captpierre Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 Thinking I'm going to give these a try. Saw a seminar at the fishing show. He said a real slow presentation after counting down to near the bottom. Should be a winner for eyes on deep weed edges and humps. Anybody use these on the Kawarthas? I ft drop per second. Mono or braid make a difference? Colour and size?
manitoubass2 Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 I like em on the river. Minnow pattern is my fav(love black). They like to snag so I give em a good rip off bottom before retrieving. They run true in current, big plus in my books
Beavertail Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 I like the medium size, silver and black. Never used them on the Kawarthas but on deeper, shield type lakes for Walleye with success trolling over main lake basins.
Raf Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 they sorta became 'out of favour' when suspending cranks were released and i find their action is muted compared to floating or suspending versions but they still have their time and place.
Steve Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 how do they troll? i'm not sure if I understand the concept of a count down on a trolling pattern. i'm assuming the slower you troll, the deeper they go?
John Bacon Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 They would troll deeper than a floating rapala; but are still a relatively shallow trolling lure. I have never actually counted down when trolling; but I have trolled them and caught fish.
Joeytier Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 Got away from using them last couple of years. They wouldn't be my first choice for trolling, but they are my first choice for slow rolling in current, especially in cold water. No rattle and little action can be the ticket early season.
manitoubass2 Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 Got away from using them last couple of years. They wouldn't be my first choice for trolling, but they are my first choice for slow rolling in current, especially in cold water. No rattle and little action can be the ticket early season. Yip thats my thoughts as well
PUMP KNOWS Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 How do you work these lures when casting? Let it fall on the bottom and then steady/slow retrieve or jerk and pause?
manitoubass2 Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 How do you work these lures when casting? Let it fall on the bottom and then steady/slow retrieve or jerk and pause? Either
4x4bassin Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 About 15 years ago I was in Algonquin Park portaging into a couple lakes deep in the park when I started talking to an old timer on one of the trails . He asked us where we were going and what we planned on using for lures . I showed him my selection of spoons , mepps and rapalas and he looked through them and said " is that a countdown rapala " right at the bottom of my box was an old countdown perch rapala that I had never used before and to tell you the truth I don't know why it was in there but it was . Now , everyone has some secret lakes and spots that you wouldn't share with anyone but this old timer told us to fish in this certain spot on lake X with that perch coloured countdown rapala . Well I didn't really believe him because he was so willing to give up his secret spot/lure to a complete stranger and that is very rare in the fishing world . Well wouldn't you know it we went to that spot and trolled these countdown rapalas and were literally catching beauty lake trout on every pass and the other canoe who didn't have these rapalas caught about half as much as we did . So to end this quick story I would like to say thanks to that very kind fisherman who shared his stories and secrets with us and also to say that countdown rapalas do work , especially in a certain lake within Algonquin Park
manitoubass2 Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 Oh the perch pattern! I totally forgot, when the walleye move to the reefs, cast these around the reefs and get ready for some big pike! They love these lures
TDunn Posted April 10, 2015 Report Posted April 10, 2015 Steelhead love em.... I like that they don't dive once you start retrieving. Let sink to desired depth then reel (I count and use the 1s=1ft) Sometimes I will twitch or jerk it in on the retrieve but often just a straight retrieve works well. Great for casting on rivers.... TDunn
Regan Thompson Posted April 11, 2015 Report Posted April 11, 2015 (edited) Captpierre, I used to live on upper Chemong and my old man neighbor caught tonnes of Walleye. He used Count Down Rapala's and pretty soon I caught on! They work well because they get right to the bottom while trolling very slow (as versed to floating cranks that don't get deep). We used to troll weedlines with them and they worked so well, after a while it's all we used. Edited April 11, 2015 by Regan Thompson
joeybacala Posted April 11, 2015 Report Posted April 11, 2015 Used at the weed lines in what time of the season. In your opinion more effective in spring or summer? I will be trying my luck this year to target walleye and people in the know could help me shorten the learning curve.
Regan Thompson Posted April 11, 2015 Report Posted April 11, 2015 Mostly in summer and we'd troll the Kawartha weedlines in 10-12 FOW. We used to fish Chemong a lot and there was not much structure there as you may know. Just a big bowl of weeds! There were certain areas that had more of a sandy bottom. The weeds would be less dense in these areas and that's where we had the most luck.
Regan Thompson Posted April 11, 2015 Report Posted April 11, 2015 We'd use braid so they would get deeper and I think they were between 2-3" in length. Natural color seemed to work the best.
joeybacala Posted April 11, 2015 Report Posted April 11, 2015 Thanks for the tip Regan. I'm curious, have you ever fished Rice Lake and if so what areas without revealing any favourite spot. North or South part of the lake do you find better and in what season.
captpierre Posted April 11, 2015 Author Report Posted April 11, 2015 Not sure they are meant for trolling deeper water especially since there are multi level diving Rapalas that are designed to target specific depths. But maybe the tighter wobble is preferred over the big wobble of diving cranks. I was thinking more of a casting strategy where I don't have to cast way beyond the spot to drag a diving crank down to depth. A countdown will go to any depth even deep divers wouldn't reach casting.
manitoubass2 Posted April 11, 2015 Report Posted April 11, 2015 Not sure they are meant for trolling deeper water especially since there are multi level diving Rapalas that are designed to target specific depths. But maybe the tighter wobble is preferred over the big wobble of diving cranks. I was thinking more of a casting strategy where I don't have to cast way beyond the spot to drag a diving crank down to depth. A countdown will go to any depth even deep divers wouldn't reach casting. Thats how I use them from boat or shore
joeybacala Posted April 13, 2015 Report Posted April 13, 2015 Thanks guys for the info, I will try it out. Hopefully I'll have good luck.
super dave Posted April 13, 2015 Report Posted April 13, 2015 this is my go to lure, especially the gold colour. smallies, pike, muskies and walleye in the kawarthas. they cast a mile because they are weighted. I do the countdown method and fish some pretty deep dropoffs. a foot a second is about right, reel slowly and it will go down a bit more. I do agree, the action is limited but they do work. Fire tiger is another great colour.
Roe Bag Posted April 14, 2015 Report Posted April 14, 2015 (edited) I use the CD 7 Perch pattern for walleye in my local river. If you can wade to a point where you can work the lure straight downstream they catch a lot of fish. More often than not, I don't even have to retrieve. Just make a short cast downstream. Allow it to work in the current ticking bottom. Looks a feeding baitfish. To search different water downstream, just open the bail. Let it drift downstream and close the bail. Much like hotshotting. Steelhead love the Perch pattern as well. Especially when they settle in and rest in deeper holes. Not my first choice for Steelhead but when fish are aggressive, they'll smash them. CD 9's in black and silver work well for shoreline browns in early Spring. Just as effective as AC shiners. Usually troll them at about two miles an hour. Count them down to half the water depth. If the water is really flat I will troll using my bow mount electric so as not to spook fish. Tried small side planers years ago but found them to be a whole lot of aggrivation. Perhaps with new technology the are now more user friendly. The early ones were a pain. Flat lining with long leads behind the electric gets it done. Edited April 14, 2015 by Roe Bag
joeybacala Posted April 14, 2015 Report Posted April 14, 2015 A lot of great info guys. I will put this to good use, and hopefully I can report back with positive feedback. I will be at Rice Lake for walleye opener, can't wait to try these methods out.
SirCranksalot Posted April 14, 2015 Report Posted April 14, 2015 What's the advantage of these countdown lures over regular sinking Rapalas?
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