What a trip !!!
The 2013 Scatter Rap Challenge…
6 Guys
5 Days
100 Miles
The Quest to catch 1000 fish !!!!
And We Did It !!!
I had the pleasure of fishing with some great fishermen like Joel Nelson, Cal Svihel, James Holst, Grant Sorensen, Joe Henry….
Some of the best memories came in a 100 mile stretch of LOTW where beauty is just around each corner of each island and point and rockpile !!!
Having to fish with only one style of bait put a lot of pressure on me. The quest to catch 1000 fish…and only use Rapala’s New Scatter Rap ? Really ? I go to a new body of water and have someone else set up a boat I have never fished out of.. rods I have never used before.. line i am not familiar with… and on and on… I usually bring everything in my arsenal and then pick up a few things on the way just in case… This is a lot of Pressure !!!
But Dan Quinn of Rapala did a FANTASTIC job of setting up all the Cabelas Rods.. Spinning, casting, trolling…Sufix 832 braid, Sufix 832 lead core, Sufix 20# fluorocarbon for leader material…Nets, life jackets… and on and on and on… Thats is a huge job in itself !!!
But it didn’t take long on the first day out with a great boat capt’n James Holst and we were on fish casting wind blown shore lines and gravel points to hook up on some great fish on the new Scatter Rap !!
So, with the final paragraph I have to bat clean up here…
With all the new friends I made on this tip.. All the great resorts we stayed at !!! Sunset Resort(greatest sunsets), Flag Island(superior service), Arneson’s Resort(Owners are very personable..loved the tour !!), Wigwam Resort (missed the karaoke..sounded like a blast !!!)
I’m looking forward to putting the new Scatter Rap to work on my home waters.. Using some of the Sufix 832 Lead Core to pull the Scatter raps and casting them for smallies to the rip rap shore lines will be exciting !!
Here are a few more pix from this adventure…
If you’re looking for a getaway fishing trip of a lifetime.. Visit LOTW for your next trip !!
Sounds like a fantastic trip Dave. So did you guys end up with a favorite color up there? Did you guys fish all 4 types of scatter raps or just one certain one?
Sounds like it was a pretty good time!
I’ll be looking for some reports on how well those scatter raps are working on your home waters.
Mike !!!
We used and abused every crank in the boat
No kidding… I fished lead core with every color and every style(cept the countdown) and just like any place.. The color preference was dependent on the weather/wind/cloud cover/sun… Each time I thought I had a bait nailed down.. I switched to a different style…and the result was… FISH ON !!!
Now I will say that Gold was my favorite color…until I caught a 30 1/2″ walleye on the silver and yellow scatter rap minnow.. and then I wouldn’t let it go for nuthin
One day that three of us were pre fishing,, I was third in the boat… the lead was throwing a shad then #2 was throwing a shad… so then I thought I would run the back of the boat with a countdown… And it did produce !!! comments from the front of the boat like…
“Koonce ? Really ? Again ?” Ha ha ha ha…
What can I say.. the scatter rap made even me look like a pro !!!
Joel !!
me too !!! Now I want the river to come down… There is a ton of debris coming down..
How does your water look ? You guys been getting pounded too ?
Looks like you guys had a ton of fun!
Way to sum up the fun buddy! Thanks too for taking lots of pics. This is a trip I will continue to remember, year after year after year, mostly because of the good times and great work you did documenting! Thanks!
Joel
Yup. The flow thru the lake went from a little over 12,000cfs last Friday night, (which is more than double normal flows) to just under 30,000cfs by Sunday afternoon.
Just for fun, the good lord decided to dump another 2-1/2″ of rain on us last night plus another thunder boomer cloud burst was moving in as I went to work this morning.
It does add a bit of challenge to staying on fish over the weekends.
Back to the Scatter Raps. I definitely am looking at the possibility of adding them to my arsenal. But before I jump in with both feet, I’m going to need to see how they produce locally.
Dave, the waters of the Mississippi around you home base really mimics quite closely what also works over here. Or maybe we mimic your waters…..either way, I’m always paying attention to new lures & techniques that I could or should bring into my arsenal of tricks & techniques.
Fish on!
Excellent write up brother Koonce… Thanks for taking the time to put that together. The only regrets that I have from the trip are that I didn’t get a chance to spend a day in the boat with you and I was too focused on fishing and forgot to take pictures.
It was a blast fishing with you Dave. 2 days in the boat were full of laughs, from catching nets at 50mph and sunglasses at 60mph, to 30.5″ walleyes, lots of good times shared. Thanks bud!
That underwater shot of the walleye looks super cool!
That’s because it’s one I caught. Cousin!
Joel
Dave that 30.5 looks very familiar. Great report and I know that we all had a great time on that trip. It was a real pleasure of mine to spend time with all of you and get to know each other on a personal basis. All the resorts were great and all the owners did a great job accomadating us and for the most part the weather cooperated and let us put a great thing together exposing a great new and unique Bait from Rapala.
Paul Delaney
http://www.lateeyessportfishing.com