Grappler Shads

I was looking through my new Cabelas magazine and saw they had the new Cotton Cordell Grappler Shads. They are $3.99 and have 8 colors. Grappler Shad link. They look nice, and are $2 less than Rapala’s Shad Rap.

I got those in my box at the end of the year last year and was absolutely impressed with the way they ran. Even into the current and at high speeds they tracked straight and true. I stocked up proper over the fall and winter and look to really put them through their paces this summer. And I hear, like a little whisper on the wind , that there will be a small grappler VERY soon that will be comparable to the # 5 shad rap. If that jobbie runs like the larger ones I just don’t see myself getting sick of paying $2 less a crank any time soon!

I just picked some up at WalMart. I’m glad to hear that they run so well in the water, because they sure do look great.

I used these babies quite a bit up on Pool 2 with excellent results. They run true right out of the box, and can take a good beating on the rocks. If they do come out with a size equal to (or close to) a #5… those will be awesome. DeeZee…. you’re the Pradco man…. any word on that????

What colors worked best for you James? I am going to make an order to Cabelas in the next couple of days, will have to put a few on the list.

Thanks

I have had the opportunity to run these out on Mille Lacs all summer while open water trolling and have to say that these cranks run true as everyone that has commented here. I was just trying to find my original post from this summer that had all the details and some pics to show everyone, but was unsucessful.
The Grapplers not only produced walleyes, but excelled as well on the monster pike that roam the open water out there. We boated over a dozen pike in June alone and 7 of 12 were over 38″ (including a 43″ beautie) and were all caught trolling Grappler Shads. With 24 colors to choose from, finding that right color patterns are a thing of the past. Many different hues of firetiger and perch patterns imaginable.

Here is the color chart for the Grapplers

As for the smaller brother to the CD15 Grappler Shad that is out now? Well mummm’s the word from me right now, but lets just say there will be A NEW KID ON THE BLOCK FOR THE #5 SHAD RAP TO CONTEND WITH in the near future

$2.00 bucks cheaper, run straight as an arrow right out of the box, and most of all they catch fish! Why wouldn’t you be all over these!

Thanks for the info Steve. I see they have expanded the number of colors available. I seen a few new ones that will be going into the crank box!

TBO

Last year I was only able to lay hands on 3 different colors so I’m not able to say which one’s work best out of all that are offered. I have a list for you, the top three are the ones I had from last year that worked well for me and the others are ones I have either picked up or want to get for the season as they look like they would be VERY effective on the river. In particular, the Flo. Red / Black is one of interest as it’s one of my favorite Wally Diver patterns of all time!

PERCH
GOLD PERCH
FIRE TIGER

FLUORESCENT RED/BLACK
GOLD/BLACK
FIRE TIGER
CRAWFISH
FLUORESCENT CHARTREUSE/BLACK
FLUORESCENT ORANGE/BLACK

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What colors worked best for you James? I am going to make an order to Cabelas in the next couple of days, will have to put a few on the list.

Thanks

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Don’t be telling everyone about that color James. It’s one of my best ever, worked great on Oahe and Sharpe and then I discovered how valuable they can be on the river up here at certain times. That flourescent orange/black could be a killer this fall on a lake up nord there. These baits look great, I can’t wait to run some this summer.

One thing I forgot to mention with the CD15 model Grapppler Shad that is out on the shelves now. The running depth will amaze you of this little crank. I was hitting 16 foot depths with small diameter braids this past summer. Its competitor, the #7 Rap will only dive to about 10-11 foot at very best.
THe bodies of these cranks are made of a hard plastic that can take some serious pounding. I was given a small quanity to try out before they hit the shelves. So, I took my small handful of them and headed for Lake of the Woods in early June in 2003. Before a northern finally got the upper hand with me, I boated over 100 walleyes, 50-60 smallies and about 40 northerns all from this one HOT Perch color that I had with me. Needless to say the body was absolutely not even dented a bit. The paint had some scratches in it as expected, bu they were very shallow scratches. The hooks got bent up a bit from time to time, but the original hooks landed all these fish in a two day period until Mr. Pike snipped me off. Bottom line is that these babies are nearly indestructable.

I’ve only got a white and a perch model at this point. Had ’em all summer and never got around to using them! Oh well, I know places DeeZee hasn’t introduced them to the fishies yet! I look forward to gettin’ ’em wet!

Can one of the staff members put a product review up for all users to see?It will be a good place for a user to find more info out on the Grappler Shad.
Great info guys as I know alot of anglers will be looking to add these new lures to the arsenal!
Ryan Hale

Last summer gander had there crank baits for 25% off for a while. The grapplers where $3 and some change. That was a good deal made great. Waterfowler, Do you have any insight into when they might do this again?
At that time there was only maybe 8 to 10 colors on the shelve. The new gander in forest lake seems to have a few more than that. Nothing close to the 24 that are shown in the catolog.
The perch colors worked well for me last summer. I think it was the gold perch that got used the most. Fire tiger wasnt to bad. Some of the whites will most likely be tryed this summer also.
Looking forward to getting these back in the water. Open water trolling. Hadnt heard any reports on this in awhile. How far away is that?

Ryan,

Good idea on the product review. I had one cooking a little while ago, but it has not made its way to the product review section. Thanks for the reminder…I’m on it!

Hard to say on the sales like that Mike. When I was working there, I never new until I walked in the door. The retail market is so competitive it was “top secret” when sales adds were coming out.