Cranks: Rapala Best?

[Dwight Hottle]

Rapala makes some good baits, no doubt about it. Just about every one I know has an old blue/silver rapala floating minnow stashed away somewhere in their tackle box. When the fishing gets tough, break out one of those on a medium action spinning rod and you WILL get bit. That old floating minnow and a senko are about as close to "money" as you can get, when the bite gets tough

However, more often than not, the castability of the Rapala balsa baits has pushed them to the backburner for me. If I'm fishing vast, open water the casting distance on those baits is prohibitive for me.

Mike the F18's cast pretty good.

[bowfish12]

I think the Shad Rap should be put in its own category of "finesse cranking". I've never had any luck on a Shad Rap unless I used 8 lb line on spinning gear and a 6 1/2 or 7 foot medium light graphite rod.

You shouldn't use anything above 8 lb for shad raps. It inhibits the wiggle of the bait. I throw both #5 and #7 raps on 8 lb line with baitcasting gear (6' and 6'6" med. action rods).

[Bass_Fanatic]

I have found Rapala to be overrated as far as Im concerned. When I throw cranks, Im almost always throwing around some sort of structure or cover and the bills on the Rapalas just seem to be too weak. I have broken every Rapala I own. I know that Im rough on cranks, but Bombers and Bandits dont break on me NEARLY as often so I will stick with these.

[smalljaw67]

I find that people that don't catch any fish on cranks don't use them much and don't use them in areas that hold fish. When I was teaching the grandson how to fish cranks we found a spot on the lake where I was getting a lot of bites using plastic worms, so I tied on a #5 shap rap in shad color and had the boy fish it, well it didn't take long and he got his first crankbait fish, now he throws them a good bit and catches a fair amount of fish on them. As for crankbait brands, I always liked a Bandit and of course the #5 and #7 shad raps are the best cold water sluggish fish catching baits I ever used. Bombers, Cotton Cordell Big O's, and Bagely Killer B's were the standard fare for me until Rapala introduced the DT series. For me the DT series has made me a better angle with crankbaits, they catch fish and it is all of them. I really love the Rapala DT Fat 3 for square bills, when you hit a stump with one and stop it, 9 out of 10 times it gets hit, the DT 4, 6, 10 and 14 all have their place and I catch fish with those. The DT Flat 3 and Flat 7 haven't replaced my shap raps....Yet. If I'm not doing good in spring on a jerkbait I'll put on the DT Flat 7 if I'm in water anywhere from 5' to 8' and I will catch fish with it and in shallow water in the summer I'll ofter use the DT Flat 3 around laydowns, I find that bait is awesome if the fish aren't taking a spinnerbait. I'll make a few casts around laydownswith the spinnerbait and if I don't get bit I'll throw that Flat 3 and burn it parallel to the cover and a lot of times that will trigger a strike. I liked Rapala before the DT series but now they are must haves for me.

[Bigbarge50]

I am in the same boat......... Own and buy Rapala often.... and still have not caught a fish on one. DT's, Shad Raps, lipless..... all nothing.

On the cheap end......

Bomber- Has constantly produced for me. Tennessee shad...... just flat our catches em. Baby bass also has been great to me. Love Bomber Cranks

Norman- All sizes, love their colors. Great baits that I think compare nicely to the premium ones.

Those two I use from 1 to 18 feet..... and have been great to me. Easily the top producers in cranks for me.... and I have quite a few LC's.

Also honorable mention...... the storm rattlin thin fin. That shallow crank has caught a ton for me. A really great lure.

[thehooligan]

My favorite cranks are the #5 rapala jointed shadraps, and live target pumpkinseed/bluegill crankbaits, both work great. Also like the kvd 1.5's and the luckycrafts if i can afford it, lol.

For lipless i like the owner cultiva mira vibe 60's, and SK red eye in sexy shad color.

[Blue Streak]

My advice to those who don't catch fish on crankbaits is to just keep fishing them, fish them hard and long and don't give up, you can cover a lot of water fast and fish many types of cover and structure. Once you start getting fish you will see how easy it can be. If you keep it up, at the end of the season they could be your number one bait.

[lavbasser]

The DTs and Shad Raps are great baits. The past few years the bills on the DTs were separating for a lot of people but it has not happened to me. I use them for weeds but not heavy weeds. They also hang too much for me in rock.

The Shad Raps can be excellent but they are super light. I throw them on spinning gear. The weight can still be a factor when fishing them early and late in the year when the wind is strong. If you need a bait to throw upwind the Shad Rap won’t be your best choice.

Like others mentioned there are plenty of good options for reasonable priced cranks. For me, the key is to ask yourself what you are trying to accomplish in an area you are fishing. Then find the bait that will allow you to accomplish the task at hand. You need to understand the attributes of the bait you are using.

Some of the baits I like really early in the year: Shad Raps, Little Johns, Bomber Model A, DTs, LC Skeet Mini. The Speed Trap is also very good when it warms up a little more.

[SausageFingers]

Rapala makes an excellent product. I've had a good amount of success with their stuff, and still do.

I like XCalibur as well. They run between $6 and $7 and are top quality.

[WdyCrankbait]

Just an FYI fellows, I got the latest Gander Mountain flyer today in the paper. They are running some deals on crankbaits from some of the manufacutures mentioned in this thread.

Letting you guys know,

Wdy

[retiredbosn]

The one thing that made me a better crankbait fisherman, note I said better not good. I left everything at home but my cranks and cranking rods, the reason was simple, I had so much confidence in my abilities with soft plastics that I would throw the cranks for a little while and then go back to my tried and true techniques. If you want to be a better cranker you got to crank.

[tbirds00]

Anybody use Spro "little john" cranks? If so how do you like them

[WdyCrankbait]

I've tried them. I have caught some fish on the light yellow craw with the wafer bill. Please excuse the description. But their sexy shad medium diver has not produced for me. I like the lure a ton, casts great, just haven't caught anything on them.

PS Welcome to the forums tbirds

[tbirds00]

thanks wdycrankbait, just bought some strike king cranks and a couple spro little john cranks. The spros look really nice but ive never used them before.

[bigbill]

Also i did test a Color C Lector an older one a few years back. All i can add is color matters too sometimes. Match your colors to the bottom is one way, Bright colors in stained/muddy waters fished slower and natural colors on clearer water conditions fished faster.

The 2'' rapala orginal minnow is a killer bait at first light.

[bassnleo]

I wouldn't say Rapalas are better than the others, but they have some great cranks in models others just don't have. The shad rap, taildancer, crankin' rap, fat rap, and DT are some great lures. I say carry them all, because they all catch fish and they all work better than others in certain conditions. The rapala colors are awesome as well.

I really miss the rattlin' fat rap and wish they would bring it back.

The Fat Rap in size 5 is my all time leading producer. I still have about 15 of them in various colors, shad being #1 for me. I even took a dive into a local lake last summer to retrieve one that was hung in a stump 6 feet down. I'd already boated a 17lb limit on that bait by that time in the tournament and there was no way I wasn't going home with that old reliable bait.

I started using the crankin rap line last year with very good success and will be buying more this year.

[wisconsin heat]

The only rapala lures i like are the shad rap and the original floater. Those lures are special and can't be remade by other companies. I dont really like the DT series.

My favorite cranks are strike king.