Our September/October featured sponsor is Rat-L-Trap

"I caught 'em on a Rat-L-Trap."

There are certain categories of products where one name brand can be used to describe the entire class of objects. When you want a tissue, you might ask for a Kleenex. When you're thirsty, you might request a Coke. In the world of fishing, when someone is catching fish on a lipless crankbait, regardless of the brand, they typically say they're using a Rat-L-Trap.

While there are countless lipless crankbaits on the market, Rat-L-Trap was the first rattling lipless crankbait, and is still the most popular. The company was started three decades ago in Alexandria, Louisiana by Bill Lewis. Lewis was the first manufacturer to put rattles in lures, capitalizing on the ability of a bass to hear or feel a rattling bait moving through the water.

While numerous copycat baits have been marketed, the Rat-L-Trap has withstood the test of time. National Sales Manager Richard Broadwell says that he can't count how many national and local tournaments have been won on the Rat-L-Trap. Here in Virginia, for example, it is a mainstay in springtime tournaments on the Potomac, to name just one application.

Bill Lewis Lures has sponsored the Virginia B.A.S.S. Federation with product for over a decade. Broadwell says that this sort of grassroots promotion has contributed to the success of the company. "We appreciate everything they do," he says, "and we try to support them by providing product."

In addition to rattling lipless crankbaits, Bill Lewis Lures makes a variety of other lures, including topwater baits and jerkbaits. The company is not content to rest on their laurels, though. They are constantly working on new products and new colors. Broadwell is especially proud that the lures are still "100% made in America."

Cutting edge products include the 2000 series Rat-L-Trap, which feature dynamic holographic color patters, and Eagle Claw nickel teflon coated kahle hooks. Broadwell says the use of this hook largely cures the problem of fish using the weight of the bait as leverage to throw it when jumping. In fact, he says, if you use one of these "you better keep a pair of needle nose pliers handy." Then you too can get up on the weigh-in stand and report that you "caught 'em on a Rat-L-Trap."