Not sure if I posted this prior but this is something I have to revisit this coming season. 

 

I'm pretty much a Rapala freak but please don't take away my Bombers and Bandits. 

 

These Scatter Raps just have not worked out very well for me. Have bought actions and patterns of what works under normal conditions but have left a lot to be desired. Found them to be a bit frustrating so I have not fished them that much the last few seasons. 

 

Some suggest I've been fishing them too fast. Very possible. Will slow things down some and work on various retrieve speeds. My have been fishing them too early. Might be something to fall into place when their metabolism level is higher. Just one of the very few things I want to fall into this season. It's a Rapala, I believe in it, I just have to get to work for me. 

I have had some luck with them, but they are frustrating because you have to go so slow with them. I'm not known to be a patient man...

I tried them when they first came out and had some success with them. Light line reeled slowly and on the retrieve pull your rod not like a jerkbait just fast enough to make it go to the side then reel slow again. I found fishing them on 4lb. Flourocarbon worked best for me. They are very light. I will have to break them out again.

The only 2 I like are the scatter rap shad and scatter crank shallow. I caught 2 4+ lbers last season on that scatter rap shad in yellow perch. And had one day where I caught 4 in a row on consecutive casts on the scatter crank shallow. It was the blue back Herring color... With the shad rap I use a sweeping retrieve usually, back and forth, varying my speeds until I get a bite.. the key to the shallow crank for me was to reel steady.. and as I got into what I knew was the zone I would give a couple quicker reels..This would make the bait kick out to the side or 'scatter' and was usually when I got bit. I often seen a white belly out of nowhere before I felt the weight. I like em. 

 

That being said.  I did get a scatter countdown and jointed.  Not a fan. Like the originals much more. I don't think I like the scatter shad more than the original shad rap but it's nice though... 

 

Also a fan of the 'ike approved' colors.. the old school, Mardi gras, and penguin are all fish catchers for me. 

They're great if you can fish them over the top of submerged vegetation. It's proven to be more of an open water style bait for me than a standard crankbait that I'd be banging into the cover. 

When my spirit got broken I was a broken man so to say. Than you (I) start fishing it half-heartedly and after a few attempts to me that is just a waste of time. Can't say this of many lures of recently. I'll make it work this season for sure. I'm to much of a Rappy addict.

 

With something similar, in '14 & '15 I could not get my topwater game/mojo on for anything. I almost threw all my topwater stuff in the river and watch it float away. It was true frustration. Something that bugged me far more than the Scatter Raps. I tried to fish my way through it. Than this past year without really doing anything different it was back to where I was catching fish and having fun with it. Head game, Head case type of thing I guess.