My uncle uses large stick rapalas ( I think like #9’s or bigger) and he swears by them for catching large trout. He even uses braided line. Does anyone out there use any of this equipment? I’m a light line, small spinner type of guy, but thinking about giving it a go. The largest trout I caught last year was 19 inches and his, consistantly, are 20 plus inches. We fish alot of the same streams in SE MN. Anyone else have luck using this gear?
Big Lures Big Fish! 
Just not as many fish… 
big rapalas are great for trout in sw wis streams. i like to use jointed in fire tiger.as for the braided line try power pro with a 2 or 3 foot flouro carbon leader.try a blood knot to connect the lines. this is great knot good strenght and hardly no profile.
I have used rapala’s for years on a lot of different streams.
Finding the rightpattern is the trick!I have caught many large brown trout on silver/black..One of my favorites!
Give it a try,you’ll be surprised at the size of trout that like large rapalas!!
STEVE SIVEK
While I agree that big trout like big food based items, like Rapalas, there is really no need to go to braided line. We’re not talking about 10-15 pound fish with northern pike like teeth. We measure them in inches .
D.A.
i don’t know much about them rapalas but as for the fireline i love my braided line i just use like a 8lb test 3lb dia for everything i fish for except ice fishing then i use mono but you can get braided lines as low as 4lb test 1lb dia and i don’t think you can get a mono with a smaller diameter than the test 
He goes with braided line for snags. That’s his theory, bend the hook instead of lossing the lure. He says it doesn’t seem to bother the fish at all.
He said it’s pretty amazing to see a trout smaller than the rap take it on. I suppose it’s aggression or territorial.
If I were a spin fisher, I’d look into fluorocarbon. I use the stuff all the time for fly fishing (except for dries). Fluoro’s super strong, abrasion resistant, waterproof, and doesn’t show up in the water itself like mono.
D.A.
Thanks for the info. Gonna try and sneak out this weekend. Looks like the weather is going to hold out. Streams will be lined with people.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
