Advise Please

[CAPT-RAVEN]

Hey everyone again its been a long time since Iv be out doing some real fishing. A few years ago my tackle was stolen out of my car along with my stereo with over $4000 in fishing equipment. I did have a lot of Rapala's but never did use them much. I used mostly Meps #3 spinners or spinner baits. Iv now started to rebuild my tackle and was wondering if anyone had advise on any Rapala lures? I have a few lures right now

Almost every Meps #3 spinner
8 small spinner baits
a bunch of Meps #2 and #1's spinners
Almost all the Williams spoons (different sizes) for pike, bass, trout & walleye.
Meps #2 Thunder Bug set
2 jointed J-11's
1 jointed J-9
1 XRAP XR-8

and a few from Bass Pro (there brand) and was looking for advise on what I should be looking at for bass and pike and even walleye in the Rapala family. I have no clue as its been a long time and I'm just starting over again. Any advise would be great and thanks in advance.

 

[Dugger]

love Rapala but gosh golly gee they are getting pricey.... you said the magic words "Bass Pro brand", i swear by the Static Shad lazer eyes

Walleye? Build that inexpensive Ultimate Jig Box! Tubes, twisters, bucktails, maribous.....

I can't see how after all we have been thru economically the past few years and there is more to come, lure manufacturers think we are going to shell out $14 for a lousy plug. AIN'T GONNA BE ME!!! lol not "Corporate Boy" but me love the Bass Pro Static Shad! 4 bucks each! I am so thereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

[grubman]

Hi Raven
Bummer about your loss. My curse to the thief "May you hook yourself and only catch a terminal disease!!!!!!!!" no j/k.
Ok now that's out of the way. I have to agree with Dugger, $12+ for a lure when they are using slave labour to make them? Com'on. The most popular bait for walleyes are the white grub tipped with half a worm on a ball jig. I've heard that some deep diving cranks are good but cuz of cost I never paid much attention to them. Why not start off on the cheap stuff and then build up to cranks? Yellow grubs are suppose to work, I had some on Power Minnow with half a worm.

Good luck.

 

[kaministiquia]

Hey Raven
Sorry to hear about your loss maybe try the Dollarama stores they have some pretty nice Rapala Knock Offs, other cranks baits & spinner baits worth a try @ $1-$2 a piece hope this helps!

 

[NADO]

Sounds like you have a taste for the quality lures based on the collection you already have. Here are a few suggestions.

Bass
1. Live Target Crawfish - I have caught countless bass on the orange and black version of this lure. It dives 1-2' and often creates some nice surface strikes. Any lures by live target are a cut above the rest with their details and top quality hooks but you do pay an arm and a leg for them.
2. Texas rigged soft plastic crawfish. I like the chigger craw by powerbait and the craw with the open mouth by yum. Get an offset hook for these and a tungsten bullet weight and you will do very well on bass in inland lakes. The same rig can be use for a texas rigged senko worm, texas rigged gobie immitation etc.

Pike
Rapalas and spinnerbaits are my go to lures for pike. But I catch most of my pike on minnows.

Walleye
Cant really help you out with walleye. I have caught two walleye, one on a spinnerbait and one on a spoon. Both were incidental catches when I wasn't targeting them.

 

[MichaelVerdirame]

I have still yet to figure out when and why I would want to fish a plug over a spinnerbait, spinner, or spoon. Somebody fill me in?

Maybe topwater popping, but not sure when else.

That said I do have a Rapala F7 and it absolutely slays small bass, it's a fish magnet. But so is a small spinner...

 

[grubman]

I have still yet to figure out when and why I would want to fish a plug over a spinnerbait, spinner, or spoon. Somebody fill me in?

Maybe topwater popping, but not sure when else.

That said I do have a Rapala F7 and it absolutely slays small bass, it's a fish magnet. But so is a small spinner...

I use cranks as search baits, by using a natural coloured lure you can search a large area for active bass or pike with fan casting. You start your casts at your far left or right and retrieve and different speeds, then change angle and cast again until you've covered 180-or more degrees. Cranks also have a wide variety from surface to deep diving, big and small to match natural forage or bright coloured to attract then you have the rattle cranks that can irritate a predator to stirke out of aggression. But the downside is the cost and the sheer bulk of having a large arsenal of cranks. I used to have a large tackle box that I would lug around everywhere I went and it was not convienent to open up, especially in a boat. I have only a dozen or so that I seldom use. At night walleyes come close to shore to feed on bait fish, this is the time for a rapala 7-9 in either flo-orange/gold or blue/silver. The rattlin spot is a great search bait for active bass in weedy areas, a grasshopper is perfect for shallows. I have to confess that deep divers have not worked for me. It's good to have some with you but I don't think you really need to carry a 20lb tackle box full of them, just a few of the well respected cranks should suffice. I just bought the Matzuo cranks that CT had on sale, 3 for $12, great deal. Have not used them yet but right time and place they may produce hits when spinners, spinnerbait and spoons are just too fast moving for not super active fish.


Hope this helps, wait for a sale or try the no name brands to save. Good luck.

 

[Dugger]

I just bought the Matzuo cranks that CT had on sale, 3 for $12, great deal.

I like this guy!!! lol awesome!

 

[tangledspool]

LOL....and I thought that as the time goes by I was the one getting cheap... $12-$15 for a lure?? no freaking way...but I have sinned more than once and went for a couple....I have even thought they are designed to catch more anglers than fish...bottom line is, comparatively and generally speaking, an inexpensive spinner, or a nice plastic worm or cray fish ($4 a box of 6) with a weedless hook will do the same job .

 

[Dugger]

....there was a day when the knock-offs, cheapies were just plain bad, bad design, bad action, bad hardware.... but methinks those days are toast, praise be! Seriously, I have fished for close to 40 years, hard, in fact I use to write about it so my opinion is seasoned to say the least. Yes, marketing and we all grew up throwing some very famous plugs etc so not only does marketing work but so does nostalgia but after the economic poo storm of '08, I no longer shell out $14 for a plug when I know darn well that I can catch the exact same amount on a Bass Pro knock off or whatever. I have been keeping diaries tracking $14 plugs vs $4 plugs and I see NO DIFFERENCE!!!!!!!!!

heck for sure I dig deep and buy one for old time's sake (the expensive favourite) but then I get hung up, break off and say, again, WHY WHY DO I DO THIS AND GIVE THE PRICEY PLUGS ANOTHER SHOT???????? lol

hmmm the knock-offs are all "offshore made" sadly and as hard as i search when i shop for ANYTHING Canadian-made let alone North American-made, that quest is getting harder.

I swear by the Bass Pro Static Shad Laser Eye.... that plug has put so many fish in the boat this year...

i salute my fellow frugal anglers!!! lol

 

[NADO]

LOL....and I thought that as the time goes by I was the one getting cheap... $12-$15 for a lure?? no freaking way...but I have sinned more than once and went for a couple....I have even thought they are designed to catch more anglers than fish...bottom line is, comparatively and generally speaking, an inexpensive spinner, or a nice plastic worm or cray fish ($4 a box of 6) with a weedless hook will do the same job .

Its funny you say that because I find the plastic crawfish method to be the most expensive methods of fishing I do other than maybe minnows. When I get into a good day and catch alot of bass I will typicall go through a minimum of one pack of craws that costs $5 if not two. Not to mention a few offset hooks and bullet weights that break off, that puts me at anywhere from 7-12 bucks for just a mere 4 hours on the water. On the flip side I had my live target craw for 2 years and probably caught 30 bass on it, only finally lost it early this year when my braided line got caught up in my reel halfway through my cast and the line snapped....Instantly a brick formed in my stomach and I was at a loss for words. Looking back it was pretty funny but at the time I was just plain pissed!

There no winningg, unless you pick your own worms and use low cost hooks and sinkers fishing is going to cost money....its a sad reality.

 

[CAPT-RAVEN]

Awesome everyone. Thanks for all the advise and I will be using it believe me. Ill be using everything everyone suggested too see what works the best for us. I do loive Bass Pro I find myself looking on line for the nice sales they have > : ) How does everyone feel about the EBAY lures? Iv seen some good looking deals but an not sure of the quality.

 

[kaministiquia]

....there was a day when the knock-offs, cheapies were just plain bad, bad design, bad action, bad hardware.... but methinks those days are toast, praise be! Seriously, I have fished for close to 40 years, hard, in fact I use to write about it so my opinion is seasoned to say the least. Yes, marketing and we all grew up throwing some very famous plugs etc so not only does marketing work but so does nostalgia but after the economic poo storm of '08, I no longer shell out $14 for a plug when I know darn well that I can catch the exact same amount on a Bass Pro knock off or whatever. I have been keeping diaries tracking $14 plugs vs $4 plugs and I see NO DIFFERENCE!!!!!!!!!

heck for sure I dig deep and buy one for old time's sake (the expensive favourite) but then I get hung up, break off and say, again, WHY WHY DO I DO THIS AND GIVE THE PRICEY PLUGS ANOTHER SHOT???????? lol

hmmm the knock-offs are all "offshore made" sadly and as hard as i search when i shop for ANYTHING Canadian-made let alone North American-made, that quest is getting harder.

I swear by the Bass Pro Static Shad Laser Eye.... that plug has put so many fish in the boat this year...

i salute my fellow frugal anglers!!! lol

I agree the knock- off plugs are just as good these days...I supliment my tackle box with Little Joe Spinners, Strip-On Spinners and Mepps knock-offs that I make my self... I can't even make Mepps knock-offs my self cheaper than the dollarama after buying the wire bender,wire,hooks,swivels,bodies,blades,etc...it costs me more to make them.

I've never seen knock-off Strip-On Spinners though thats my go to trolling lure for Walleye...I normally use them with a keel sinker to prevent line twist and a leader just in case I happen to run into a big Northern Pike which happens quite a bit.

Cheers fellow frugal anglers!!!