39 Hrs Tiebreaker

For those interested the tiebreaker between team Manitoba and Saskatchewan has begun.

Very fun show to watch. thanks for posting

Thanks for the heads up i was waiting for this!

I thought it was not supposed to be until the middle of April when they did the tie breaker.

It sure is nice not having to listen to team Swiss Chalet (Shimano)…

sweet thanks!

Reminded me of a couple of my days last year with the engine problems.

Anybody catch the latest episodes? BIG fish…has been a really fun series to watch!

Pretty good argument on why braid is no good for those jigging raps in that episode. They were under pressure and putting the screws to the fish on didn’t help either.

Extremely entertaining.

nhamm wrote:

Pretty good argument on why braid is no good for those jigging raps in that episode. They were under pressure and putting the screws to the fish on didn’t help either.

Extremely entertaining.

Just wondering why braid is no go for jigging raps? Info is needed so I can rig correctly for this presentation. I was thinking my same set-up for blade baits would double for jigging raps.

I do not use braid on jigging raps because the hooks are relatively small compared to other baits in its size range. I want that bit of stretch to ensure I set those small hooks in nicely. I have tried up-sizing the treble but experienced much more fowled hooks.

I might have splurged recently on jigging raps… These came in the mail yesterday

For you jigging rap aficionados, what sizes are the go-to?

Cp3 wrote:

Just wondering why braid is no go for jigging raps?

Argument for the ages…

Will any rod work, yes, but that episode for me defines exactly why guys come online and discuss the silliest little things like rod action, line type, etc, even if its just for a single presentation. Because these fine details made right will bring more fish to the net, and not heads down shaking.

IMO those raps are a hook retention disaster. Tiny hooks on the end of a bait in which the leverage from the point where the line is tied couldn’t get much worse. Most fellas replace the bottom treble with something bigger to try to counteract but that’s if youre lucky and stick the treble. All this means you need rod/line combo that will absorb EVERYTHING, every headshake, every run, spit poop you name it the fish gives you during the fight. Can it be done with braid yes, but IMO better have a ML fast to moderate action rod with that drag backed way off with a very defensive fight style. Not many guys know how to fight big fish, I’m certainly no expert yet either. You saw how both guys on show got anxious with all the lost fish, which happens to ANYONE with a big fish on, and forced them up sooner than what their gear allowed. What happened, those hooks popped out. I feel those hooks just don’t need much to “be set”, even in the typical deeper water these things are used, therefore no need for no stretch or a stiffer rod.

Everyone is different and that’s my 2 cents on the situation, but I was really feeling for those guys losing those fish, you could almost tell they were gonna pop off, Aaron usually keeps his cool but he was frustrated, and the other guy always looks like he is fighting jaws which doesn’t bode well. But they both have caught more big fish than ill ever see and I still tip the cap to em no matter!!

I’m tempted to cut the hooks of the ends of those baits and possibly upsize the treble.

Those outside hooks might catch a nip bite, but I didn’t buy those for Eater sized fish. I bet those outside hooks are largly responsible for losing a fish after hook up.

I’ll give it a try.
But if it affects action I’ll back out

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

I’m tempted to cut the hooks of the ends of those baits and possibly upsize the treble.

Those outside hooks might catch a nip bite, but I didn’t buy those for Eater sized fish. I bet those outside hooks are largly responsible for losing a fish after hook up.

I’ll give it a try.
But if it affects action I’ll back out

I have heard this with guys ice fishing these baits. Not sure might be for a different reason like catching on the edge of the ice

I disagree w/ Nhamm, I think braid is perfectly fine for jigging raps. On 39 hours I thought what did Aaron in was too light of rod. If you set the hook as aggressively as he was the hook should be buried in the fish, or come unpinned immediately, not halfway up like he was. Mono/flouro would only exacerbate this problem. I felt his rod wasn’t allowing him to bury the hooks.

FBRM I bend in the front hook on most of my jigging raps which decreases the amount of foul ups and snags without much if any impact on the action. A lot of my hook ups have come on the rear hook, so I would leave that as is.

BigWerm would you recommend a leader (fluoro) with the braid line or tie direct?

Depends on the water. Clear water yes, dirty/stained not necessarily. As much as I hate lowering my bite percentage, I hate losing $5 lures even more. So if I were to use them on a river (which I don’t typically do) I would definitely tie direct. If I were on a mid lake mudflat or reef I’d probably use a leader.

There was a good thread on these some time ago…..

Overall opinion is heavier leader of mono/flouro will help in the tangles that these tend to have, and tying direct is quite necessary coupled with the leader.

BigWerm you feel that you really need to get a good hookset on these hooks? I always felt they stick really good with even a minimal tug. My argument is the design of the lure itself, with just one back, even more so front hook in, that it almost cantilevers itself out of the mouth with too much pressure. With the angles of the hook and the minimal “hook to shank” spacing it always seemed to me retention is more the issue than the set.

The hooks are a little stickier/tackier than a standard jig, and with a regular jig you have to “respect the hook set!” so I don’t think it differs with these. One major difference is most “hits” come on the down stroke, or they pin the lure to the bottom and the fish is just there when you make your next jig stroke. Both of those scenario’s lower your set, so I think it may be even more important. If they just had the front (which I bend down and don’t use) or the back in, I think the unpinned would be more a result of how small the hook is rather than the cantilever. This is just my own .02.

Willy D wrote:

For those interested the tiebreaker between team Manitoba and Saskatchewan has begun.

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I’ve watched this from the beginning each episode! I’ve enjoyed it!!!

I was surprised by it’s ending though.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

I’m tempted to cut the hooks of the ends of those baits and possibly upsize the treble.

Or use the Moonshine Shiver minnow, they don’t have the front hook. They seem to fall a lot quicker than the rap and action seems to feel a little different
http://www.moonshinelures.com/shiver-minnow/.
The Next Bite did a show on Last Mountain Lake, SK last fall using shiver minnows. We have been using them up here for a couple years. Give it a view, they show using them vertical and casting. Oh yay and they pound some pretty nice walleyes.

I think the opposing hooks combined with a treble inside a walleyes mouth that is opening and closing and thrashing about causes a fight between hooks. As another hook grabs during the mouths erratic action it pulls the first one out, maybe yet another hook grabs and Yanks that second hook free. It’s my theory that the original hookset is strongest, deepest, and less likely to come out vs a secondary hookset that will change the hook-up orientation that the original hookset had. If you follow me, that’s my theory on the opposing hooks with a centered eyelet fighting against the hook-up percentage of the initial hook that found flesh.

That’s some deep stuff there Fishblood, deep stuff.

Timmy wrote:

For you jigging rap aficionados, what sizes are the go-to?

Anyone……anyone…..Bueler?

Timmy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Timmy wrote:</div>
For you jigging rap aficionados, what sizes are the go-to?

Anyone……anyone…..Bueler?

5’s and 7’s.

FBRM you could very well be right, I was just basing my .02 off of Aaron on 39 hours.

Putting together the responses I really like the idea now of bending that front hook. That IMO has always been a weak link, with that gone it wont have that fighting action that FB mentioned against the back hook. Plus as it happens to everyone as well as Aaron on the vid, sometimes they will smack it and if they didn’t get tacked from the first hookset they have a good chance of coming around again and munching.

For those that bend the front, is it worth just shearing it off? or can it be bent back straight at a later time. All other Rap hooks I wouldn’t trust doing that too, but perhaps this one is different?

I just bent it in due to only having a pliers handy at the time and so if desired I could bend it back (ice fishing maybe?). I’m sure you could shear it off.

nhamm wrote:

For those that bend the front, is it worth just shearing it off? or can it be bent back straight at a later time. All other Rap hooks I wouldn’t trust doing that too, but perhaps this one is different?

I’m by no means a jigging rap expert, but I clip the front lip hook clear off. I want to say I was first given the idea here(?) but don’t remember. I only remember that the idea was to increase hook ups/decrease shake offs.