MyFishFinder Forum
My Fish Finder Main => General Fishing Discussion => Topic started by: Cider on Mar 26, 2004, 11:27 PM
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Okay, I am looking to restock my supply of rapalas. What's everybody's favorite/best producing rapala? Floating? Countdown? Husky Jerk? Jointed? Fat Rap?
What color?
I like husky jerks in a silver, gold, silver blue, and tenesse shad. I have several different sizes.
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I have a large selection of different rapalas. I like countdowns and husky jerks a lot. I really don't use the floating rapalas that much except shallow for bass, pike, or trout.
My all time favorite rapala lures are the risto rap, rattlin fat rap, shad rap, shad rap rs, and skitterpop.
Sadly, rapala discontinued both the risto rap and rattlin' fat rap. I am a big fan of smaller crankbaits, so I am dismayed at rapala starting to go big rather than small. The new "dives to" series of cranks just seems too big for anything but pike and trout, and maybe outsize bass or deep trolling large walleyes.
The #4 risto rap is in my mind the all time killer shallow crank for bass or trout. It runs about 6 feet deep on 6 pound mono, and has a nice, slow rise. I usually slow the rise even more by placing on a couple suspendots. I then just bring it back it by reeling it a few feet then pausing a few seconds. Pure death on bass.
But my favorite crank for all species has to be the discontinued rattlin' fat rap. They made a 1 3/4" inch size that was the best and only small crankbait that casted far, ran deep, and was neutrally buoyant enough to slow the rise with a couple suspendots. This crank runs about 8 - 10 feet deep on six pound mono. It is pure poison for walleyes and trout, and when bass run a little deeper. Maybe the best crank ever made.
Luckily, I still own a few of the small risto raps and they are one of my number one lures. Even better, I found on ebay a few months ago 10 of the discontinued rattlin fat raps in my favorite 1 3/4 inch size. I was able to buy all ten for $40. They used to sell for 7 bucks a pop, so that was not only a godsend find, but an absolute steal. I have ten of the best cranks ever made sitting in my box ready to mop up the bass, trouties, and waldoes. If I snag one up from now on, I am going swimming. I don't care how cold it is, these lures are too valuable.
Ebay is a great place to find these discontinued lures. Bids are usually few, so you can usually get a good buy for brand new lures.
Shad raps in the smaller sizes are also good for bass, trout, and eyes. But even on light line, their casting distance is terrible. But in a boat they are great. Northern Pike like the bigger ones when trolled too.
Skitterpops are the best popper I have yet used. They beat rebels and excaliburs by leaps and bounds. You can vary the action and sound of the bloop so much, from a big splash to a tiny blurp. It requires very little movement to make the right sound, so they may be the best topwater lure ever.
Countdowns, husky jerks, and floating raps all have there niche and are awesome lures, but I generally don't use them much, preferring the cranks.
And don't forget the jigging rap for ice fishing. Never has a better lure been made for icing eyes, pike, and sometimes for panfish. For icing lakers, they are the next best thing next to a tube jig. Honestly though tubes work so well for macks I generally don't use anything else. I even put them on my tip ups, always baited with a piece of fresh baitfish.
Tyler
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The one that's tied to your line at the time that matches what you are going after. Rapala lures are all good products. Some days when the walleyes are aggressive and tend to feed up or shallow, I'll tie on a husky jerk. Other days, when they are holding deeper, I'll use a tail dancer. During the summer, floating minnows twitched on the top on our local smallie rivers are deadly. A rattlin' rap is also deadly over emerging weedbeds on both largies and smallies. So, my answer is that it depends on what species you are after, when, where, and under what conditions. Other brands make excellent hard baits too, often behaving slightly different than similar Rapala products. Know the lures that you own and their differences, and you'll have far more tricks to fool your favorite finned critter. Each difference between brands and styles can make a difference in your catch. For example, Senkos sink faster because of a higher salt content that the Bass Pro Shops stick-o, but maybe the fish want the slower fall one day, the faster fall the next. Finding a pattern to match a fishes mood can be trial and error, but also remembering how fish react to your various lures over the years. Every year, to me, it seems that fish basically behave much the same during similar conditions on any particular body of water. Keeping log books will help. Remember what doesn't work and what works to help you narrow your choices and establish a pattern.
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My favorite is the original floating Rapala.I use a lot of different colors,but my favorite is black/silver.I've caught everything from Channel cats to trout on it.A close second would be natural perch.I stick mostly to natural patterns.I also like the Husky Jerk for a stop and go retrieve, or the Taildancers for trolling deeper water.
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all rapalas are great. my favourite is the taildancer..i've caught just about everything on that poor beatup guy.walleye teeth marks, northerns, and smallies have all taken their 2bits out of him..still catching fish on the very first one i bought. skitterpops are the neatest thing to fish with..ploop..pop...whammmmm..oh the fun of it..husky jerks in various colors for northerns, musky and walleyes among just a few...great products...grump
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#11 floating flour.orange/gold :)
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I have to go with the Mackdaddy on this one. I have a Rattlin Fat Rap in Brown and Orange that has more teeth marks than Marv Alberts girlfriend. :D The Rattlin Rap in Firetiger pattern is deadly for Pike on sunny days. Of course the Jointed Rap is a great Smallie lure. The list goes on and on.
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all i can say is.....#11 VAMPIRE
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I always use the jointed shad and baby bass rapala's. The shad is what I used last spring for catching my 9 1/4 pound splake trout.
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I'm agreeing with Mackdaddy, except he left out the countdown as great.
I love the 3" countdown brown trout colored rapala. It kills the browns and the bows in rivers, never a lure that has caught me more on a non-head over heels day than this one in rivers.
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J-7 original floating Rapala black/silver
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Let's not forget the Shallow Shad Rap. I use either a size 5 or 7 for shorecasting walleyes in the fall. They love it and it casts well too.
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I like a #13 original floating in black and gold. The wife uses a #13 in rainbow trout. For smallmouth and largemouth. Mostly I just twitch and stop. Wife sneeks ;D ;D and trolls hers behind the boat as I am using the electric motor to move along (usually has pretty good luck).
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The 2.5 inch Rapala Husky Jerk is by far my favorite lure. It's killer for trout. I use the baby bass, silver/black, and holo perch colors most of the time. Plus the small husky jerk works for pretty much everything. Shad Raps are also pretty good.
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I use a floating #7 in the Clown (CLN) pattern when I handline for walleye. The problem is finding them...they are the hot lure in the detroit river area so they can be tough to find.
FTD
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I only have a couple, and I can't remember catching anything one them..... (have you ever heard of people that say that there aren't many fish in such and such a lake or stream, or that a certain lure doesn't work?) Well, it is like this case, I have hardly ever used them!!! I am getting a couple more soon though!!
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if you can't catch any fish on a rapala, then there's no fish to be caught!!!! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrump
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off the topic of rapala's, sorry.... i was wondering though if anyone has ever seen this lure and if there is a source of getting any now, years ago there was a thunderstick (not by the company that has them now, but the old producers) and the thunderstick was either called "wonderbread" or nicknamed that because thats what it looks like. if you can, just picture a wonderbread loaf wrapper and you got the lure, all the colored dots! i have one of these, that i had to put into retirement (it's great when you can retire a lure) because this lure has done its duty and served me proud. now it is the condition of "seen better days"...! i would love to replace it if possible, but havent had much luck. it served its tour of duty on chatauqua lake, tempting the taste buds of many, many walleyes, and also many muskies!
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I like the DT(dives to) series crankbaits in chartruese. Last year I tried the skitter walk topwaterbait in black and silver and caught fish.
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I only have a couple, and I can't remember catching anything one them..... (have you ever heard of people that say that there aren't many fish in such and such a lake or stream, or that a certain lure doesn't work?) Well, it is like this case, I have hardly ever used them!!! I am getting a couple more soon though!!
How long have you been fishing? If you have never caught anything on a rapala you havent been fishing long enough. Try a husky jerk, you can fish them real slow, maybe the fish in your area are afraid of a fast moving lure.
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I have been fishing a lot for about 4 years, but I have only used rapalas a few times. I will this summer, because I just learned last year how to use them, but never really tried that brand last year. I like Yo Zuri and have gotten a bunch on them. I will get a husky jerk, tha tis one I don't have, and I want others cause I know that they work
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Suspending Husky Jerk and the DT[10/16] Cranks. Everything else is easily replaceable by a reasonably priced facsimilie.
Use the jerk as a follow up bait for missed pike, its like magic. I'll get a follow on a spinnerbait or miss on a buzzer and just drop the pole and toss the jerk. RARELY FAILS i would say 95% success rate. Just toss it, twitch it, and leave her be!
These are the only 2 lures from rapala that i ever liked. The rattling shad-raps are ok too i guess. Everything else is a "typical" lure only it costs 2 dollars more.
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a lot of the waters i fish have smelt as the base forage. i see al with a "glass shad" on the edge a couple of weeks back. went down to my local store.....what a killer bait this should be. shaped like a husky jerk......rattles and suspends......and its clear with a holographic center! it sure looks good on paper! should be a killer lure on both smallies and salmon.
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I like Rapala products alot. My favorites are husky jerks and taildancers in varying sizes and colors. I just try and match the lure to the situations.