Has anyone ever had a pike destroy a Rapala?

[sled59]

I was trolling with a Trolls to 20 Rapala the other day and had a big strike that lasted a few seconds. Then nothing so I reeled in only to find only the bill of the lure and 1/2 inch remaining. I have never had this happen before.

[20lbSloughShark]

yah, you just asked this in open water.

[mainbutter]

I've had the back hook anchor on a #9 shad rap pulled about a cm or so out during a fight with a 48'' musky. I was using 30lb test line if I remember correctly and cranked the drag down during the fight to get the most out of my rod and line. The shad rap was damaged enough that I wasn't confident in that hook performing well anymore.

What kind of tackle were you using?

If you hook a big fish, and have drag that is stronger than your lure or hook, the terminal tackle WILL suffer damage.

I purposefully fish line that's strong enough that I can bend just about any of my hooks out of snags. that aren't big pike or musky hooks.

[mrpike1973]

i've had many raps destroyed by mr pike. mostly balsa ones. now i use plastic raps mostly xrap husky jerk etc. carefull with x raps ive had the bill snap off before

[erikwells]

I would suggest if you keep your lures away from Mr. Pike they will be in much better condition and much more pleasant to look at in your tackle box. They are slimy,stinky,toothy and aggrerssive so not sure why you would want to catch one anyways.

I love these fish with the nasty attitudes.

[20lbSloughShark]

Bottom line is, real men catch fish with teeth.

I'm just joking bass and panfish fisherman, all fish fight and have their challenges, and all taste good.

I've never had a lure destoyed, but have had many suckers bit up bad, and one even cut clean in half. My reel has a relatively low drag of about 15 pounds max, I can't even imagine turning it up that high. I have mine set at about 3-4 pounds, any more and I feel my pole will break.

[sled59]

Eirkwell , I dont care about losing tackle to pike. It happens alot.That not the issue here. I was just wondering if anyone else has had this happen. I have caught a few nice pike on the same kind of lure I was using. I caught a 40 inch pike and nothing happened to the lure. Of course Im not the fisherman that you are.

[Catch 22]

I had this happen to me have a pike on and just reel the lip in saved them and went back to gander mountain and they gave me 3 new tail dancers, the old rapalas had a wire that went all the thur the lure never had a problem I don't use them any more need to complain to rapala on there poor craftsmanship figured after 3 times that was enough for me.

[sled59]

I ended up sending the lure back to Rapala and within 3 days they sent me a new one. The best part is that my wife and I went fishing up north for our 28th anniversery to target pike. She pulled the replacement lure out and put it on her trolling rod. She caught a 24inch walleye and before we made it around the lake she caught a 54inch musky. It was awesome to watch her fight that fish all the way into the net. What a great anniversery.

Thanks Rapala.

[ThunderLund78]

I really hope to have this happen someday

But for now all I have are lots of lures with tooth marks. I've had a few hooks straightened on smaller lures...

[TenthousandLakes]

I was wondering what are some good treble hook brands out there? Some of my cranks are real beat up and I need to replace them.

Thank you in advance!

[20lbSloughShark]

eagle claw is the best. Made in america, and hook really good.

[solbes]

Eagle Claw Lazers are fine. I like Mustad Triple Grips for the back treble. They are sharper and are more difficult to throw on a retrieve. Most of my pike/walleye get hooked on the rear hook.

[nsnutter]

Lol at the comment about real men fishing for fish with teeth. Considering my target species could eat most toothy fish in the state as an appetizer

Before I became nutterly obsessed with catfish I was a Muskie/pike fisherman and I have many rap alas in my tackle box in the verge of utter destruction. I've never had a fish destroy one to the extent of what the OP is describing, but I can imagine it could happen ...

[CANOPY SAM]

To follow-up nsnutter's comments, of all the musky and pike I've caught over the years, the only fish I've tangled with that completely tore apart a Rapala was a 20+ channel catfish!

If you've never experienced how hard a cat can bite down on its food, you have no idea just how powerful they are. Flatheads in particular bite down and crush their prey before they gulp it down. Their mouths and heads are surrounded by muscle.

A big cat can crush a balsa wood crank bait with relative ease. Just sayin'...

[nsnutter]

Roger that Canopy ... There's a reason my hands are mainly scar tissue! one trip to the Red River and my hands looked like I had run them through a belt sander. Bigger channels can probably exert enough jaw pressure to break bones!