Jigging Rap Techniques

Spent a good chunk of yesterday on the river working jigging raps and found out the fish don’t like them or my technique stinks. I was working current slow upstream letting them get behind the boat. I’d feel bottom, lift, then drop. I’d vary the lift as I went to change the action of the bait.

I lost a few fish but didn’t put anything in the boat. I stayed away from casting then because I’d lose too many of them.

Seemed like this would be effective as fish were hammering cranks so a couple of questions….what are overall river techniques guys are using? My “jig” was typically a foot to 18” and I varied how hard I ripped it up. Also, do you guys tie right to the jigging rap? I was using a small swivel but I assume that could impact action.

Rod was medium light, fast action with 8# suffix 832 braid.

I’ll check out some YouTube vids later but I’m sure some of you have opinions.

Thanks.

I haven’t had much luck with the jigging rap either, but did catch some on the rippin rap this spring on Leech Lake. Used it on a long drift with typical snap jigging motion. I did use a duo lock snap rather than a swivel. Don’t know if that would affect the action.?

Great question Matt –
I haven’t had much luck with Jiggin raps so I’m for all the help I can get.

Eelpoutguy wrote:

Great question Matt –
I haven’t had much luck with Jiggin raps so I’m for all the help I can get.

I think they work because I seem to miss a lot of fish….at least I did yesterday. Seemed like slow trolling with them was better than casting in terms of snags at least.

I know some guys swear by these things but I put them in the same category as blade baits and rippin raps. I get a fish here or there but never anything consistently.

In open water I fish them in the same situation I would be fishing a jig and minnow. I’ve found that rocking them a foot off bottom pulls in more attention than a jigging pattern. Every 30 sec to 1 minute I throw in a full lift/drop, but most of the time I do the rocking or slight drops/lifts.

On the river, I seem to have better luck with flat raps and even more luck with shiver minnows, than jigging raps. I drift with the current and jig vertically when possible. I let it hit bottom each time before jigging up again. I use 10-12 lb. mono with a swivel and three feet of fluorocarbon with a small snap on the end. This seems to allow for better hook ups. On Thursday, caught seven different species and missed a big fish- never got to see what it was -darn. I don’t have all the answers by any means, so enjoy your time on the water and tight lines.

I have fished them without success for the past few years, until last week when I decided to try them for a pure vertical jigging application.

Granted I was in Canada, but when fish were slower to bite a jig presentation, the jigging rap outfished a jig 4 to 1. It was a pure reaction bite. We were spot locked on the school however. Still learning myself, but for a vertical jigging presentation, it was lights out. simple snap up, let drop to the bottom with slack. They pounded it.

Hope your doing well Matt…

Matt Lenz

You said youd look into youtube videos later, but let me save you the time/effort. Tom Boley is excellent at explaining every walleye fishing tactic he uses, jigging raps included.

And where is this hot crankbait bite?! Spent all of this afternoon casting cranks from shore on pool 2 with nothing to show for it (not even a smallie!!)

I only run the biggest jigging raps.
I cut all hooks off except the treble.
I use a stiffer medium action rod (St Croix). Don’t like bendy rods for heavy lures.

There is no one cadence.
They’re not a preferred lure everyday… Like anything else.

Sometimes subtle, other times not. I prefer to fish them on the graph, but once I get there cadence for that given day then I don’t use the graph as much.

A change of color can be all the difference.

I’ll be painting my own jigging raps pretty soon as I use them a fair amount.

Good luck.

Matt…I’m no expert but Al Lindner is. He swears you will catch a lot more fish on jigging raps if you use mono vs braid. He says you need the stretch mono provides to keep fish buttoned up on the jigging rap hooks.

The outside hook will only help you lose fish after the initial hookup.

They are not needed to catch fish. Amazing how small of fish I’ve caught on only the treble… Like, how did they possibly get that treble in their mouth.

The outside teeter totter hooks will catch on everything as the fish fights you. Because they’re opposite directions and inches from the pivot they only weaken the initial hookset.

When a fish inhales the bait, then starts chomping and thrashing.. You can imagine how those outside hooks only promote hooks tearing out.

IMO cut them off flush with plastic.

I will just add this…when I fish a river system a blade bait for me will out fish a jiggin rap 10 -1 everytime..especially in fall and spring..just my 2 cents

Too expensive to be using on the river imo unless you really know an area and it’s snags.

Like blades myself as well.

For those concerned about losing lures on the river, try this…

We retrieve a very high percentage of our snagged lures with this knocker. Btw, the cord holder helps immensely in managing the cord during the retrieval process.

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This is really good info – I thought the braid would help with hookups but the explanation makes sense on mono.

@nhamm – I stay away from jigging raps and rippin raps in certain areas. There are some good sand/gravel spots on upper P2 I was working. I didn’t lose any on Sat in a few hours.

@fbrm – great info as always. I had heard about others cutting the hooks so I’ll give that a try.

@ Matt L – good to hear from you. Hope you have been doing well. Are you still at SPS?

Jigging raps are more of a neutral to negative mood lure imo.

There are times they Accel and times they do not!

I love a fall blade bait bite!!

FBRM, the last couple walleye I’ve caught on jigging raps as soon as they’re in the net they come unhooked, thankfully. So in your experience this is likely due to the outer hooks interfering with a good hook up. I guess my only question is do you miss fish due to them not inhaling the rap. I’m afraid to cut the front and back hooks off fearing the few bites I get will result in not hooking the fish at all, or do they inhale it no matter what? Hope that makes sense. I know you have a lot more experience than most of us

I leave the rear hook myself. I’m sure everyone has their preferences.

Craig Sery wrote:

FBRM, the last couple walleye I’ve caught on jigging raps as soon as they’re in the net they come unhooked, thankfully.

With the front and back hooks still on the bait, they will unhook fish almost instantly when you put them in the net and they start thrashing. The front or rear hook will get caught in the netting. The fish will thrash and become unhooked.

Thanks Pat! That makes sense as to why they always come unhooked. I like the idea of just leaving the rear hook. I think I’ll start with that

Craig Sery wrote:

I guess my only question is do you miss fish due to them not inhaling the rap. I’m afraid to cut the front and back hooks off fearing the few bites I get will result in not hooking the fish at all, or do they inhale it no matter what?

Does the treble hook on a jigging spoon catch fish

The jigging rap with outside hooks removed can be thought of no differently than a slender spoon fluttering down. You’ll catch plenty, PLENTY, with both hooks removed.

If your familiar with fishing these will all hooks attached then your familiar with losing fish. Cut them off and you’ll be happy with the results.

Been there, done that.

2 opposed hooks and a treble in a thrashing fishes mouth… Too many cooks in the kitchen.

Gave it another try last weekend with better luck. I cut the front hook off and didn’t lose any fish. Had a bit of luck dragging slow upstream and working the bait up and down with subtle jerks.

No luck vertical though. Crappies were on a tear going vertical with jig and minnow but they wouldn’t touch the smaller jiggin rap. I’ll keep working them this fall but would expect to continue to get them dialed in.

I’ve had my best luck on weed edges slow trolling about .7-1.0 in 20+ feet. As soon as it hits bottom I rip it up maybe 18” at maybe a 30 degree angle. First fish I caught on it was a 28”, so needless to say I’m a believer