Are my Rapala crankbaits ok?

[Cory20]

 I'm concerned for these rapala DTs as they're all at least 10 years old. I was throwing this DT6 and gave it a +gentle+ whack to knock off a string of grass. The darn thing snapped right at the lip. As I'm looking at the rest of em, am I seeing stress on the lips that will break off easily? I wouldn't want to hook a fish and leave it with a bait in its mouth. Thank you.

 

 

 

 

[flyfisher]

i know people say rapalas break often but I haven't had that expereince.  I am not sure of any way to tell other than fishing them.  Crankbaits take a lot of abuse if you bang them into rocks and the bottom so they will break at times.  I have broken bills off pretty much every major brand out there over the years.

 

I'd fish them till they break or until you can see something visually that indicates a break is in the near future.

[Cory20]

I will see if I can crash them into some rocks and what happens. Maybe I can get them to break before possibly wrecking a fish, or I might just catch something. Thanks!

[TnRiver46]

They break but they also catch the heck out of fish. it’s the price you pay fishing balsa, brittle but fish like it. 
 

I threw an original floater into a tree the other day and the bill broke off when I ripped it free. Sadness. But now I want another 

 

 

[flatcreek]

I had a fish hammer a dt6 in a tournament 2 weeks ago and all i reeled I was the lip. It happens but they catch a lot of bass so i’ll Keep throwing them as long as I can buy em

[Cory20]

16 minutes ago, flatcreek said:

I had a fish hammer a dt6 in a tournament 2 weeks ago and all i reeled I was the lip. It happens but they catch a lot of bass so i’ll Keep throwing them as long as I can buy em

What colors you like? They aren't cheap! 

I like them and Normans.

 

 

[islandbass]

I don’t know if your the tinkerer/crafty type,but I’d trace the shapes of those lips and cut it out of Lexan or other material and replace the lips if they break off.  
 

To me Rapala lips seem more durable than others and if they break they’re rare or my fault. Given that you said they’re approaching 10 years in age, maybe those lips have reached they’re effective use life?

 

I have two examples from two other sports. 
 

My Italian SIDI cycling shoes. These things rock. I got them around 1998 or so. I stopped cycling around 2004. I got back into cycling around 2016 and there they were, my awesome shoes. I put them on and they still felt great. However, the material that made up the traction (rubber type of material) and some other parts literally crumbled in my hands. At first I was upset, all of 5 seconds, until I realized that my shoes were about 18 years old, and kept in my garage subject to the change of temperature of hot and cold in that time. I can’t blame the shoe. But heck, the leather itself is in remarkable shape. I’m probably going to make some type of plaque out of those shoes.  
 

The exact same thing happened with my Nike golf shoes over nearly the same amount of time and subjected to the same conditions. This pair suffered a worse fate. They looked good visually until I picked them up. The sole remained on the shelf as I picked up the shoes, lol. And I was going golfing for the first time in over 10 years in winter conditions — No freaking way. The cold and wet are bad enough and waterproof shoes are practically a must in the Pac NW.  Luckily, DSG was still open and I found a decent pair of Foot Joys, lol. 
 

BTW, I love DT6s. Enough that I’d try to refurbish them. Heck, I’d even consider writing to Rapala and sharing this with them and tell them that I plan to get them back in working order. Who knows… They might give the lips for those or even send you a few for your troubles. 
 

My first bass ever was caught on a Rapala floating minnow so Rapala has a special place in my heart when it comes to lures. 

[throttleplate]

7 hours ago, Cory N said:

I was throwing this DT6 and gave it a +gentle+ whack to knock off a string of grass.

This is a quote from a Rapala website review.

 

"A lot of anglers have durability issues with balsa lures. I know several who have quit using them because they can’t keep ‘em in one piece. But please listen when I tell you this: If you repeatedly slap the DT Thug or any other balsa lure on the water, it’s going to break. Balsa is not made for that. If you’re one of those folks who whips their bait to remove leaves or weeds, you’ll crack this lure."

[Cory20]

2 hours ago, throttleplate said:

This is a quote from a Rapala website review.

 

"A lot of anglers have durability issues with balsa lures. I know several who have quit using them because they can’t keep ‘em in one piece. But please listen when I tell you this: If you repeatedly slap the DT Thug or any other balsa lure on the water, it’s going to break. Balsa is not made for that. If you’re one of those folks who whips their bait to remove leaves or weeds, you’ll crack this lure."

Well that is the honest truth. I didn't crack the bodies, but the bill instantly let go. 

[flatcreek]

9 hours ago, Cory N said:

What colors you like? They aren't cheap! 

I like them and Normans.

 

 

I throw the Silver with the black back and white belly most of the time.when I think a color change is needed I color the sides with spike it marker pencils.

[scaleface]

Bridge pilings are a good place to test the durability of crankbaits .I broke a lot of bills off the old Bagleys Diving B;s .

[IntroC]

Looking back, and I could be mistaken, but the only time I ever remember breaking a lip off a crank was from slapping them on the water to remove weeds. I no longer do that.

[Bluebasser86]

I've broken way more Rapalas, specifically the DT6's, than any other crankbait I've used. Can't slap wood baits, any wood bait, to clear the weeds. It does seem that the DT's have gotten a little more durable in recent years though. I still have a hard time buying them unless they're on sale but they're good fish catchers so it's hard not to have a few. 

[WRB]

The habit of slapping a crank bait hard on the water to clean off weeds is the problem. 

Water doesn’t compress, it displaces and anything hitting a high velocity is similar to hitting ground.

Looking at the OP’s photos the lures are stress cracked at the bill base. It’s time to replace those lures and don’t slap the new lures on the water to remove debris.

Tom

[swhit140]

If you don't break one every now and then you aren't fishing in the right spots. ?

[fishballer06]

It's a known issue that any balsa bait (especially billed ones) will break when slapped against the water to clear weeds/debris/etc. You, unfortunately, just learned this the hard way. 

 

Also, all of your DT's are trashed at this point. Please send them to me for proper disposal. 

[Cory20]

3 hours ago, fishballer06 said:

It's a known issue that any balsa bait (especially billed ones) will break when slapped against the water to clear weeds/debris/etc. You, unfortunately, just learned this the hard way. 

 

Also, all of your DT's are trashed at this point. Please send them to me for proper disposal. 

 

I thought this might be the case. Please PM me your address and I will put them in the mail promptly. 

[king fisher]

      I fished many balsa lures including ones made by Rapala for years and never had a bill break off.  I never abused them, but didn't baby them either.  The first DT 10 I bought was an unbelievable fish catcher, but one time I made a cast and reeled in nothing but bill.  That bait caught lots of fish, so I bought some more.  The same thing eventually happened to all of them.  It never happened with my old Rapala Fat Raps, other Rapala balsa baits, or any of my Bagelyes.  One of the DT baits lost the bill on the first cast.  I quite buying them.

      A couple years later I decided to give them a try again.  They must have made a change in glue, or other improvement.  I haven't lost a bill on one in a few years now.  Might be because I haven't hooked the fish of a life time on one yet but until that happens they seem to work fine.  They are not my favorite, but there are times when they out produce every other bait in my box.   The other plus is they cast like rockets.  I am pleasantly surprised every time I cast one farther than equal weight plastic cranks.  I always assumed that a balsa bait would cast poorly, but not the case with the DT series.

[gim]

I’ve never broken a bill off a rapala crank bait. The issue I generally have is with their treble hooks. They are weak and they bend. I replace them with stouter versions.

[Tatulatard]

No, they are not ok.  They have a weak spot in the bill that grinding them on hard bottom will cause to crack them and break off.  I fish soft bottom water so I don't have this problem but it is a problem and it goes way back.

[zell_pop1]

Fish the rapala's around soft cover, hard cover they break go to Spro/LC etc for that. 

[lou304]

On 4/19/2022 at 8:34 AM, fishballer06 said:

It's a known issue that any balsa bait (especially billed ones) will break when slapped against the water to clear weeds/debris/etc. You, unfortunately, just learned this the hard way. 

 

Also, all of your DT's are trashed at this point. Please send them to me for proper disposal. 

Found out the other day that you can't slap Strike King hybrid hunter on water either. did it a couple of times to remove grass, looked at my bait because i thought I saw a piece of grass still on it and it was cracked almost in half between the hooks.

[dodgeguy]

On 4/16/2022 at 10:32 PM, Cory N said:

I will see if I can crash them into some rocks and what happens. Maybe I can get them to break before possibly wrecking a fish, or I might just catch something. Thanks!

What sense does that make  ? Brand new cranks can break that way .

On 4/22/2022 at 2:34 AM, zell_pop1 said:

Fish the rapala's around soft cover, hard cover they break go to Spro/LC etc for that. 

Been fishing Rapala cranks for years around rocks with no issue.

[J Francho]

I've had so many DTs break that I refuse to use them. No, I don't slap them. 

[Dogface]

On 4/19/2022 at 6:39 PM, gimruis said:

I’ve never broken a bill off a rapala crank bait. 

 

Hang around with me and I'll show you how it's done. 

 

I have a small collection of balsa Rapalas with broken bills. Someday I'll pick up some circuit board or another material and try to repair them.