Smithwick Rattlin’ Rogue

Smithwick Lure Company
3601 Jenny Lind Road
Fort Smith, AR 72901
479-782-8971
www.SmithwickLures.com

By Andy Nabreski

I first got my hands on a Smithwick Rattlin’ Rogue when I was nine years old. It was sent to me as a Christmas gift by my cousin Brad in northern California, where it was all the rage among local largemouth bass fishermen.

    The following spring, I tried the Rattlin’ Rogue while fishing one of my favorite bass ponds. The results were incredible. I caught over a dozen decent largemouth bass while my buddy managed to land only two. My buddy was determined to get the scoop on my new secret weapon, but having forgotten the real name, the only information I gave up was that this was a “magic lure” that you could only buy in California. (At the time, I thought it was the truth.)
    That night I made the long-distance call to my cousin, and a week later a box of four brand-new Smithwick Rattlin’ Rogues arrived at my door. I cherished those lures for several years, only breaking them out for special occasions. I feared losing them, and I didn’t dare cast them around trees or structure. I considered them to be my number-one lure, and I caught countless largemouths, smallmouths and pickerel while using them. They seemed to be effective everywhere I fished, from the small bog pond behind my house to the deep-water pond I spent summers on in Maine.
    Over the years, I’ve had some very impressive catches fishing the Rogue, but the one that first comes to mind occurred during my senior year in high school – on prom night. I had struck out with my date, but I wasn’t the only one. A few of my unfortunate friends and I stayed up through the night, and at sunrise I came up with the bright idea of going fishing. Still donning our tuxedos (minus the bowties), we made the half-mile walk through the woods to our favorite pond. I started out with a Rattlin’ Rogue, and it wasn’t long before I hooked up with a very solid fish that swam under a submerged stump about 30 feet out and got hung up. I knew it was a big fish, but aside from the thought of losing a great fish, I was concerned about the possibility of losing my “magic lure.” So I took off my jacket and marched into the water after my catch. Amazingly, I was able to reach it, and lo and behold, at the end of my line was not one but two bass. One was over 5 pounds, which was my biggest bass yet, and the other was around 2 pounds. I got both fish and the lure, and headed back to shore. In the end, I got lucky on prom night after all!
    It took me a few years, but I finally figured out that the lures are actually available across the United States. They’ve been well known from the Midwest to the West Coast for years, but for some reason they had never really caught on in New England, which is fine by me.
    The Smithwick Lure Company was started by Jack K. Smithwick, who began carving lures cut from the handles of brooms as a hobby. By 1949, word began to spread of the success some were enjoying with his handmade lures, and fishermen began hounding him for ever-greater numbers of them. This demand made him realize that his lure business was getting serious. Soon after that realization, he took his first step to “mass produce” his lures by purchasing a small wood lathe from Sears, Roebuck and Company and moving it into his garage shop.
The Rogue was actually named by Jack K. Smithwick’s son, Jack A. Smithwick. “I named it, and I don’t know why it came to me,” explains Jack. “We had the bait, and I thought of the name ‘rogue.’ I looked it up in the dictionary, and it was a term that applied to an unruly animal that hangs around a herd yet stays apart from it.
    “The rattlin’ part came later. The original Rogue did not rattle. In 1971, we put some rattles in it. You could shake it, and it would rattle. From then on, we called it the ‘Rattlin Rogue.’ In my opinion, the better bait was the one that didn’t rattle, but it wasn’t easy to throw as the one with rattles. The one that rattled took over the marketplace.”
    So what is it that sets the Smithwick Rattlin’ Rogue apart from all of the other similar lures out there? At first glance, it looks like nothing more than a traditional swimming plug. There’s no fancy holographic finish, and they are relatively inexpensive. But when you see these things in action underwater, you will become a believer. The lure has more wobble to it than most other lures in this class. Even at a slow speed, it has lots of action. When retrieved with a series of short twitches, it dances all over the place. The lure will run down to about four to five feet on a steady retrieve, but I believe it is most effective when it’s used with an erratic action. I like to play it just under the surface, giving it a sharp tug just as it’s about to reach the top. When fishing after dark, I like to pause the lure every few feet and allow it to float up to the surface. It almost becomes a surface lure, and fish will notice the commotion from some distance away.
    There are several versions of the Rogue available today, including floating, suspending, and deep-diving models. The original RB1200 Rattlin’ Rogue is a shallow-lipped, floating Rogue. It measures 4 ½ inches, weighs 1/3 ounce and features three size 6 treble hooks. The bait features a lip made out of a softer type of plastic that is slightly flexible and gives the bait more action. The bait also features lead weights, which produce a duller sound, setting it apart from brass, steel and other rattles that most lures on the market use today. I think that larger, experienced bass may be wary of loud metal rattles, and I think the much more subtle rattle of the Rogue is one of the reasons for its success.
    Unfortunately, the original RB1200 Rattlin’ Rogue design was discontinued over 10 years ago to clear space for newer designs. However, at the 35th Annual CITGO Bassmaster Classic, Michigan angler Kevin VanDam claimed his second Bassmaster Classic title by fishing a chrome-colored original RB1200 Rattlin’ Rogue that he had stashed away in his tackle box. The Rogue helped VanDam post one of only two limits caught on the final day of the tournament, and a final weight of 12 pounds, 15 ounces. After hearing of VanDam’s success with the classic Rogue, Smithwick announced that they would begin reproducing the original RB1200 Rattlin’ Rogue to the specifications of the earliest Rattlin’ Rogue, complete with the softer plastic lip and lead rattles. 
    The original Rattlin’ Rogue reproduction is still tough to find, but I’ve found that the “modern” 5-inch Floating Rattlin’ Rogue in the black-and-silver color is an excellent stand-in. The only feature that I’m not crazy about is the three sets of trebles. I can remember one occasion when I landed a schoolie striper and the lure managed to snag not only the fish but also my shoelace and my pinky finger simultaneously. I’ve tried removing the front treble hook, but this kills the action because it changes the weight distribution. One trick I’ve learned is to cut off the tips of the front treble hook; this retains the action I want but eliminates the mayhem caused by three sets of trebles.
    I urge everyone I fish with to give one of these classic lures a try. Track down one of the original classics, a reproduction, or the modern version, and your efforts will be rewarded. I’ve tried dozens of newer, flashier and more expensive lures, but the Smithwick Rattlin’ Rogue continues to be my favorite lure of all time.

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