[KingCranky]

In all honesty, at first it bothered me that you were a know-it-all about Rapala (and in my mind you fished them exclusively {could still be true for all I know}). I was like "this guy could probably rattle off the UPC on a firetiger crankin' rap if I asked him; what a clown". Then I slowly came to appreciate your love and knowledge for the brand. You are a bevy of information and statistics, and even though I only carry a few different makes in my tackle box, I know I could come to you for some insight should I ever need it.

If you don't mind my asking, why the fascination? Where did it stem from?

[perfect hook set]

I see it being not much different then those who use senkos 99.8% of the time...

Rapala doesnt make spinnerbaits buzzbaits worms lizards senkos to my knowledge.. =P
_________________

[Michael]

The way it started is when I first got into bass fishing.

I would occasionally go to WalMart and get a Shallow Shad Rap or Original Floater. I'd then start casting with it at a golf course I used to live right near. Then I'd constantly be hitting largemouths. My first pig came on a Shallow Shad Rap not long after getting into the bass fishing. So I started getting confident in Rapala lures.

My PB largemouth is 8 pound 1 ounce and had the girth of a giant watermelon. It came on a SSR-7.

My PB rainbow is 4.1 pounds and came on a SSR-7.

My PB brown is 5.1 pounds and came on a WJ-5

My PB pickerel was caught this year with a JSR-4. Original PB was caught with a SSR-7.

I've had plenty of times where I'd catch a pig with a Rapala or have a good day as for amount of fish with Rapalas. The other fisherman isn't being as successful until he switches over to a Rapala I recomended.

This year so far, I've had those types of days. Back in April I was killing the bass and crappie with a F-7 at Lake Kenosia while my fishing buddy wasn't setting the hook with live shiners. I was killing the trout on the Wepawaug with a FLR-6 while fishing buddy wasn't catching as many and not getting as many hit or followers until I let him use one of my FLR-6. Tons of bass, yellows, and pickerel on a JSR-4 at Hamburg Cove while fishing buddy wasn't doing well with live shiners and worms.

If you take a look at my recent surf report, you'll see I was getting tons of sea robins and caught a short fluke while using a FLR-10. Buddy didn't get a fluke and didn't catch as many sea robins while throwing tins and a Storm Shad. Blues and stripers weren't around that day.

In recent years of striper fishing, I've had lots of success with the SSR-9. Back on April 10, 2009 I caught a total of 18 up to 25" while chunkers were hardly catching anything. Last year while fishing on a buddy's boat on the Housy in May, I caught over 10 up to 27" while he only got 3 up to 20" with soft plastics.

A few years ago while fishing with 2 buddies out in the Sound from a boat, they weren't into any fluke on the bottom while I was busting those blues with a SSR-9 and caught 2 fluke.

Plenty more Rapala success stories out there.

[DirtyDawg10]

Hey Michael,

I like to see your success stories. Use what's working for you. I still think Rapala needs to send you some free shirts and hats for being their spokesman

Keep on rippin' lips.

[chud059]

i've been buying a few lately too... for a while I was using lipless cranks and rattler cranks, I use a KVD 1.5 but now I've been buying the shallow raps and other rapala lures...they've been kind to me this season...having a much better time than last year.

[Michael]

Link


Rapala Jigging Rap without a single piece of bait added. The same lure that caught me over 10 trout at Black Rock Pond last year while other buddy was getting mealies robbed off of his Kastmaster. Trout I kept had tons of mealies in them. I know the pattern when it comes to jigging with it.

[KingCranky]

Your brand awareness and dedication are second to none.

Now please contact Rapala and tell them to throw the consumer a bone and come down on their prices just a squib.

[Michael]

As I said about how the SSR-9 has been a big saltwater producer for me, esp stripers, here's a pic of the 27" striper I caught from a boat on the Housy last year. The guy I was with and I started hearing breaks on the surface as it got darker out. I played topwater with the SSR-9 and got it.

[Michael]

Rapala has been outdoing others at Seaside Park recently.

Tuesday 7/10 I was fishing with a SSR-9 next to 2 ladies who were chunking. They didn't get a single hit while I caught 2 sea robins and 1 taylor. Later that evening I was at Remington and caught over 10 taylors with a Saltwater X-Rap while chunkers and others with plugs weren't doing as well.

Thursday 7/12 I was at Remington again. Chunkers were catching the fish while it was still light out. But once it was sunset, Rapala took over. I caught 5 taylors with a Max Rap while others who were throwing lures either didn't catch anything or only caught 1 while I was there. Chunkers were no longer into it at that time.

[Zach0208]

I am a new fisherman and rapala is the only successful lure that works for me. I have limited success on spinners, spinnerbaits, and senkos, but do really well on rapalas. I agree with Micheal that sometimes a big bass will hit a tiny rapala and it is so much fun. Actually I am working on spinnerbaits and worms because I would like to learn how to fish by those, but when nothing happens I will switch to rapala to deskunk and it usually works. My favorite are XR, SSR, and HJ, and most successful colors are perch, yellow perch, or silver and blue. Recently I fall in love with skitter pop and it is much more fun, you can see the fish jump and bite it!!!

To Micheal, do you have success on DT series? I have a few but I haven't figured out when and how to use them.

[Michael]

The DT Series are mostly for fishing from a vessel, unless you are fishing certain lakes and ponds that have enough depth near shore. Each Dives To is designed to dive down to and stay in a certain depth.

I haven't used the Dives To much because I'm more of a shore fisherman and have my own specialty Rapalas.

The DT and DT Thug have a similar Shad Rap wiggle. The DTFAT is a wide rolling lure in the water. The DTF has a tight wiggle that sends off vibration.

[Michael]

A Rapala success at Bunnells Pond on Friday the 13th.

Rare 5 pound largemouth was caught with a pearl grey shiner Clackin Crank CNC-53. You used to find more of them years ago but the population of pigs went way down after the city and state drained Bunnells about 10 years ago.

[DirtyDawg10]

Nice Job! I just picked myself up a Bleeding Olive Shiner CNC-74 Clackin Crank from Dick's clearance bin for $4.98. It looks to me like more of a golden shiner color. Looking forward to trying it out.

[chud059]

... I was just a Dicks a couple of days ago and they had crap in their bins... mostly saltwater stuff, some spools of crappy line and ripped open and resealed storm lures... I am getting a $50 cabelas card in a week or so and I may buy some more rapalas at the cabelas website, they are a bit cheaper than instore. Speaking of Dicks, a lot of their fishing area was empty, don't know if they are remodeling or changing already for late summer/ fall mode.
I feel kind of awkward talking about Dicks with other guys....LOL.

[Michael]

If any of you are getting ready for ultra light snapper fishing, a lure that has outdone many others is the Husky Jerk HJ-6.

The nice thing about the HJ-6 is it's a 2 1/2 inch long minnow shaped lure that has a rattle and suspends. Colors that the snappers love are holographic and metallic silver, white, and blue ones. Constant jerking while reeling at a steady pace gets them to hit over and over again.

Other than snapper success with the HJ-6, as I said in the report I put up, baby stripers and white perch go crazy for the same lure in lower tidal rivers. I've had times at Glenwood Park on the tidal area of the Pequonnock where I've caught over 10 baby stripers and whites combined with a HJ-6.