Rapala's

[radke22]

I hear everybody talking about fishing trout with raps and have a few questions. How can you fish in thick cover? do you fish it like a spinner,through the currect? what sizes and what colors? I've used small panther martians and think they have to be the best thing since sliced bread, but curious about raps for trout. Nick

[bry c]

Radke
I usually fish f3 and f5 raps in small streams/rivers during the fall and target brown trout. They seem most effective in fall/winter/early spring when all the bugs are gone and the trout are getting aggressive around spawn time. Brown, rainbow, and green minnow are my most productive colors. Since all of my stream fishing is c&r, I cut one hook off each trebel to keep from hurting the fish and it seems to keep out of snags a little better. You can fish them the same way as spinners, but usually I really burn them past good cover to get reaction strikes. Its surprising the size of fish that can come from that technique.

[Jim W]

Raps for Trout you say?????

Just so happens raps are my go to everytime I adorn my waders. I don't always stick with them, but for action and catching, raps are it for me.

I guess if you spend enough time,walking streams etc, casting becomes an art form, both fly-rod and spin rods.

My cast most resembles a Quisenberry, or other side winding Major league pitchers.
This keeps stuff above out of the scenario and I can pin point my casts into smaller landing zones.

Of course, having the right amount of line on your spool is very important. Not too much and not too little. Generally, you want to see the lip on the top of your spool.
Less backlash with a smoother release of line.
If you wade a lot, you'll understand why I go through soooo much line in a season!

Back to raps!

Unless the stream is jumpable, I have found the #9 Original floating rap to be THE best for castability, retrieval rates, wobble and most appealing to Trout, Smallmouth etc.

On occasions I move up to a (yes) #11 rap. Too big???? uh uh! Remember fish prefer to eat using up as little energy as possible. So, if a 5-6 inch shiner makes it's way, either dying or finding itself in the wrong place at the dining time, a large trout won't think twice.
I have witnessed on many occasion, as I remove a fish, a shiner lodged in the throat of a "starved" trout! Yes they eat bugs and many of them, but the big girls prefer the quick/easy large meal.

Please remember to crimp when at all possible

If the waters are gin clear, low light periods are key. If the waters have a silty tint to them, obscuring bottom recognition in your favorite hole or run, LOOK OUT!!!!

This is when raps are to your advantage.
More time to work a run, casting multiple times. If you can't see the fish, good chance they can't see you!!

Stop and go retrieves!

So don't be shy to go big for trout, especially if you know there are larger fish.

(remember Trout Day April 26th/ Events Forum for Agenda)

Keep the rods bendin'!!!

Jim W

[This message has been edited by Jim W (edited 04-09-2003).]

[Renneberg]

Raps are my bread and butter lure for trout. So far I haven't found a trout stream where they don't work great.

The size of rap. I use depends on the size of trout I'm expecting to catch on the river I'm fishing.
For trout 16 inches and under I find it hard to beat a size 5.(that's not to say a bigger trout will hit a #5 rap)
For trout over 16 inches I use a size 11 rap. Nothing smaller. A big trout isn't going to waste it's energy trying to catch a small minnow unless it swims right infront of its mouth. They will, how ever, go a long ways to catch a big minnow.

Colors that work for me are orange, blue, chartruse, black and silver, as well as natural colors.
A good rule of tumb is to start out with bright colors early in the day. As the sun gets higher the colors should get lighter. Around mid-day you should be fishing with natural colors. Then as the sun goes down slowly start fishing brighter colors.

As far as fishing cover, well, practice, practice, practice. Once you learn how the lure runs in the water you will quickly learn how to control it.
I think spinners are harder to fish, because when you stop reeling they sink and are easy to snag. Raps on the otherhand float.
Lets not forget those line twist spinner makes.

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"Study to be quite"

[Pig_sticka]

using raps you miss alot n alot of trout, so if you want alot of numbers i wouldn't go with them. you do lose alot of these expensive little things though so stock up on some rivers. work em with alot of action, short jerks. they dont work the best in pools, because most dont rise as good for them in there. #9 in rainbow, fathead, or brown trout. floating on most streams, and countdown on deeper streams. floating has better action.

[CAB]

Just reading this page gets me heart pounding for fishing season. I prefer the #7 or 9 Rapala Husky Jerk. The reason is that you can suspend it just off the fast water current and twitch it. The trout will blast out of the fast water and inhale the Jerk. I can't count the number of fish I have taken using this method. Good Luck!

[Northlander]

#7 and #9 in Brown and Blue/white work best for me on the Brule. Suspending Raps also are good. Im going to see if I can get a jointed shad to work. In deep pools the jointed rap is real good. Also in the 7 or 9.

[DARK30]

I'm headed for the Smart Fire on the Root River shortly. I will be bringing a few #5 Shad raps.

WET NETS!

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cast,cast,cast,cast......