Crankbaits/Rapalas for Walleye

[iliketrout]

Looking to pick up a couple of cranks/rapalas to throw at Walleye in and around 8-12 FOW, at the edge of some weed beds. Can anyone recommend a good 'go-to' to convince them to bite?

[baitfisher83]

Try an olive green,silver and black rapala color.....worked well for pike and walleye at pcr..

[CantThinkOfAName]

I was told to try out Rapala X-Rap. So I've been giving that a whirl this year. And while I don't specifically target walleye often, its been catching some for me anyway. Silver & Blue has been the hot color.

[baitfisher83]

yeah sorry forgot to mention it was an x-rap too....

[Goater]

Clackin'Rap---CNR-8 in Perch or the golden color they are great for trolling or bottom bouncing-- a killer lure!!!! the only problem they work too well on pike!

[goober]

Anything in a perch pattern will slay the eye's!!!

[walleyechaser]

x-raps is silver blue, silver black, perch, pearl... original rap in the same colours.

[5Weight]

Rapalla Countdown 3" gold/black or perch colour has worked well for me in the past. Caught many an eye trolled and casted in about the depth you mentioned.

Good luck.

5W

[iliketrout]

Thanks guys, lots to think about. I guess I'll consider it a success if I can get out of the store spending less than $50!!

[Cal]

Hey trout, with walleyes I have found that having your cranks run at the proper depth is usualy way more important than what color or type you happen to be using. I've had great luck with Cotton Cordell rattler plugs and Walley Divers, Storm Hot'n Tot and Thin Fin, and various Rapalas including the original and shad raps. For the depth your talking about I would probably start off with a rapala original, rattle plug, or Thin Fin and go to a deeper diver if needed. If the bottom is clear of weeds fishing a deep diver with a metal lip like the Hot n' Tot so that it bounces off the bottom and kicks up mud can work awesome. Some people seem to use fairly small crank baits for walleye but I've found they will regularly hit baits 6" or better so dont be afraid to go big.

[nicemustang]

If I'm doing this type of presentation...I use a 3-way swivel. then depending on depth and speed of troll, use a 3-4 oz weight on one side of 3-way, then a 4 foot leader to a floating style crank like original, husky jerk, flat minnow, or xrap shad. Then you basically troll around with bouncing the weight close to the bottom and the raps stay about the same. Bounching the rap of the hard bottom will get you a lot of strikes in warm temp active fish times.

[Cal]

If I'm doing this type of presentation...I use a 3-way swivel. then depending on depth and speed of troll, use a 3-4 oz weight on one side of 3-way, then a 4 foot leader to a floating style crank like original, husky jerk, flat minnow, or xrap shad. Then you basically troll around with bouncing the weight close to the bottom and the raps stay about the same. Bounching the rap of the hard bottom will get you a lot of strikes in warm temp active fish times.

About how much line do you run on the sinker side of your 3 way?

[goober]

If I'm doing this type of presentation...I use a 3-way swivel. then depending on depth and speed of troll, use a 3-4 oz weight on one side of 3-way, then a 4 foot leader to a floating style crank like original, husky jerk, flat minnow, or xrap shad. Then you basically troll around with bouncing the weight close to the bottom and the raps stay about the same. Bounching the rap of the hard bottom will get you a lot of strikes in warm temp active fish times.

Great tip Mustang!!! We run the same set up!!

[Beazer]

MAXRAPS.....but they're fairly shallow.

Try A Minnow Rap. Usually meant for trolling but if you toss off a dock it will get down quick enough. Same with the deep Taildancers.

If your worried about weeds or rocks I would go with the x-rap shad as it suspends!(very important especially around rocks...take note Bow River fishers!)

Using the clackin rap and pulling off weeds or using the 3 way method to get down an original floater/flatrap would probably work best.

Get the depth right and then worry about the colour.
I don't use black and red anymore. Blue/Orange is a killer especially on a GSR(Glass Shad Rap).

[Cal]

MAXRAPS.....but they're fairly shallow.

Try A Minnow Rap. Usually meant for trolling but if you toss off a dock it will get down quick enough. Same with the deep Taildancers.

If your worried about weeds or rocks I would go with the x-rap shad as it suspends!(very important especially around rocks...take note Bow River fishers!)

Using the clackin rap and pulling off weeds or using the 3 way method to get down an original floater/flatrap would probably work best.

Get the depth right and then worry about the colour.
I don't use black and red anymore. Blue/Orange is a killer especially on a GSR(Glass Shad Rap).


Exactly how does a suspending plug help you around rocks and weeds? Please explain because for the life of me I canot fathom how a suspending plug could possibly be more snag resistant than the usual floating plugs.

[nicemustang]

About how much line do you run on the sinker side of your 3 way?

About 2' of line to the weight. Using size 9 usually raps.

I learned it from the linders, here: 3-way walleyes (http://www.youtube.com/user/LindnerMedia#p/search/11/huhjkj3_OMQ)

[Beazer]

The suspending ones will actually back up.


Saved me lots on the bow.

[aulrich]

is this presentation a cast, troll or both presentation.

[nicemustang]

I assumed we were talking trolling, and that's where my presentation will work. I don't know how one would 3 way a crank rig with success.

[aulrich]

Sort of what I thought.

Why would you us this rig vs a bottom bouncer, short of it is cheaper.

[Cal]

The suspending ones will actually back up.


Saved me lots on the bow.

You find that the floating ones will not?

And I think the advantages of a 3 way over a bottom bouncer are that you can vary the distance between your 3 way and sinker to run the plug at different depths. Also if you use lighter line for your dropper you will only lose the sinker when you snag and not your plug as well.

Nice Mustang, about how much weight do you use and what size plug? How much weight would a guy have to use to keep a 6-7" Rapala original down 10-15 feet with 10lb mono?

[nicemustang]

Ok, couple of reasons I like this presentation....

As mentioned by Cal, you can vary your depth of where you want that crank running very easily. Also easy to give more leader length as well, might take a bit of playing with your raps to get this to line up properly. IE: later on in the august sunny days you can run in 30 feet of water with one right on the bottom, bouncing off rocks. It's really a poor mans downrigger. Also use this presentation for lakers.

The floating ones are fine. I use the size 9 or 11 original rapala in perch patter or silver, the 9 or 11 flat minnow in silver or orange/yellow (my favorite one) or a size 7 or 9 jointed gold one. My buddy uses the husky jerks pretty much exclusively in silver or orange/green/black perch looking thing (sorry I don't know what it's actually called). A 20 lb gold 3 way swivel, on 30 lb test power pro. Use 12 lb flouro as the leader to the weight, 8 lb flouro to the rap. Change the tail hook to a red treble, ultra sharp.

As for weight, most often use a 3 oz and fishing 8-20 FOW. 4 foot leader. 2' of line to weight. Bounce it manualy off the bottom, rap does the rest. I don't use mono so not sure if you'd need more weight or not, but for 10-15 feet you shouldn't. Use a 4 oz if we're in the late summer in deeper water. Try to stick to 1.2 mph but that can vary. Sometime up to 2 mph or more, but may need more weight. You'll be able to feel the bottom very easily so you'll know if you have too much weight (or not enough).

We've have good luck with lakers and walleye this way at all times of the years, better when the water warms up and fish are active. Like in one of my previous threads, we haven't been lucky with bouncing blades and haven't tried it too much, but we have luck doing this if we want to cover water.

[Beazer]

The floating ones of course will, but you can't use them in the same situation as an xrap without adding to it.. Just easier to use something that suspends and gets down to the range your looking at instead of fiddling with weights and swivels IMO.

This is presuming your just casting.
You can still get stuck in rocks when trolling a suspender.

Mustang; I thought the red hooks on the tail was a old wives tail? Seem to be a producer for you?

[nicemustang]

I thought so to until I tried it. Seems to work much better for us, though it could be that i'm just getting better.


I suggest every serious walleye angler give this a shot. Go on your favorite drop off on hard bottom and give er. I'll bet it will work just as good for you as spinners.