Issues with Rapala DT's

[mmayes]

Over the course of the last few months I have had a string of failures with the DT 4's and 6's having bill separation.  Anyone else had this happen?

 

Mayes

[fishballer06]

The DT is my go to crankbait  and I fish them more than any other crankbait. Throughout the years, I've only ever broken two of them. 

 

1. Casted it into the side of a concrete bridge pillar. The bill snapped right at the body. Leaving the bill of my lure attached to my line and the lure body floating. 

 

2. I slapped the lure against the water to clear some weeds off of it, totally forgetting that it's a balsa lure. The body of the lure split in half at the bill, and the bill separated as well. 

 

As with ALL balsa lures ever, they are more fragile in nature than a plastic bait. Doing things like mentioned above can/will break any balsa lure. I believe Rapala and Bagley both advise against doing this on their websites and product packaging. 

[king fisher]

The Rapala DT series are my favorite crank baits, even though I have had bills separate for no reason.  They catch fish when my other crank baits fail, so I just live with the fact that some will break.  I have never had this problem with any other balsa lures made by Rapala and I have landed some species of fish on almost every lure Rapala has made.  Maybe some day they will quit telling every one the problem is abuse and make them more durable.  They are a best seller. so that probably wont happen.  I wouldn't want them to change if it effected the fish catching ability.  At least they are not expensive and catch fish, I guess two out of three aint bad.    

[zell_pop1]

The bigger DT 14/16/20 I have not had breaks, but definitely the smaller ones have including the DT Thug a smallmouth catching machine. At least they are not real pricey.

[Bluebasser86]

The DT4 and DT6 I've had numerous bait failures, to the point that I no longer buy them no matter how effective they are. They aren't super expensive, but at >$7 a pop just to have them fall apart sometimes without ever catching a fish, I couldn't do it anymore. I found one in a tree last fall and had one of my best days with a crankbait all year when I tied it on. It also had a good sized chunk missing out of it by the end of the day from???? I guess bumping the bottom or catching fish shook a piece loose? I never smack wood baits to clear weeds and my cast weren't ever close to hitting anything, maybe previous damage I guess. I've tried plastic versions and they aren't the same. I'd probably pay extra for a thru wire constructed version if Rapala ever came out with one. I've never had any issues with the bigger DTs, but I've never caught many fish on them either.

[mmayes]

I do not feel so bad now. At least I am not alone in it happening.  I love the Rapala's and the older Shad Rap had wire connecting everything internally and never had failures like this. 

 

Mayes

[BenjaminNowak]

I've had some issues with the body separating right down the middle, but beyond that, I've had some of my best days ever on a DT10 and DT14.  They crush big smallies up here - so I can deal with one or two falling apart if it means I can catch a bunch of fish ?

[J Francho]

I've had enough fail that I cannot trust them anymore. 

[king fisher]

I wouldn't fish them if I thought there was a chance of hooking the fish of a life time only to real in a bill.  For everyday use on a lake where I wont be hooking any fish to cry over if lost, than I feel it is better to loose a fish once in a great while, than not hook as many fish in the first place.  I will be fishing a DT 10 this weekend.

[smalljaw67]

The only time I've had the bill separate was slapping the bait against the water to clear weeds, something I no longer do. I had a bill crack pretty bad after I wedged in rip rap but both baits I sent back to Rapala and received a replacement. If you truly want your heart broken fish a Megabass Flap Slap or Vision 110 around a rock, or anything harder than a blade of grass. 

[dodgeguy]

Never had an issue I didn't cause.

[PourMyOwn]

I've had to turn three of them into keychains, same issue. It stinks because they do catch fish.

[Bruce424]

no but i have had them sinking?

[Harold Scoggins]

I have used Rapala balsa baits for many years and I've had some of them fail, but it was usually my fault and the result of crashing them into rocks one to many times. I never slap a balsa bait to remove vegetation and I wouldn't recommend doing that with any balsa bait. There are many posts on other boards concerning the bill failures on the DT series cranks, but if you consider how they made, it stands to reason that they will fail if they are crashed into hard surfaces. They are designed thin for a reason; they dive quicker than other baits with thicker bills. The one thing you can not fault with the construction is how the bills are anchored into the body. (see picture) They are anchored deep within the body. There is a time and place for balsa, especially Rapala balsa, and over the years I've developed a love/hate relationship with them. The DT series, especially the DT6, catches fish and I will continue to use them. Now, if I can only remember to save the plastic cranks for the rock crashing.