Double Rap Rigging-How to?

Its been awhile since I have posted, but grouse and woodcock hunting sorta came in last month and caught me by surprise. I totally forgot about the 10/24 trip to the Lynxville float and apologize for missing it, hope those that went had a great time.

I own a three year old english setter that is quite good on these birds and its the same dilemma many of us face when the weekend rolls around or we manage to sneak away early some odd afternoon. In my case, I look at the boat, then look at the dog. Then look back at the dog again. Lately, the dog has been winning out and we have been getting into the woodcock pretty good. I hunted northern Wisconsin (Brantwood area) about a month ago for a few days and we did really well on the grouse, managing to get one down with little damage to send to the taxidermist. The rest went to the freezer. Woodcock season closes a week from Monday here in Iowa, so I think the boat needs to get wet a few more times before we put her away.

I have been reading about the double rap rig all year and have gotten some tips over the course of the summer on its use. Koonce used something sorta similar with this handline setup that was pretty cool last spring. What are some of the basics on getting this thing to work? Do you use leadcore? A 3-way dropper? What size weights? What size raps? I think Ted Peck also had a nice post on its use late last summer. I appreciate any help you guys can share and hope everyone is having a good time out there hunting and fishing.

Regards,

Joe Jiacinto

Typical 3-way rig:

One way to do a “double rap” rig:

Oh yeah… just as a reminder… this set-up is only legal on bodies of water that allow an angler to fish two rods or one rod with two baits. As is the case on the Mississippi River. This would be taboo on the rest of the inland water of MN so do check your regs before employing it anywhere else.

I’m not sure that I could afford to lose them two at a time.

yeah, that is always a possibility but with 10 Lb test XT you really don’t lose very many at all regardless of how you rig them. But when you did, and if you used this method for any amount of time you would lose them both, it would be a real kick in the pants.

James:

A picture is worth a thousand words, many thanks! Now, what speed do you troll these things (as a starter) and at approximately what water temp does one stop trolling something like this? Or is there any correlation to water temp?

Thanks,

Joe Jiacinto

How long is the lead from the first rap to the second?

Joe

Speeds are usually kept pretty slow… from a dead crawl to 1.5 Mph or so. And this pattern will produce in even the coldes twater temps. You will have to down size and slow down in the middle of the winter but I know many guys that utilize this technique (99.9% troll a single rap on each rod) during those cold and windy winter days on pool 4.

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James:

A picture is worth a thousand words, many thanks! Now, what speed do you troll these things (as a starter) and at approximately what water temp does one stop trolling something like this? Or is there any correlation to water temp?

Thanks,

Joe Jiacinto

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The leads are usually kept pretty short Brian. I’ve only tinkered with this so I’m not an experienced user but from what I’ve seen 6″ out to about 12″ seems to be the most commmon lengths between raps.

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How long is the lead from the first rap to the second?

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I know there are a lot of guys from the Dubuque, Ia. area who use this technique frequently. I believe Eyehunter is well versed in double raps. Maybe you could p.m. him if he does not respond to this post. I am also interested in learning more about it. It seems to me it would be the next best thing to handlining, which I learned this summer, but cannot afford to invest in the required equipment yet.
Not exactly on the subject, but has anyone here done any polelining? Is it as effective as handlining?

Thanks, I tried this the other day…the first rap seem to lose it’s wooble…I had a three foot lead between raps…I’m going to shorten it up a little more and try it again…soon I hope!

Thanks again!

John, I tried polelining for 2 days. I think if you did it for awhile and got the hang of it, it could be as effective. I won’t do it again, it took about 2 weeks before my arm and shoulder stopped hurting.

Brian-I will throw my 2 cents in as I fish this method alot and have for many years.James’ diagram is on the money although I do not remove the rear hook from the front rap.Leads to the rear bait are usually no longer than 24″ with the norm being 12-18.
Now for your concern about the front bait loosing its action-this is the key to this method on many days.Especially as the water temp falls to the upper 30’s you will see many days that the majority of your fish will come on the front bait.Hard to believe until you see it.This bait has ablolutely no wobble and many hits will come when your boat is actually sitting still or even falling back slightly in the current.In my opinion the biggest mistake people make when fishing this method is going to fast.Painfully slow progress upstream with frequent pauses of no progress are usually the ticket, especially in higher current areas.
Hope this helps

Pulling double rapalas is not my favorite way to fish by any means. This time of the year (cold weather months) I really enjoy vertical jigging or pitching plastics. However, sometimes the fish seem to want the rapalas more than the jigs. What I like to do is pull a double rap upstream and then vertical jig back down to my starting point. I have had days when one method is producing and the other isn’t. I have had days when it seemed the bigger fish came on the rapalas.

Pulling double raps can be an expensive venture if you are not careful. I remember several years ago that my partner and I pulled raps for 2 entire days in a tournament. We ended up placing 3rd in the tournament but a huge chunk of our winnings went to cover the costs of the rapalas that we lost. Since that time I learned to fish them a little different and now I lose very few in a years time. Instead of letting the weight just drag across the bottom try lifting and pulling the weight in sort of a jigging fashion so that the weight walks across the bottom. The last 3 times out I never had one snag fishing raps this way. I also use pencil sinkers instead of fatter weights. Pencil sinkers cut through the water better with less drag than a fatter weight. I try to keep the weight as light as possible even if I have to long-line it a bit more. I also keep my boat speed to a minimum depending on how strong the current is. The jigging motion I explained above will make up for the slower speed and many of the fish seem to hit the raps when they are momentarily stopped.

I use Fusion line with rapalas in about a 12 to 14Lb test (which is much stronger than the test weight). You lose less raps with the stronger line. I like to use mono on my drop line to the sinker so it will break off should you become snagged. It is much cheaper to replace a sinker than 2 rapalas. My first rapala is about 3 to 4 foot back of my 3-way swivel. Then I have 18″ to 24″ to my next rapala. You do not get the motion on the first rapala that you do on the trailer but some days the fish seem to like less motion. I hope to get out this weekend here in Dubuque to give it a try.

Eyehunter

Thanks guys…I’m going to giver a try. I have an ol’ river rat to outfish and need all the tips I can get!

I’ve had a fantastic time hunting woodcock these last 2 weeks, bagging birds on almost every outing with my setter. We did it again yesterday afternoon and this morning. The season closes here in Iowa on Monday. We are done, though. My setter has some nasty tears that need to heal up.
Perfect excuse to get to the river sometime this week and leave the dog at home. I am going to try the double-rap rig, I’ll let you guys know how much tackle I lose!

Thanks for all the good advice and hints!
Regards,

Joe Jiacinto

Should you be feeling the bottom when doing this? Generally what size weight should you be using. I understand that the current will play a big role in this, but an idea of a starting weight would be great. Thanks, Jeweler

Right now on pool 8 you can get away with 1oz. When and if the water comes up, I will go heavier, sometimes up to 4 ounces. I like to try to keep my line at a 45 degree angle and stay in touch with the bottom. Sometimes I will go longer to keep from going to heavy. Staying in touch with the bottom is a must. You should be able to drop back a bit with your rod tip and feel bottom

Hope this helps and makes since.
Good luck fishing
Bret