Do Smallmouths Go For These?

[JohnF]

 

Again, shallow clear rocky bottom creeks. The rocks make it difficult to bounce off the bottom without getting wedged between the rocks. On the other hand I discovered that some of these will move through the water with a nice little wiggle if you can maintain the right speed on the retrieve.

[richyb]

They work great for smallies

[danbouck]

Work Great! Only tried in lakes though.

[johnnyb]

I like to rip 'em hard and fast....but in those clear creeks, that might be a bit too aggressive...either way, I've had good success with them

[Twocoda]

The rattlin raps IMO are the only lure you need in your tackle....its like the rod ...you have to have it to catch fish ...you have to have the rattlins too.....they are sinking lures and are meant to be travelled at 8 feet under surface...you can however speed up your retrieval to get about 6 feet of travel....i have caught smallies bigmouths salmon bows browns musky and pike with them ...you might want to pick up the original shad rap (grey/white) as well

 

The look and action of the lure attracts in clear water ( great action on them ).....when the water is dirty ....the bbs inside make the fish curious until they see it and then strike...

 

 

ps if your looking to unload them ...let me know ( just the rapalas)

 

 

@ 7 bucks a piece i have hundreds of them on the bottom of the saugeen....over the years

Edited June 8, 2009 by Twocoda

[Terry]

at times they work great

 

but other days they will not bite them

I have found that on days fish are not biting anything, if I make about 10 cast with a rattle bait then put on a slow moving bait or plastic the fish will bite

they seems to get the fish looking

[JohnF]

The rattlin raps IMO are the only lure you need in your tackle....its like the rod ...you have to have it to catch fish ...you have to have the rattlins too.....they are sinking lures and are meant to be travelled at 8 feet under surface...you can however speed up your retrieval to get about 6 feet of travel....i have caught smallies bigmouths salmon bows browns musky and pike with them ...you might want to pick up the original shad rap (grey/white) as well

 

The look and action of the lure attracts in clear water ( great action on them ).....when the water is dirty ....the bbs inside make the fish curious until they see it and then strike...

 

 

ps if your looking to unload them ...let me know ( just the rapalas)

 

 

@ 7 bucks a piece i have hundreds of them on the bottom of the saugeen....over the years

 

I had the Shad Rap you're talking about until I sacrificed it to the Walleye gods down at Dunnville a few weeks ago. I've got a couple of other colours but forgot to get 'em in the pics.

 

JF

[Cudz]

Right column, second from the bottom. That is all I am going to say.

[JMahon]

I agree w/ Cudz....especially fishing the Thames, the crayfish colour lipless cranks work wonders on the smallies! But to sum it up, everything you've shown tonight will catch smallies, & pretty well every other fish around here! You got urself a good arsenal....the only other suggestions I have is to add a few spinnerbaits, & some plastics (tubes & grubs) to the mix...& most definately use some larger sized cranks & jerkbaits (size 8 & 10) as well! Oh ya, I also like to carry a few spinners with me too....just in case

Edited June 9, 2009 by JMahon

[Harrison]

Tidbit, if you are getting hung up alot, remove the front treble and replace it with a single upside down. Try without a body hook at all and see if you are getting a good hookset anyways too.

[Mike Pike]

Funny, but the only time I've used lipless cranks has been on lakes. When river fishing, particularly shallower rivers like the middle and upper Grand and it's tributaries, I prefer floating plugs like Rapala minnows and Fatraps, etc. I find when you combine the shallower water with river current, it's kinda hard work the lipless cranks effectively and keep 'em from getting hung on the bottom. I realize ticking bottom with these baits can be a good trigger to get fish to hit, though, particularly if you're talking about clear, rocky stream situation.

 

I find with floating plugs I can cover the same water much more easily( and effectively, I think ).

[JohnF]

I agree w/ Cudz....especially fishing the Thames, the crayfish colour lipless cranks work wonders on the smallies! But to sum it up, everything you've shown tonight will catch smallies, & pretty well every other fish around here! You got urself a good arsenal....the only other suggestions I have is to add a few spinnerbaits, & some plastics (tubes & grubs) to the mix...& most definately use some larger sized cranks & jerkbaits (size 8 & 10) as well! Oh ya, I also like to carry a few spinners with me too....just in case

 

Funny about that. I've been told they're good but I thought that was just in Louisianna. The durned things look cooked. How do bass boil their crawdads? But then I know that the colour red fades quickly to black in the water so perhaps the red is misleading. In any case I'll be trying them. I have a few red ones in different sizes.

 

JF

[4thgen]

I've never had much success with lipless cranks in shallow water. One lure that I've found to be pretty unbeatable is a 2" suspending hardbody minnow bait called a "Mystic minnow". I've always preferred the long, skinny cranks as opposed to short/fat. Tiny floaters like the "Crickhopper" can be alot of fun to fish as well.

[JMahon]

They use to make a lighter colour crayfish colour, which I personally like better, but the newer darker colours still works fine!

[JohnF]

Jeez! I wuz trying to narrow down the range of lures and what I'm getting are suggestions for even more to buy. This gearpigedness is gonna git me in real trouble on the home front. When fishing crap starts taking up as much room as my dive gear did in the day she'll take notice. Then it'll be just like when I tried to sneak a new bike into the garage. Who knew she could distinguish between them by the sound they made, sneaky b... ?

 

Well, suffice it to say she was not easy to fool. The first time she found me trying to sneak a Yamaha into the garage she announced that she was getting her bike licence and riding too. That sucked. There's no way for two up on a Yammy dirt bike, especially with me as the passenger. I think that's why I had to buy the Triumph.

 

JF

[Dara]

All this posting you're doing, It almost sounds like you are planning on doing some Bass fishing

[JohnF]

All this posting you're doing, It almost sounds like you are planning on doing some Bass fishing

 

 

I just came back to fishing a couple of years back, and I'm having fun. I'm lucky enough to have the Thames almost at my doorstep and up here above London it's got lots of very pretty secluded spots for us to wade.

 

JF