Hall of fame angler Al Lindner put the Rapala Jigging Rap on the map as the best (situationally) open water walleye bait in the history of the sport. Other avid anglers were quick to adopt and add unique twists to the system, converting otherwise lethargic walleye into feeding machines. Wired2Fish’s Kyle Peterson demonstrates this, and how he fishes the Jigging Rap in conjunction with a tiller outboard engine to quickly graph and catch fish.
Although initially designed as a vertical ice fishing bait, it’s rarely fished in this manner in open water. Kyle walks us through his process of marking walleye than immediately pitching the bait beyond the fish. Using the big engine as his trolling motor, he draws the boat to a standstill as he works the bait through the school with a horizontal hop across the bottom. This mark, cast, catch process is duplicated on similar spots throughout the lake.
Being a heavy trebled bait means lost fish are the norm. Peterson combats this with some insightful rod, reel and line guidance that spans spinning and baitcasting gear. Interestingly, he’s come to prefer fishing the heavy #9 Jigging Rap using casting gear paired with straight fluorocarbon – he feels he can fish the bait and handle big fish more assertively than with spinning combos.
FEATURED PRODUCT:
- Rapala Jigging Rap, #7 and #9
- Lund 1875 Pro Guide Tiller Boat
- Mercury 90hp FourStroke Engine
- Mercury Big Tiller (handle) for 75-250hp Mercury Outboards
- Humminbird HELIX 12 CHIRP MEGA SI+ GPS G3N
- Lews Custom Lite Speed Stick Casting Rod
- Team Lew’s Custom Pro Speed Spool Casting Reel
- Sufix Advance Fluorocarbon, 12lb
- SPRO Power Swivel, size 2
- Minn Kota Talon Shallow Water Anchor
- Minn Kota Vantage Trolling Motor, 36V
- Frabill 9512 Knotless Conservation Net
