I find it interesting that the folks at Berkley have the time and resources to provide a free dive curve on the package of every single flicker shad, yet Rapala offers nothing but a very general depth range for their lures, even on their website.
I would purchase more raps if it didn’t require a $50 app purchase to get this info. Why wouldn’t Rapala want to give their customers all the info necessary to use their product with maximum efficiency?
Been wondering that for years…
I’d take truer running lures out the box over some depth curves anyday, rapala has that covered pretty well.
I’d take truer running lures out the box over some depth curves anyday, rapala has that covered pretty well.
I’ve had a few Flickr Shads and minnows that needed to be tuned just a bit, but I think I’ve had maybe two over the last three or four years that I couldn’t dial-in. I guess I’ll take that, for a lure that’s a few dollars cheaper to begin with, and comes with the benefit of a detailed dive curve.
I think the worst running lures I have had out-of-the-box have been thundersticks. I think storm is owned by rap now, so there you get the worst of both worlds?
Nope I agree, guess my beef is with flickers nowadays, I’m just unlucky perhaps and get all the out of tuned ones.
You’d think a free downloadable app from these manufacturers would be easy enough.
You’d think a free downloadable app from these manufacturers would be easy enough.
Free? Ha! Apparently Rapala tried this and it went terribly because the app no longer exists.
I also just read that the latest version of the Precision Trolling app doesn’t even come with the graphs anymore. The info is there, but not in a quick-view curve that shows depths for multiple distances for mono and braid. They apparently want you to buy the chart for each lure for $2, or buy those stupid stickers that have the charts that Berkley gives away?
I’m still irritated at Rapala for their exploding DT’s. I bought several of them…and they weren’t cheap…and they all disintegrated when the hit the water at the end of a cast. When I contacted Rapala, they accused me of banging them on the side of the boat to get the weeds off! Never again.
SR
While I agree that dove charts would be nice, maybe rapala does not want to put dive charts out that are highly dependent on actual conditions. You have to remember that dive charts are relative and only represent the test conditions. Wind, speed, surface currents, line diameter, line type, spiny water fleas, etc.
I know, lame excuse but I personally don’t put a ton of faith in dive charts. Simply knowing the ultimate dive depth is very helpful.
Because dive charts typically have very similar curves, one could estimate very accurately with similar lures with similar ultimate dive depths.
I’m still irritated at Rapala for their exploding DT’s. I bought several of them…and they weren’t cheap…and they all disintegrated when the hit the water at the end of a cast. When I contacted Rapala, they accused me of banging them on the side of the boat to get the weeds off! Never again.
SR
Yikes!
As I’m reading all these replies again I want to stress that I didn’t intend for this to be a thread to bash Rapala. I know they’re an IDO sponsor and I think most of us agree that they make some fantastic products. Just think my question is a fair one worth discussing. My belief is that they have the data and are sitting on it while they try to figure out how to monetize it. Which is their right, of course. 
I have the original Precision Trolling Bible and it has dive curves for most of the Rapalas that I use and on some, I’ve bought the stickers that are available if they aren’t in the original book. I find the dive curves to be accurate if the line diameter indicated on the curves is used. I refer to the data fairly often for almost every crank bait type that I troll (which is a lot). If the curves are perfect or not, I don’t really care. I just want to make sure I have my crank in the zone. I’ll adjust from there.
At least in the case of Precision Trolling, it’s not the manufacturers that tested the various crank baits on the market for their unique dive curves, it was Mark Romanack, Dr. Steven Holt and Tom Irwin.
I troll with both Rapala and Berkley crank baits.
I find Rapala crank baits to be among the highest quality of any on the market with great finishes and generally, they run straight out of the box. They have high quality hooks as well, but their downfall is that they can be pricey. On the plus side, they are some real fish catchers
The majority of Berkley crank baits that I’ve used need tuning either right out of the box or after catching a fish or two. Their hooks are also of poor quality. The two things thing about them though is that they catch fish and they cost quite a bit less than Rapalas.
While each brand has it’s strengths and weaknesses, both brands catch fish and I’ll continue to use both and buy more of both. Some days the walleyes want Barkley crank baits while on other days they want Rapala crank baits. Some days they want neither brand and want a Salmo, Wally Diver, Lindy, Matzuo, Strike King or some other brand or crank bait, each with it’s own strengths and weaknesses.
Whether walleyes want a different action, different size, different profile, different color, or rattles or no rattles is hard to predict on some days, but trying to figure out what the walleyes want and putting a pattern together is part of the fun of trolling crank baits IMO.
You have never run a reef runner I guess. Far and away worst I have ever owned out of the box. Every lure had to be tuned and they aren’t close to start. When they are tuned they do catch fish. I talked to someone at reef runner about them, asking if they quit getting them close to start. I thought early ones were much better out of the box. He told me don’t buy them I wasn’t happy with them. I haven’t bought one since.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>nhamm wrote:</div>
I’d take truer running lures out the box over some depth curves anyday, rapala has that covered pretty well.I’ve had a few Flickr Shads and minnows that needed to be tuned just a bit, but I think I’ve had maybe two over the last three or four years that I couldn’t dial-in. I guess I’ll take that, for a lure that’s a few dollars cheaper to begin with, and comes with the benefit of a detailed dive curve.
I think the worst running lures I have had out-of-the-box have been thundersticks. I think storm is owned by rap now, so there you get the worst of both worlds?
While I agree that dove charts would be nice, maybe rapala does not want to put dive charts out that are highly dependent on actual conditions. You have to remember that dive charts are relative and only represent the test conditions. Wind, speed, surface currents, line diameter, line type, spiny water fleas, etc.
I know, lame excuse but I personally don’t put a ton of faith in dive charts. Simply knowing the ultimate dive depth is very helpful.
Because dive charts typically have very similar curves, one could estimate very accurately with similar lures with similar ultimate dive depths.
I can see that perspective, to an extent. My rebuttal would be that, yes we all know the chart can only be so precise. I think I’m fine with that, it’s assumed.
I definitely disagree that knowing the “ultimate” depth is enough. One non-Rapala example — the Reef Runner Deep Little Ripper. If a person is standing in the store and looking at the package and all it says is “dives to 21” feet, that really doesn’t say much. People fish in all different kinds of conditions so it’s helpful to have a chart on the box. Letting almost 200 feet of line back is not really feasible in most of the areas I fish, so I’m much more interested in knowing how it dives with 50 – 100 feet of line back.
You have never run a reef runner I guess. Far and away worst I have ever owned out of the box. Every lure had to be tuned and they aren’t close to start. When they are tuned they do catch fish. I talked to someone at reef runner about them, asking if they quit getting them close to start. I thought early ones were much better out of the box. He told me don’t buy them I wasn’t happy with them. I haven’t bought one since.
Sounds like great customer service, sheesh.
I’ve had to tune up some reef runners but I tend not to mind because they’ve out-fished both my Rapalas AND Berkleys pretty often. I made the comment about T-sticks because I haven’t had a single one run well outta the box. That’s just been my own experience.
You have never run a reef runner I guess. Far and away worst I have ever owned out of the box. Every lure had to be tuned and they aren’t close to start.
I was wondering if this would come up…. I spend a bunch of time on threads on a Lake Erie site in the early Spring on trolling and such, and Reef Runners may be desired by many, but everyone also complains about how fussy they are, and right out of the box.
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