Rapala Jiggin Shad Raps

[BigWadeS]

Are these a must have item? If so do they catch multi-species or mostly walleye/perch related? Can these be used in the summer as well?

[Steve Foss]

Wade, the smallest size works well on crappies, too. You can vertical jig with them in summer for any species that is a fish-eater and responds to vertical jigging. The profile with its tall body most closely resembles young-of-the-year panfish, shad and cisco (tulibee).

They also are great for lake trout through the ice.

I don't know if they're a must-have, but I favor the jigging rap line for many, many species, and I have three larger and four smaller jigging rap shads.

[OakdaleFMR]

Rainy lake we were catching Walleye, sauger, perch, crappie and most of all big northerns to the point hooks were bending. Great bait, but outside of Rainy lake I notice the smaller fat shad size works the best.

[Chode2235]

I love them for catching bass through the ice. They have a really nice, not to aggressive, fall.

[looneyducer]

I wouldn't call it a must have. In fact, it's one of those lures I strongly suggest nobody else carry.

[jigginjim]

I'll fish the smaller jiggin raps in the summer. Do better an active fish.

[BassAkwards]

does anyone ever fish with the small rat-l-traps?

[Steve Foss]

I've had some success with them for lakers.

[Todd_J]

The Jiggin' Raps are my best friend and worst enemy. I hooked 3 GREAT eyes last winter on Devil's Lake, only to loose them when the Raps front hook became hung-up on the edge of the ice hole.

Friggin Jiggin Rap. I love to curse you.

[BigWadeS]

thanks for the feedback fellas, I appreciate it, guess my tackle arsenal will now include a few of these....

[Steve Foss]

OK, Todd and others, here is a tip for you. I've been a HUGE jigging rap fan for a long time. I too got sick of losing fish because of the front or rear hooks catching the hole, so I cut them off with a wirecutters flush to the lure. I started doing that about six years ago. I only did it after realizing that almost every fish I caught (while they might have had one of the front or rear hook embedded once in awhile) had the middle treble securely hooked in their mouths.

So I cut those hooks off a couple raps, leaving only the center treble, and I didn't notice any falloff either in hits or hooking. None at all. So I've cut those hooks off all my other jigging raps and nils master jigger shads and any similar swimming lure and have never looked back.

This modification is no secret. The In-Fisherman guys talked about doing it years ago, and Doug Stange in particular has been a jigging rap fan for a long time, but I can tell you that it works, and of course there's no more catching those evil front/rear hooks on the edge of the ice.

I also didn't notice ANY difference in lure action between the hookless and the originals. My conclusion? Those front/rear hooks are there to hook fishermen (they sure make the lure LOOK tough), not to help land fish.

[BigWadeS]

one more question-- do you direct tie to them or use a snap? what is the best knot for these? is fireline the right line for them?

[Grant Pearson]

my suggestion is to tie about a foot of line to the jigging rap and a swivel to the other end. Tie the opposite end of the swivel to your line. It'll help with line twist.

[Steve Foss]

No matter what my main line, I tie a ball-bearing swivel to it, add two feet of fluorocarbon and then a cross-lock swivel. The ball-bearing swivel eliminated line twist, as mentioned, and the cross-lock swivel, aside from making it easier to change lures, also allows your lure more freedome of movement (better lure action) than most knots tied directly to the lure.