Jigging for eyes with Rapalas

[Dr. BlueGill]

Greetings all

Two years ago I did well on Honeoye Lake in NY jigging with Kastmasters.  I would get 1 or 2 eyes every time I went.  Last year I did not do well on them at all much to my surprise.  This year I decided to increase the arsenol.  A lot of people speak highly of rapalas and I have gotten a little more dedicated to using them this year.  Have not caught an eye on one yet.

What kind of technique do you use with them?  With Kastmasters, I tip them with a piece of minnow and I just raise them up real slow and let them fall and then let them sit for 20 seconds and repeat.  Should I use the same technique with the rapalas?  Or should I jig them faster?  Got any hints or suggestions?

Thanks.....Rob

[waterwolfed]

Try putting a minnow head on the front hook and jiig it, you may want to try faster presentations or slowwer, you really need to find how they want it on that given day.  You may also want to put a small tail of a minnow on the back hook for a little extra flash.

[Traxion]

I don't tip my jigging raps.  First of all, do a good 12 in.+ lift.  Let the lure settle for a good 10-15 seconds, it just keeps swimming down there.  You can pound it, bounce it by quickly jiggling your rod tip about 1/4".  Pound it for 5, 10, or 15 seconds.  Do you use sonar???  If so, when you see a fish come in, slowly start reeling it.  Most of the tiem they will chase and smash it.  Or, when they come in, quickly move your rod tip up and down just barely four times.  This triggers real well.  Also, bounce the lure off the bottom every now and then, that seems to attract well. And don't forget to give good 15-30 secong pauses between sequences.

Eric

[acsacmboy]

ok this is a brief discription from a infisherman article about 2 years ago.


the lift fall hold is deadly you just need to do things between them. lift it up from 8-24 inches then drop it down. hold 5 seconds. lift. hold 5 lift hold 15 seconds. then add a "nod". a short(1/4 inch) slow, movement up and down. he stresses watch your hand and only move your hand, not the wrist, then the tip will follow. if no strikes, do another lift two times. the do a jiggle. (faster but not exeding 3/4 inch movement.) or do an attracting jiggle. go from a nod to a shake(fast as you can move your arm and not exeding 1 1/2 inches) within about 5 seconds. then another one. if a fish appears on the screen at any time, do a nod, the main triggering of the fish biting. then lift fall 3 times as in the begining. then an attracting jiggle. hold 5 seconds. then do a shake.  if no hits of fish in this time, move up about 1.5-2 feet(you started 1 foot off the bottom) and do the same thing or move to another hole. use spoons or rapalas or nils masters.

my crash course. if you do have old infishermen mags its thedec.-jan. 2000-2001. has a gill on the front and the main artice is 10 commandments for panfish.

[eyedoktr]

I've never had alot of success with jigging Rapalas but lots of walleye are pulled out of Honeoye every winter with them. A couple of things I highly recommend though . Replace the treble with a larger one and bend the front hook down. Too many times I have seen the front hook catch on the bottom of the hole and that's all the leverage a nice fish needs to get off.

[acsacmboy]

oh and i for got to stress on my crash course, DO NOT tip a jigging rapala. as stated, a minnow or minnow head may attract small wayyeyes and perch but it distracts big walleyes from the lure and scares them off when you are nodding or jiggling. it is unnatural for a minnow to have a minnow head flapping below it

DO tip a spoon. the spoon needs the action and scent. mainly use the minnow head and let the entrails hang out.

nodding makes the minnow head on the spoon go up  and down and side to side and the spoon to turn, flutter and shimmer.
nodding makes the rapala turn(about 180 degrees) and move along its axis(front goes up back goes down, back goes up front down, ect).
he states this technique is deadly and shall improve your odds for catching more and bigger walleyes.

if i can i will type up and post the whole article for you.

[lwfinj]

acsacmboy thanks for the great tips
Just one question. It seems to me like shaking you described important rod action and length. Could you please check source for us or you think otherwise .

Sorry I don't have that magazine  

[TroutFishingBear]

90% of the time don't tip
no offense, but the other 10% of the time it is dumb not to. Sometimes the fish are very non-aggressive and need extra re-assurance. Only do this once non-tipping has failed. Tip with small fathead minnow head

[cityfishin]

What about scent? Would it help to give it a hit of scent or as some swear by, WD-40? I wonder if handling the jigs put's a bad smell on them? I got skunked last weekend with them up on Mille Lacs. Then again, only small perch were biting.

[lawnguy]

Any suggestions to size and color to start?  I own zero jiggin rapala's and would like to get everyones opinion as to what size and colors seem to work.

Thanks in Advance

[Traxion]

For walleyes, I'd go with the #5 and #7 Raps.  I prefer the Nils Master Jigging minnow over the Rapala though, just seems to have a better action.  THere are only 2 sizes though, the smaller is probably a bit better, but I fish both.  As far as colors, I just go with perch, firetiger, minnow (either black or blue), and a grey/white (if you can find one). That said, I think if you get a bait down to the right depth, and do what they like, almost any color will work, espescially at twilight and dark periods.  During the day it may matter a bit more, but I like to use spoons during daylight so who knows??? Usually I start with a minnow pattern in the evening, with another rod rigged with the firetiger.

Hope this helps

[walleye1]

My personal favorite is a number 7 or 9 jigging Rapala in whatever color they're into that particular day. Fire tiger, perch and blue and silver are probably my top 3. I learned the whole secret to fishing these a number of years ago from a guy I met at the Bay of Quinte. He told me that "the first 2 inches you move this bait is the most critical. Just slowly lift your rod tip 1 or 2 inches to get it moving and then give the rod a sharp snap of a foot or so". This shoots the bait out and it makes a big circle swimming back to the vertical position. This is where they bite most of the time (wait for the tick) but I've had them whack it when its making the circle.

I put this post out once before but I'm posting it again cause it really works! Give it a shot, you'll be surprised how well  it works.  

[can_of_worms]

I used to fish Honeoye with only Acme sidewinders. They always seemed to out fish whatever else I tried. I did tip those with a large fathead 2.5-3". Then I sort of had a slow down. I went to the Nils Master, had good luck with them. Now I use a new lure, to our area anyways. It is a chubby darter awsome action and it is easy to hook up and not have to worry about hooking the hole at the crucial moment. As far as jigging it, lift let it swim back down I let it set for 10-15 seconds, jiggle it a bit, sit still again, hop it1-2", let it sit, then lift it again, repeat. They will almost always hit as it is sitting still or just jiggling a bit.

[Sasquatch]

Hey Doc:  This is off topic but that's a nice looking dog (and buck).  Is he a Pitt or an american bulldog?

[Sandman]

I've never had alot of success with jigging Rapalas but lots of walleye are pulled out of Honeoye every winter with them. A couple of things I highly recommend though . Replace the treble with a larger one and bend the front hook down. Too many times I have seen the front hook catch on the bottom of the hole and that's all the leverage a nice fish needs to get off.

Log what the eyedoktor said and keep in mind for the future. We call it bumping the hole.  I  went to Honeyoe today being the last day for 'eyes in NY. Got my limit on the old #7 rapala's I have. I put a perch eye on the replacemnt treble hook. Two to four 12 to 18" lifts. Let it rest and twitch it. Lift and drop again. Got the third on a pimple. All in the first 1/2 hour of daybreak. Got lucky.

[big walleye]

eyedoktr I should of read this reply before. I lost a nice fish today during the Dauphin ice derby. It had weight and sure enough the damn lure got caught on the hole. Lost the chance at 20,000. No one to blame but me.

[walleyeslayer]

Greetings all

Two years ago I did well on Honeoye Lake in NY jigging with Kastmasters.  I would get 1 or 2 eyes every time I went.  Last year I did not do well on them at all much to my surprise.  This year I decided to increase the arsenol.  A lot of people speak highly of rapalas and I have gotten a little more dedicated to using them this year.  Have not caught an eye on one yet.

What kind of technique do you use with them?  With Kastmasters, I tip them with a piece of minnow and I just raise them up real slow and let them fall and then let them sit for 20 seconds and repeat.  Should I use the same technique with the rapalas?  Or should I jig them faster?  Got any hints or suggestions?

Thanks.....Rob

i caught a ton of gills, and crappie, some perch with a small firetiger rap with a waxworm on the treble.  the kastmaster is great on perch on lk st claire, i used a small blue and silver, tipped with a small rubber anise bead.  i go to a hole, either one that has been cut longwise w a chainsaw, or augered multiple times to make a big hole.  drop it to the bottom, and hop it along from 1 side of hole to the other, then raise it a bit, jiggle it, then let it drop again.  perch attack it once you raise it, usually they will inhale the whole treble, regardless of the size, i prefer to use the small one, but have caught them on a 3/4 oz spoon.  with the rap, walleyes like a constant pumping motion, raise rod tip 12 inches let it fall on slack line, wait 2 seconds, repeat.  for panfish just jig it erratically, and then just let it hover, quiver your rod tip a bit,and slowly raise it straight up. have you tried hopkins shorty spoons? i did well with them this year, just tip it with a fathead minnow, hold it a foot off bottom, quiver it and slowly raise, pause, raise it a little more.  get a vexilar!!!

[iceintheveins]

I generally don't tip my swimming lures, but if fish appear on sonar and won't bite, I will slip on a small minnow head or a sliver or crawler. You have to tip it just right and with the correct amount or you will ruin the action of your lure.
I like to use the number 3 and number 5 most for walleyes. Sometimes a 7 is good when bigger baitfish are what the walleyes are keying on. Six pound test works well with the 3's, and 10 is ideal for the 5s. I think the 7 works best with 12, sometimes even 14. It's important to not use too light of line to fish swimming baits.
I usually do a lift fall of about 18", then immediately lower the rodtip back to the starting position. I will let it sit for about 10 seconds, watching sonar for fish to move in. If a fish moves in, I will add jiggles. Usually when walleyes are feeding during twighlight, that's all you need to do. If they won't take, slowly reel up the bait about a foot, and they will take usually. If not, I let it sit for about 10 seconds, then do another lift fall.
If you don't see a fish coming in on the screen within 15 seconds after a lift fall, I like to bounce the bait with quick, two inch movements of my rodtip. This will make the bait shake and almost swim in mini semicircles. Then do another lift fall.
The basic thing to remember is once a fish moves in is to be subtle and try triggering it with jiggles or lifting it up. After about 30 seconds of not taking, do another lift fall.

Tyler

[Traxion]

Tyler, just curious why you like the heavier line w/ swimming lures??  I prefer the lighter the better, the bait really seems to dance better with the lighter line in my experience.  Anyhow, just wondering??

[cityfishin]

I agree with Slipbob. I never use anything greater than 4lb for walleyes. I don't jig too much though if there's a difference. I did read an article once about the stress on a fish and it's survival rate when it's worked too long before icing it. It seems to be a reason to try to ice the fish, measure and photograph the fish as soon as possible before returning it down the hole. If you plan on keeping it, then it makes no difference. But don't play it too long. I do still prefer lighter line for detecting the bite.

[Morrocco_Mole]

acsacmboy -

I see you watched the ICE TECH 2 Jigging Secrets Video by In-Fisherman! Good Stuff!
Mole!

[iceintheveins]

I use the heavier line, like 12 pound mono, if fishing a larger swim bait like a #7 rapala. It slows the swim and the bait swims in a wider, slower circle. Generally I do not use big baits for walleyes, usually a #3 or #5 rap. With this I use 6 pound mono. Walleyes don't fight that much at any time, so the heavier line is simply for better lure action with really heavy swim baits.

Tyler

[Traxion]

I do somewhat understand your thinking with the real big baits, like the Nils Jigger.  At 7/8 of an ounce it sure seems to dart around quick, but I haven't had it fail yet.  I'll have to get an extra sppol with some larger line to experiment with.

[UnderCoverBrother]

I watched the reaction of walleyes on my sons underwater camera and what I saw was that when you jigged the rap aggresively it got the walleyes in close to the lure, but when you bounced the rap real fast as you did to get them there, they spooked and swam off.
So I just gave the lure a real slow one foot up and down jigging motions and the walleyes re-appeared to investigate the offering.
Then I would jiggle the rap real small motion just enough to make the minnow head squirm around and stop, then the walleye would get real close and bight the minnow head only, not the whole rap!
If they got real close without bighting, I would raise the rap real slow about a foot at a time until they hit the lure.
One thing for sure is that I caught more fish watching the Vex than I did watching the camera. But watching the camera sure showed me how they react to lure movement!