I'm wondering what the most successful way is to troll with a Rapala. It seems like I will read the fishing reports and they say they are really catching them with a certain color Rapala in a certain location. But when I follow the fishing report, it doesn't seem like I catch very many or none at all. I'm wondering if Im doing it wrong. Usually, I will put a rapala on with mono line on a spinning real and let out about 100' of line and troll about 2.0 to 2.5 mph. Is it best to troll with no weight to get the fish closest to the surface or should I add weight to get the rapalas down to the depth of the fish? Here are some other ideas I was thinking to try:
1. Put a few sinkers before a swivel with about a 5 foot mono leader after the swivel for better depth.
2. Use leaded line with a 5 foot mono leader to acheive better depth.
3. Use down riggers.
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You need to look at the dive chart for the specific rapala that you are trolling. For instance if you want your bait at 9' and you are using a shad rap you may have to let out 65' of line. Precision angling makes a book that covers almost every bait you can imagine. Berkly Shad raps have a chart in the package that shows the dive chart.
[url "http://www.precisionangling.com/"]http://www.precisionangling.com/[/url]
It makes a huge difference being able to dial it in as opposed to letting out line and hoping for the best.
Good luck
Hof
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Try to troll your lures just above the fish you're seeing on your fish finder - fish will rise up to strike a lure.
Also try some snap-on weights - that way you can let your lure out say 60' and snap on your weight - then send it out another 40' and your lure should ride at 10' to 12' - this is in the later afternoon when the fish have gone down in the water column or they're hugging near the bottom.
Color in the rapala world does make a pretty big diff - so be flexible and try various color at different imes of the day.
Good Luck!!
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Another Kamas boy here.....
The other posters had great suggestions, I would just like add that the knots you tie have an impact on the lure action.
I have found that loop knots yield better results than cinch knots when trolling.
Loop knots for trolling, cinch knots for casting. You can use loop knots for casting, just make sure the loop is small enough to prevent the hooks from catching the line while the lure is in the air.
You also might want to toy with removing the split rings that come on the lures. For the fishes sake, swap out the standard hooks with small ones.
I have had alot of success just drifting with the current using a trout pattern countdown or a tri-swivel with a sinker. The rocking motion gives your lure a natural swimming motion. Position your boat ahead of the area you want to fish and go with the flow.....
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You can put a little bit of worm on the back hook and/or smear Garlic PB on it and your Dodger if you have one on. Also troll slow, I catch a lot because I think I troll so slow
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Part of the problem is fishing is different every day.
A week or so ago I wrote up a report on Deer Creek featuring lots of pictures with nice Trout hooked on a Rainbow Rapala. I caught 6 or 8 that day in 2 hours.
I haven't caught another one since on the very same lure, in the same locations (but much different conditions).
To wit... another thing I find rapalas work better the worse the weather is. They are almost useless in glassy water without a downrigger or some serious sinkerage... particularly in the warm summer months. Put a ripple on the surface and Whamo!
Colors and types to matter a lot. Know where you are going to fish and what kinds of feed fish are in the body of water.
I really like the rainbow rapalas as a go-to lure. The DNR trains all the fish-eaters to chow down on little planter bows. So about everything will eat them.
On Deer Creek I catch SMB, LMB, Walleye and trout all with the same lure. Although oddly the Bass seem to like the jointed better and the trout seem to like the balsa floater.
On Strawberry yesterday I couldn't keep them off my downriggers at 25-35'.
One final note on speed... 2MPH is normally our top end speed. I catch a lot on my tube going perhaps 1.3MPH.
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As was mentioned having a dive chart is a must when trolling. Line diameter, trolling speed and line feet out are key. Mark fish and keep lures above fish. Also put rod tips in water. All the line not in water effects your lures running depth.
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Wow great posts! Thanks for all your responses and suggestions!
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