Successful Walleye Bait from Rapala?

[walleyeking]

Hey all

These darn walleye's have evaded me for quite some time, but over the winter I have done a little bit of research into it.

And I picked out a few Rapala lures that "might" work, and they are:

Trolls to Shad (15 ft model)
Trolls to Minnow (15 ft model)
Husky Jerk
Xrap

People who had luck with these or other rapala ones, please do share your insight, including color patterns, trolling depths, or even where the best place to cast is? Such as weed lines, rocky shore lines, etc etc.

Thanks, and I hope you guys give me some valuable tips

[Fishooked]

Well first off, I'm not a walleye fisherman -

But there are a few on here who swear by Shad Raps, Jointed Shad Raps, Deep Husky Jerks, and so on.

I would think that Tail Dancers & Minnow Raps would work too, then again I am heavily biased towards the Minnow Rap lately...

Welcome aboard!

[walleyeking]

Im glad to be here, I actually, accidentally walked into this site, and it was something I was looking for, where I can discuss and ask for tips.

I was actually looking at the ones you mentioned in your post, however I don't do much trolling, because I haven't hooked up a trolling motor to my zodiac just yet. (my current outboard is too fast for trolling speeds)

After I read that the trolls to shad, and the trolls to minnow, obediently dive to 15ft, it sounded intriguing.

Ill have to give the tail dancer and shad rap a shot, however, what depths do these lures go to when trolled? Sorry if I sound dumb, but I'm used to working the shores, and catching lots of largemouth bass/smallmouth/pike/musky. But I want to experiment with trolling, because I am buying a trolling motor for this summer.

Thanks for your comment fishooked.

[Fishooked]

No problem - actually I am more of a shallows guy myself, working the skinny water near the shoreline for bass, so I am no trolling expert myself.

This might help, but there is such a wide range they give on some models...

www.rapala.com/products/topbttm.cfm


Anyway, all I can say is that when the bass in my lake were no longer found in the shallows (fall & early spring) I just trolled a Minnow Rap (MR-9 or MR-11) from my canoe until I found them.

Worked great on bass, pickerel, and perch (to an extent); Id say the MR-11 runs to about 10ft, MR-9 not as much, since the lip is smaller.

[walleyeking]

Yea Im kinda in the same boat as you. I tend to fish waters that are about 3-4 ft deep.

This past summer, I bought myself a Rapala Skitter Pop, best $8 investment EVER.

Tossed it up in the lilipads, popped, paused, popped paused, and it was just a fish magnet.

Went out one morning to only ONE spot, and caught 6 bass, without moving the boat, next morning, caught 2 northern pikes, 3-4 ft water.

[Fishooked]

Cool...well like I said, I can't help with the walleye...

But for a killer shallow water bait, try the DTFAT01...trust me on that one....you can run it just under the surface and it makes a nice wake to boot..

[wlb]

I'm a lake Erie bass fisherman who occasionally nite fishes for walleye in the fall.
I don't like to troll so I cast Husky Jerks (Hj14) in chrome and blue or clown to the shallow rock lined shorelines of the western basin. 5 - 15 fow.
The most important thing I've learned is a slow retrieve is the best. If you think your retrieving slow, slow down some more.
Nite fishing in the shallows is great fun, I've had giant walleyes tail walking like a bass after they smashed the lure just below the surface.
In the springtime time I use jigs most of the time but have caught them shallow casting SR7 Shad Raps in silver and blk.
Pre and post spawn being the best time for this. Again a slow retrieve seems to work best most days.
I come across some great trolling tips the other day that you might want to check out.
There's a 3 part series here: crankbaitcentral.com/
It's Erie info but should work anywhere. Good Luck!

[walleye270]

It depends a lot on the type of body of water and time of year you are fishing. On larger, deeper lakes, walleye will move shallow (2-15 fow) in the spring and fall to spawn and put on some weight for the winter. You can also find them very deep at the same times. In the fall, I would focus on areas close to sharper drop-offs on the windy side of the lake and cast a HJ-12 into the shallows at night. You cast out and reel the lure in EXTREMELY slow. You cannot hardly reel slow enough. Even a large walleye will hit the bait very softly. I have caught more trophy walleye (8lbs and up) in the fall than at any other time of the year. In the spring, fish move up onto reefs and gravel to spawn. I would use a jig/minnow or jig/plastic. You can also have good success trolling larger minnow baits around this same type of area.

In the summer, you will want to focus on weedlines, drop-offs, sunken timber, basically any kind of structure. First light and right before dark, walleye will move shallower to feed. During the day, they will move deeper and either suspend or drop down into structure close to the bottom. Within the last 5 years, I have not used many lures in the summer. Its mostly nightcrawlers on spinners with bottom bouncers, a single hook with a red bead in front of the hook and a small split shot sinker about 2 feet up from the hook, or a small jig. Walleye can also school over deeper water suspended. On Lake Erie, you will mainly find these suspended schools and will usually troll for them.

Baits:

Spring: Jig/minnow, Jig/plastic, deep husky jerks, tail dancers, shallow husky jerks, reef runners (deep and shallow), single hook w/ bead and minnow.

Summer: Shad raps (5, 7, 9), deep jr thundersticks, hotntots, rattle tots, crawler harnesses, single hook w/ bead and crawler.

Fall: Shallow husky jerks, deep husky jerks, tail dancers, shad raps (7, 9), smithwick rogues, reef runners, single hook w/ minnow, jig w/ larger shiner.

I have been really successful with all of these methods and baits. Of course, things vary from lake to lake. The best advice I can give is to get out there and try different things until you find something that works. Hopefully my experience helps you and you are successful with what has worked for me.

[walleyeking]

I would like to thank both of you guys for your great tips, I will copy and paste both of your posts, incase this thread vanishes on me.

The research I did, kind of ties into what both of you said, but I have no actual positive fishing experience catching these walleye! I will give it a shot, EXPECIALLY husky jerks, seems like every post I've read, or every video I watched, they always mention husky jerks. But I will also try the other bait you guys mentioned.

I fish Georgian Bay waters, to be specific, its called "12 Mile Bay" in Canada, a wide stream going on for 12 miles (obviously).

[walleyeking]

@ fishooked, I recently just bought the FAT03 firetiger pattern!


*EDIT*: Do you guys have any recommendations on the Husky Jerk,

I was thinking either the firetiger pattern or clown in the HJ 12 size

[bluefishbuster]

2 Rapalas I've had most luck with are the Jointed Shad Rap and Shad Rap RS. Caught my personal best 23 inch walleye on a JSR-7 SD. Best to cast or troll around rocky drop offs. JSR-7 and SRRS-7 can dive down to 15 or 16 feet. The Shad Rap deep runner is another good one. JSR-5 an SRRS-5 can dive down to about 10 or 12 feet and size 4s range from 4 to 8 feet.

[walleyeking]

thanks bluefish I will try exactly that, SO MANY DIFFERENT BAITS TO TRY, SO LITTLE TIME! :@

I had a question for any of you guys, late last year, I was doing some cruising on my zodiac, and I came across water that was very "still/dead" with TONS of weeds and pads / cover. Sure there is cover, but do walleye like that dead'ish water as well? I was thinking of using my clackin rap in spots like that. Wondering what your opinions are on that.

[bluefishbuster]

Never heard to much about walleye and weeds. Walleye prefer waters that are rocky.

[walleye270]

Jan 7, 2010 1:43:02 GMT -4 walleyeking said:

*EDIT*: Do you guys have any recommendations on the Husky Jerk,
I was thinking either the firetiger pattern or clown in the HJ 12 size

Firetiger is good. My go to colors would be silver/green mackerel and clown. SGM is unfortunately discontinued I have also done well on blue/silver, gold, tennessee shad. It depends on the day. SGM and CLN have been the most consitant for me.

I use mostly size 12 but will use sizes 10 and 14 from time to time.

As for the weed question. You will rarely find walleye around pads. There is a certain type of weed that they tend to use. I have found that cabbage weeds hold the most fish.

[Fishooked]

Jan 7, 2010 1:43:02 GMT -4 walleyeking said:

@ fishooked, I recently just bought the FAT03 firetiger pattern!

I like the FAT03s (come to think of it, I don't use them enough) - you'll be surprised at how much larger & fatter the FAT01 is. The lip is almost at a 90 degree angle, that's how shallow they run....

[muskiehunter]

Like fishooked mentioned you must try the DTFAT01 for Bass

This is definatly my goto bait for Bass.The OPSD color worked best for me until I painted a bunch of them

Welcome aboard

[walleyeking]

thanks bluefish, ill still try that spot I mentioned for other fish, but look for more rockier areas for the walleye. and @ walleye720, haha Ill keep my eye open for that cabbage weed, I usually look for cover where I fish, and see what happens from there, whether it be big logs stickin out of the water, pads, weed beds etc etc.

walleye270, Ill make a note of your patterns that you use, and see whats available when I go to the store, but seems like clown is also a pattern that is most popular, not only mentioned here, but in other videos and other user comments in different websites.

HAHA, I was actually looking at the FAT01 and the FAT03 and I was kind of hesitant that the FAT01 was TOO big! In terms of depth, when you retrieve, how shallow is it exactly? Literally top water? from what Im hearing from you guys? Website says 1 fow, but what do you guys see the average depth to be on that lure?

and thanks musky for that warm welcome! , your name reminded me of the fact that I'm goin to blackstone harbour this year! Where they apparently caught the world record musky! (65Lbs ish?) Gonna see what happens.

[muskiehunter]

I would say the DTFAT01 dives about 6 inches under the surface and makes a huge wake.Its almost like fishing a topwater as you are watching it and WHAM fish on .

It also casts like a bullet in the wind.

Works well on the Bronze Bomber as well as Ole'Bucketmouth.

Another GREAT Walleye bait is the Rebel Crawfish.I didn't believe it at first, but a friend of mine who fishes the MWC trail told me that it really works great so I tried it and was shocked at how well it worked.Defiantly one of my favorite Walleye baits.

Trolling them FAST seemed to work best.Probably a reaction strike but it works great.

The Husky Jerk in SGM like walleye270 mentioned is another great color.I had some but sold them all.I think Matt got my last one

Steve

[walleyeking]

hmm definately gonna get that FAT01, 6 inches is IDEAL for a few spots where I fish.

In terms of the rebel crawfish, I googled it and it looks so weird! haha, but Ill take a look at it when I am in the store, pictures can sometimes mislead a person.

FAT01 pattern I was looking at, is blue shad (BSD), or Yellow Perch

[muskiehunter]

I don't know how I forgot these models that have worked well for me as well.

Fat Raps in FCW & RCW

JSR-5 in RCW also have done really well on Smallies with this one.

[walleyeking]

all I have to say, is that my fishing bill is gonna be HUGE in the near future,

on top of all these baits including the Fat Rap and JSR, I am also getting an Abu Garcia Soron

muskie, when using the fat rap, where did u cast, and how did u retrieve.

[muskiehunter]

I like to use these for river fishing by casting them across current and retrieving them at a slow speed letting the current take them down stream a little.

In the lake I like to run them into the bottom and let them pop up then pull them back into the bottom.If there are alot of snags this method is not recommended

Your best bet to get a lot of this stuff at reasonable prices that won't bankrupt you is ebay.

[qbert]

i dont know about walleye, but the rebel crayfish works well for bass. my first time out last spring i couldn't get anything on any of my rapalas, except 1 bass on an xr8 hot pink. then i used the rebel crayfish and caught 9 more. good start to my year!!

[muskiehunter]

Jan 8, 2010 16:46:18 GMT -4 qbert said:

i dont know about walleye, but the rebel crayfish works well for bass. my first time out last spring i couldn't get anything on any of my rapalas, except 1 bass on an xr8 hot pink. then i used the rebel crayfish and caught 9 more. good start to my year!!

It works GREAT for walleye, but like you mentioned qbert its a awesome little bait for Bass.I caught my biggest Smallie on black/orange/gold glitter color crawfish fishing in the dead of night

I also had no luck on any Rapalas that night which is odd but that Rebel Crawfish was the trick.

[walleyeking]

sounds like that crayfish is a go to bait for some of you.

muskie, you opened up another can of worms for me. my friend approached me and said, do you wanna "try" river fishing this year. since I've never done it before, I was curious what the most effective method would be, Im surprised you use stuff like that, usually its just salmon eggs, and that Berkley GULP! Trout Dough.

But I guess what I am curious of, for soft bait and stuff, is it simply, a bobber, + hook + bait, and a leader, with lets say 4 - 5 ft from the bobber to the bait itself,

cast it up stream, let it float down stream a bit, then repeat the process?

sorry if I am throwing alot of quesitons at you guys, but this river fishing was an unexpected twist for me this spring. Walleye is a MUST catch for me this summer, and hopefully I get some.

[muskiehunter]

That would work fine but I would go with a slip bobber rig.They are really versatile and its a cinch to change depth.Crawlers and leeches would be good bait to try.

I really don't like using live bait because I seem to catch everything like Rock Bass,Shiners,Chubs,Mud Puppies,etc and not Walleyes

Don't apologize for the questions my friend.That's what were all here for is to help each other out
Steve

[walleye270]

Slip bobbers also work really good on weedlines

[wlb]

muskie, you opened up another can of worms for me. my friend approached me and said, do you wanna "try" river fishing this year. since I've never done it before, I was curious what the most effective method would be, Im surprised you use stuff like that, usually its just salmon eggs, and that Berkley GULP! Trout Dough.

The walleye have a spring spawning run up a couple Erie tributaries here where I live in Ohio.
In the shallow part (1-6 fow) of the rivers the favorite technique is baiting a floating jighead with a 2-4" twistertail and casting slightly upstream and retrieving slowly across the current.
Works fishing from shore or by wading.
Downstream in deeper(5-20 fow), slower water, I like to vertical jig with a hair jig/live minnow or gulp combo.
I run the electric motor and slip slowly with the current trying to jig vertically as much as possible. Some days they like a big hop other times barely moving it works the best.

[walleyeking]

hmm, yea, the river in my neighborhood definately isn't up to 20 fow! haha, some parts maybe like 5 fow tops.

thanks for the tips though.

[wlb]

some parts maybe like 5 fow tops

The floating jighead/twister combo that I mentioned should work for you.
The walleye seem to like chartreuse, flo green, orange and
white twisters. I usually fish a chartreuse floater in clear or stained water.