Last evening, I went to our local pond, where I know there are bass, with only 2 rods and 3 Rapalas.

I took an original silver, a blue gill shad rap and a silver blue x-rap.  I thought I would only take these 3 lures and learn to fish them.  

And you know what?..........SKUNKED, zip, nada, nyet, nuttin'. >

I just can't figure out how to fish them.  I tried waiting after the cast, reeling immediately after the cast,

slow retrieves, fast retrieves, half-fast, pauses, jerks, steady, you name it, I did it.  What am I doing wrong?  

I wish I had the money I spent on these things.  my mistake I guess, I shouldn't have bought so many up front.  The only thing hooked is me

I use rapalas all the time and right now they are working realy well. All I use are the original floater and the jointed floater. THe way I work them is I just jerk them in. Sometimes I do fast jerks other times I jerk the lure then wait for it to surface then jerk it again. I do pretty quick hard jerks as well. Thismorning I went out fishing for about two hours useing only one spinning rod and a mid size rapala original floater in the black and silver colors. I caught 5 largemouth bass. 4 of the 5 fish were dinks though that were under a pound. The other fish was probaby close to two pounds. Rapalas will always catch you fish but you will often get many small fish when throwing them.

Other than spinnerbaits, I use Rapalas almost exclusively: Dive To's, Original Floater, Jointed Floater, Rattlin Rap, X-Raps(alot), Shad Raps(shallow and super),Husky Jerks, Skitter Walk, Skitter Pop and Prop, Countdowns. The most productive are the X-Raps, Jointed Floater, and Shallow Shad Rap. I use all techniques to fish these: slow retrieve, fast, jerking, walking, etc. Keep working with them, because they do produce. But like any other lures, they do not produce all the time. I hate fishing plastics and jigs, but sometimes have to tie one on. Hopefully you will have better luck next time.

Moby,

Rapalas are a wonderfully useful lure. Don't worry about buying only three of them. Believe me, you'll find them to be a great addition to your repetoire once you get comfortable using them. I have had sucess with them typically in the evening when I can simulate a shad or another small baitfish that the bass are actively feeding on. In addition, I like to use them almost exclusively in the fall, when the water temperatures are starting to come down.

Westpalmdude, I can assure you, I have more than 3 of them.

I only took 3 with me that evening.  I have originals, jointed, shads, DT's, x-raps, etc.

and sizes from 3 to 11, maybe bigger.

Makes me wonder what I was thinking when I kept buying when I have no success

with them.  Hoping I would buy the magic Rapala, I guess.

It's the same reason we all buy stuff we don't use. You think "this is the one that will break my streak". I can't fish plastics to save my life but I buy them anyway .

The original floating rapala in silver and black will catch bass anywhere in the world.

the size F 11  is probably the standard bass size, but they will all work.

There is hardly a wrong way to fish it.

BUT - on any given day the bass will have a distinct preference for one type of retrieve over another.

The "old timers' would cast to shoreline cover.  typically in my neck of the woods it would under an overhanging limb.  Light up a cigarette, watch the lure bob around, smoke the cigarette, watch the lure bob around.  finish the cigarette.  give a little twitch to the lure.  Open a can of coke........................get the picture?

I'll bet there have been a million bass caught on that lure over the years.

Do not give up on this lure.

avid,

ive gotten that picture all too well belive me. but in fact with the orginal float that works but what about the x rap?

i just bought one i know about jerk,jerk pause but how do they work if ya toss it in, smoke a cig,then put a cig out then jerk it again the open a can of coke etc..?

The x rap is not a typical floater minnow not the original.

they call it a slash bait, because it definitely attracts more strikes with aggressive retrieves.

Your not the only one who is a huge fan of the x rap.  Yet there are others who love em.

I would suggest you try and master one lure at a time.

good luck and have fun

avid

avid,

thanks kindly i apperciate the reply but whats the best wat to aggresively use the x rap?

oh i forgot to tell you i dont have an orginal floater YET  :-/ i gotta get me one

I"m one of the folks who is NOT a huge fan of the x rap so I will defer to those who have much faith in them.

The times I do use them, and are successful, is when I fish them with alot of rod action,

I use a pretty fast retrieve, giving forceful jerks or rips, then let it pause a moment or two and go at it again.

It's the prettiest dang thing, but not my favorite bass catcher.

once again thanks avid your help is always apperciated. i'll try out my x rap in the morning.

ive got a set game plan for that early morning bite  ;D

i havent fished in 2 weeks and i wanna go so bad im ready now at 8:03 pm the day before  ;D ;D ;D ;D

im sure ya know how it is ?

im sure ya know how it is ?

Who me?  

good luck and have fun

avid

The Original Floating Rapala and the Jointed are two of my all time favorites and most productive lure. I like the Silver in #9 to #11 Best, followed by the Gold

 If you go to rapala.com they show 20 second clips of eachlure in the water with the built in factory action. THAT IS NOT THE ONLY WAY TO USE EM

 I spend some time watching schools of baitfish getting ambushed by small bass, it helps to see whcih ones the bass hit and why. Frequently they hit a minnow that got hit, but not swallowed by another fish and the are struggeling on the top. BY PRACTICING VARIOUS RETRIEVES you can duplicate SOME OF THOSE WOUNDED BAITFISH MOVEMENTS with both of these lure. IT CAN BE DEADLY. Sop watch and practice, they have been long time produces

 Also if a steady or stop and go retrieve isn't working try , Popping and pulling it on top, then stop, let it sit there dead sticked and pop it again, Hold on the strikes can be viscious!

well i didnt get any bass on my trip today but saw plenty of bait fish. i how ever did catch a nice keeper sized red eared crappie, and a nice slab blue gill. i tried the x rap and tried differnt ways of bringing her in it had some nice little action in differnt ways. oh i got the crappie , and bream on a live worm by the way cuz when i fish i use live bait on one pole then lures on the other this way if i go bassless i still catch something