion at Normandy, France. He volunteered for an additional 10 ground-support missions, transporting gasoline to General Patton's troops. For his service, he received numerous decorations including the Distinguished Flying Cross.

He later attended the University of Alabama, then the Chicago Academy of Art. He worked as a commercial artist in Chicago and Dallas, then started his first fishing-tackle business in the early 1960s. He continued manufacturing fishing lures under the name Bill Lewis Lures until his death.

Career-Maker

Lewis first developed his Rat-L-Trap in the late 1960s, and to date, Bill Lewis Lures has sold more than 150 million lures worldwide. In fact, the Rat-L-Trap is so ingrained in the modern fishing conscience that many anglers refer to any lipless crankbait as a Trap.

The bait has also been a career-maker for at least two pros still fishing today – Tommy Martin and Ron Shuffield. Martin cut his fishing teeth in the Texas grass, where Traps are often at their best. And Shuffield was first exposed to the Trap while in the boat with Martin.

Martin Started Early

"The Rat-L-Trap was very instrumental in my career," Martin said. "They happen to be my sponsor, but I used them when they weren't (my sponsor). I've used them ever since they came out in the late '60s. They're an absolute necessity to catch my fish. Where I live (Hemphill, Texas), from January through March, if you're not fishing them, you're not in business.

"Back when Cordell came out with the original Hot Spot, I was there, I witnessed it," he added. "And there was a Swimmin' Minnow, a Pico Perch, Bayou Boogie – they were lipless cranks. Then they had the Water Gator from Smithwick, which came out the same time as Cordell Hot Spots. But none had the sound chambers with BBs. In about 1970, (the Rat-L-Trap) pretty much took the bass-fishing world by storm. Nobody else had one that rattled like that."

Martin also pointed out that "very few bait companies, if any" have been able to exist on one lure. "And the other thing is, I don't know any other bait that will catch as big a fish as a jig, except a Rat-L-Trap. It's a big-fish bait that will catch a 10-pounder."

And as Martin told it, Bill Lewis Lures will soon expand its Trap selection to include other sound frequencies. Plus, the new Biosonix unit, which uses sound to attract and trigger gamefish, is an extension of Rat-L-Trap technology.

Shuffield Learned From Martin

Veteran Ron Shuffield first learned about Rat-L-Traps when he drew Tommy Martin in a tournament. "It was the first time (Shuffield) ever fished a tournament," Martin said. "He said he'd never thrown it, and asked, 'What's the trick?' I said, 'Not much, but we'll throw them tomorrow.'"

Shuffield said of that fateful day: "I came to it just a little bit later than a lot of guys – back in the early days of the (BASS) Invitationals. I drew out with Tommy Martin at Sam Rayburn (Texas). It was his predominant pattern, and one of my first real intros to grass fishing with a Rat-L-Trap."

Shuffield didn't need much convincing. He hooked the big fish of the tournament in the Black Forest area and won a fully rigged Ranger. "It's thanks to Tommy Martin," he said. "That's one of the reasons the bait has such a special place in my heart. It was only my second or third BASS event. The fish only weighed 6-11, but in 1986, it was still worth a fully rigged Ranger boat.

"That allowed me to jumpstart my career, and pay off the money I'd borrowed to start. I picked up a boat sponsorship after that, and the rest is history." The Trap also helped Shuffield get his first BASS win – at the 1986 Okeechobee Top 100. "My first two big-money finishes, basically, I threw a Rat-L-Trap," he said.

"To me, it's the fish-catchingest crankbait I think you can possibly throw. The industry really lost a great pioneer in the death of Bill Lewis. I would feel pretty safe to say that maybe only a plastic worm comes close to catching as many fish as the Rat-L-Trap. I can't tell you the amount of fish I've caught on it."

Notable

> Lewis was a promoter, and for one of his best-remembered promotions, he's "steal" an angler's lure. He'd often pull out a pocketknife and cut the lure off an angler's rod. As the angler watched, he'd tie on one of his Rat-L-Traps, then promise the Trap would catch more fish than the other lure. If not, he'd buy the angler two replacement lures. He said he never had to honor a single guarantee. In fact, many wrote to thank him for "stealing" their lures.

> Nobody knows exactly when the Rat-L-Trap was invented, since he often had piles of prototype lures, but the agreed-upon timeframe is 1968-69.

> Bill Lewis Lures published an account of the Trap's first day on the water. An abbreviated version of that story is reprinted below.

The Trap Heard Round The Bend

"Because Bill was constantly experimenting with new lure designs, the one which later would become world famous was to him just another in the pile of new lures he planned on taking to the lake for testing. Before he did so, one of his fishing buddies came by to see what he "had up his sleeve" that week. Bill gave him samples of some of his latest creations. Among them were a couple of the shad-type lures which were filled with BBs.

"Right away the fisherman and recipient of the first "Rat-L-Trap" prototypes became excited at this and the other new lures Bill had made, and shortly thereafter were off to Toledo Bend Reservoir. As it turned out, Bill and a fishing buddy also would head out to "The Bend" that weekend to do some testing of their own.

"When Bill got to the lake that weekend, he wasted no time in tying on each and every one of the several new lure designs he had recently put together. Some were new concepts in spinnerbaits, others soft plastics, and others combinations of lure types. One particular lure got Bill's attention immediately, but only after some degree of mystery was solved.

"While retrieving the rather heavy shad-type lure filled with BBs, he and his partner began to notice a loud and distinctive sound, which Bill's fishing buddy described as sounding like a locomotive, rattling down a loose section of railroad tracks. It took a while for them to know for sure that the sounds were coming from the new rattling lure he was trying out for the first time. But with so many other new designs to try out, they moved on.

"A little while later, Bill and his buddy cranked up the little white 9.8 Mercury and headed out to find a good fishing hole. They were cruising along the main channel around the San McGill area of Toledo Bend, when they noticed up ahead a rather large group of boats gathered near the edge of the channel. The unusual sight got their attention so they motored up closer to find out what was going on.

"As they approached, they could see that none of the fishermen in the group of boats were fishing, but rather, they were spectators watching another boat nearby where two fisherman were casting feverishly into the standing wooded area just off the main channel.

"Soon Bill and his buddy saw what all the attraction was about when they also watched as the two "fishing" fishermen began hauling in one huge bass after another – a 6-pounder, 7-pounder, 8-pounder and many more, all while the growing number of boats and fishermen watched quietly in amazement.

"Bill and the other fisherman watching the frantic action taking place knew from their fishing that it was a "tough bite" on the lake that day with very few fish being caught by most anglers. As Bill moved in for a closer look, he recognized one of the two successful anglers as his fishing buddy – the one to whom he had given his newest lure designs just the day before.

"Bill called out to his friend who then filled Bill in on what had been the best single day of bass fishing they had ever experienced. Bill asked him the logical question: 'What bait are you using?'

"'That silly lookin' bait with all those rattles inside,' his friend said. 'You've gotta be kidding,' Bill said. 'I have some of those, but we didn't fish them more than a few minutes.'

"'Well, can we have a few more?' his friend asked. 'Not today,' Bill replied.

"The rest of that day on Toledo Bend, Bill and his partner fished with his new rattling-lure creation with similar results, catching a large number of bass – some into the 7- and 8-pound class. Later, Bill headed back home from the 'Bend' with the full intention of making as many of those 'silly rattling baits' as he could.

"During his drive home that day, one other thing happened which remains one of Bill's most creative moments. As he was manually operating the broken-down windshield wiper of his old car, with one hand on the wheel and one out the window, he thought to himself, 'Rattletrap – that's what I'll call it.' The rest, as they say, is fishing history."