Jigging Rapalas

[Marcum Man]

I catch alot of wipers, and eyes on jigging raps, but do the bigger toothier critters love 'em too? if I fish em for pike should I use a steel leader?

[97stang]

I caught a good size laker on one

[timberdoodle]

I catch alot of wipers, and eyes on jigging raps, but do the bigger toothier critters love 'em too? if I fish em for pike should I use a steel leader?

I won't fish for Pike without steel. I can't stand the thought of losing one to them cutting mono, I've seen it happen too many times. I might miss a few strikes but the ones that do hit won't saw through the steel. I haven't tried the jigging rapala's but I'm sure they would work although Pike seem to be a bit lazy during the colder months.

[pontiac787]

I caught a 24" pickeral on one while perch fishing.  It did bite through the line but only after it was on the ice so I didn't lose the lure or the fish. 

[sbfPA_Mike]

If you wanted to avoid the steel, but keep the strength, you might want to try a super-line. If you do a search for super-lines, you should come up with some threads about using them. I like Fireline in the summer, but I know it absorbs water and is hard to use in the winter. There are lines out there that don/t absorb water, but I don't know off the top of my head what they are.

MIke

[GAMBELL]

I have had super lines cut easier than mono.  I would suggest thin steel leaders or 30lb florocarbon leaders. 

[BojiHawk]

I like the salt water grade flourocarbon in a 30lb+ also. 

One great application for a jigging rap and one of my favorites is to take a side cutters and clip off the front and rear hooks on a jiggin rap (good use for older ones with rusty hooks to be sure) and then use a blood red treble on a chain-dropper from the lower hook eye.  This is also a good way to use it on chubby darters - I prefer the chubby in this application in a perch patter.  These allow you to "swim" your critters very effectively with little effort and bring it to a stop very quickly.   I think it gives the appearance of a perch feeding and tipping the lower trebles with 2 waxies per hook gives it enough weight to prevent tangling on the main line.  Anything over 2" will tangle eventually and 1.75" is about perfect for dropper length.  Fish tend to come into investigate the big pull up and drop on the jig..when they show up on the vex...I hold it still and just vibrate it by drumming in the rod blank.  I think it looks like a perch eating and dropping some "grumbs"  (grub crumbs - lol) and they rise up under the jig and hit the dropper.  Rarely do I see fish approach the lure...the vex will separate the dropper and lure as 2 marks.  This year I might keep a larger chubby d. with a larger treble to rig baby perch and drop it down when I see cruising pike.

[muskie_huntre]

I have just spooled my line with 20 lb Power Pro to avoid cutoff, or used 18 lb knotable wire and tied up my own quick strike rigs.  would be just as easy to tie on a snap than a treble

[CrappieBuster]

Jigging raps work well but Salmo Chubby Darters outproduce them 2 to 1 imho. 

[BaitWrangler]

I have never used them, but have always seen them as appealing.

About the mono.  My thinking is that if you don't harass them, you safely land them without breaking your line.  Over the summer I have caught a 6,7 and 8 lb pike with 6# test for the 6 and 8lber and 8# test on the 7lber.

In my mind there are two big differences in jigging though.  1) The fish is hitting he lure when it is vertical where as in open water the lure is moving horizontally. Because it is hitting it vertically, there is more of a likelihood that the line may get tangled in its teeth. 2) Unless you are using a heavy setup, your jigging rod spool will have less line on it than your open water spool, which gives you a lot less room to work with. 

With that said, I would suggest heavy or "super" mono as some suggest above.  I don't really see the steel necessary as long as you have something heavy to prevent biting through the first 6 or 8 inches of line.  Because you will have the rod in your hand and can get the hook set quick and let it run, I'd go with mono.  On tip-ups though, where the hookset is typically violent and long after the original bite, I'd definently use steel.  All of the bigger pike I've caught have hit the lure and immediately shook their heads.  Without a hook set and a tight line I'd imagine a few shakes and it would rip right through my mono.

[dkfry]

Swimming lures like Jigging Rapalas, Chubby Darters and etc work well for calling in fish. I always have one tied on, if nothings below the hole some aggressive jigging with a swimming lure calls them in. Toothy critters seem to like them in my experience, Pickeral nail them pretty hard.

[Bean]

I see Northland has come out with a similar lure called the puppet minnow for this winter.  It's almost identical to a jigging rap except it has 3 different tie loops so you can have it angled down, horizontal, or angled up.

[fish_finder]

 illegal here, we aren't aloud to use more than a single hook per line...i have used an airplane jig which is the closest i can find to the jig rap and just removed the belly hook, have great luck with chian pickerel using them

[tip-uptwo]

Jigging raps work well but Salmo Chubby Darters outproduce them 2 to 1 imho. 

I have found that to be the complete opposite for me. I purchased $50 in CD last season and gave them there chance every walleye outing and was disappointed. They had all the right patterns too. The jigging rap is a staple sure is my box.

I am going to give the chubby darters another go this season.

[choclabnut]

I have a small lake that I fish here that I use the jiggin rapala for crappie and gills! They seem to go crazy for them. I had my first experience catching eyes and northern last year on a guided trip. We used a spoon tipped with a minnow and did very well!

[scavengerj]

Keeping with the OP question, I use steel or heavy +20# mono or fluoro when going for toothy critters. I am not really sure how much more resistant braid is vs. mono. I mainly use braid in the surf, as do some others and we have found that braid is not really any more abrasion resistant then mono in that application.
Also, it should be noted that if braid is broken while under stress/tension, relaxing/seperation of the fibers can happen many yards up the line from the actual break. This in turn leds to a weakened line which can and will break mysteriously anywhere along the length of line where the fibers have been relaxed or seperated due to the forces of a break-off.

As for the jigging raps...have caught many fish on them over the years. Seriously got into using the CDs last year and had very good results with them also. If a fish missed the first time, it turned right around and nailed it again.
Bean, got any puppets??? 

[Bean]

Bean, got any puppets??? 

Not yet, since they are new. But I plan on getting a couple this winter.

[QuantumPT]

haven't caught squat on a jiggin rapala myself.

[havejigwilltravel]

i usually have a jigging rapala tied on one of my rods.perch color works well.

[fishinfiend]

i get a few pike on jiggin raps here and there, have not lost one yet with mono



  and love the jiggin raps as well   chart/white    chrome/black    chrome/blue

[duck doctor]

Chrome/Black jiggin raps have landed more than a few rainbows for me. I have never fished a CD before so I can't compare. When fishing Bows in the shallow water, I would approach the tip up with a jig pole in hand that had a chr/blk rap on it. If the fish was not there, I would drop the rap down and more often than not, the bow would smash it!

[crappiekid24]

The smallest jigging raps are great for crappies and I have caught some walleyes on them. I have yet to use any bigger ones. Maybe this year for walleyes.

[bowhuntken]

nothing caught for me with jig raps maybe this year

[pete fish]

i do catch wallys on them i also use them in the summer but i dont have as many as id like to as the price is so dam high for a piece of painted led with hooks..........

[miket.]

i use them and have good luck with chain pickeral and trout. i use the same size for just about everything. although myfavorite one is the green and yellow striped med. one. i don:t use any leaders at all.

[icontact]

I have had better luck with the chubby darters as well, at least for walleye. I have used the small jigging raps with a tiny dropper for perch which has worked pretty well.