That little detail of the fins on the side of the bait is a nice touch

Matched with the swimbait rod, it felt like I was simply fishing a vibrating jig instead of a crankbait. Everytime the vibration stopped, I ripped the bait through the weeds and on a couple of occasions, those rips were answered with a strong tug back because a fish, not weeds, had stopped the lure. On other occasions fish hit with such force, it was as if they were trying to rip the rod and reel combo from my hands! There is something so incredibly satisfying from those super fierce, bone jarring hits when you're using a super stout rod with a moderate taper. That taper gives you the ability to absorb the shock, yet the strong backbone ensures you're able to drive the hooks home so the fish don't become unbuttoned.

The stock, VMC black nickel trebles worked extremely well

Speaking of hooks, unless the baits they purchase feature one of their favorite brands, I know there are anglers out there who like to switch theirs out first thing when they get a new bait. The BX Big Brat comes with VMC trebles, that let's face it, aren't typically one of those favorite brands. However, unless there are extenuating circumstances, we fish all our products stock. It's the only fair thing to do because not everyone is able or willing to tweak their tackle right out of the package. As expected, those VMC trebles on the Big Brat performed flawlessly. I had one - ONE - missed fish with this bait over a couple of trips out on the water and that was due to user error. I wasn't concentrating when I felt the hit and completely flailed on the hookset causing the missed the fish.

Conclusion: It's interesting to me how it all came together with this bait. I didn't have full intention of writing the BX Big Brat up when I made the purchase. I just wanted something new from Rapala to fish and to have a little fun with it. I figured if I did decide to write it up, I'd take my time. When they arrived and I tapped on that outer shell, my plan of abuse slowly began to formulate in my mind. Fishing a crank through weeds isn't anything new, but there might not be very many anglers out there employing the strategy of practically towing their baits through vegetation on heavy braid and a swimbait stick or if they are, they're on the California Delta and they're not talking about it.

The BX Big Brat is uniquely built to take abuse and keep on fishing

Thanks to that unique copolymer shield around its wood core body, the BX Big Brat is uniquely suited to take the abuse I had in mind and come out the other end in a fish's mouth. It's not a new idea from Rapala, they have an entire series of BX baits featuring this unique composition, but it's the first product of theirs I fished with this construction. If you think about it, the strategy makes a lot of sense to use in a squarebill crank because these baits invariably see more abuse than most other baits simply from where and how they are fished. Whether you choose to attempt bullying the BX Big Brat in the same manner I did, or dote upon it with standard cranking gear, it's uniquely built to take the abuse and keep on fishing. We really liked the unconventional approach of blending the old-school balsa core with copolymer shell, which combined together provides anglers with an interesting, and effective, hybrid cranking option.