Like a four-wheel drive, Rapala®’s new BX™ Big Brat square-bill will run over and through practically anything in its mission to bring the biggest bass into your boat.
“You can really throw it around anything,” says Bassmaster Elite Series rookie phenom Patrick Walters, a Rapala pro. “It’s like a four-wheel-drive truck – it’s built to be able to be beaten up. You’re throwing it in the thickest cover you possibly can, and it’s coming back every time.”
Major League Fishing competitor Randall Tharp agrees.
“Big fish, big stumps, banging it off of everything, four-wheel drive,” says Tharp, a Rapala pro. “That’s how you get it done!”
The BX Big Brat measures three-quarters of an inch longer than the No. 6 BX Brat and weighs twice as much, allowing for longer casts, even into the wind. To battle the burliest of bucket-mouths, it comes armed with bigger and beefier No. 3 VMC® treble hooks.
“Big fish don’t get big from eating little baits, they like to eat big baits,” Tharp says. “And now, with the Big Brat, it gives me a tool to target big fish.”
The BX Big Brat features a balsa wood core encased within a brawny hard plastic shell, as do the smaller No. 6 and No. 3 BX Brats. “Rapala’s the only company that’s been able to master that combination,” says Rapala Pro Davy Hite, a Bassmaster Classic champion. “You get the best of both worlds.”
A Brat’s co-polymer armor allows it to bounce off cover and trigger bites without hanging up often and getting beat up. “You’re not afraid it’s going to break – you’re not scared to throw it,” Walter says. “You’re going to throw it at the biggest cover, and it’s going to last.”
Like all of Rapala’s balsa baits, Brats float up and back out of cover well, minimizing snags. And because it’s bigger than the other Brats, the BX Big Brat is even more buoyant.
“The cool thing about balsa, not only does it make a bait lively – gives it good action – but when you’re using a square-bill bait like this and you ram into some cover, it backs it up just like a cork,” Hite says.
A modified square-bill lip that comes to a slight point in the middle causes Brats to carom off cover differently than other square-bill baits. The bill’s steep angle shields a Brat’s hooks, making it virtually snag-less.
“If you’re not skinnin’ bark, you’re not catching fish down south,” Walters says. “Those bass are going to get as tight to that wood as they possibly can. So being able to throw a Big Brat in there and be snag-less, deflecting off that cover, is a key to getting that extra bite.”
The BX Big Brat dives as deep as six feet, measures 2-¾ inches and weighs ¾ ounce. In comparison, No. 6 and No. 3 BX Brats dive to 6 and 3 feet, respectively, and both measure 2 inches and weighs ⅜ ounce.
“The thrill of bass fishing is going and trying to catch a fish of a lifetime,” Hite says. “If I’m going to do that, I’m going to use those baits that will consistently catch those bigger fish. If you can bang a bait in there like you can with this square-bill, this Big Brat, those fish will react. It’ll catch bigger fish, there’s just no doubt about it.”
Rapala® BX™ Brat square-bill crankbaits are available in four new color patterns, bringing the total number of forage-matching looks to 16.
“Pretty much anything that a Bass eats, it’s super, super important to have the right-depth-running bait for the water you’re fishing and also the right color and the right size,” says Randall Tharp, a Rapala® pro. “All of that is a huge key to fishing a square-bill crankbait.”
No. 6 and No. 3 BX™ Brats dive to 6 and 3 feet, respectively. Both measure 2 inches and weigh 3/8th oz. The new BX™ Big Brat dives to 6 feet, measures 2 ¾ inches and weighs ¾ oz.
See Rapala® BX Big Brat
