# Rapala X-rap



## Jim (May 23, 2007)

An article about this lure! 

https://www.westfargopioneer.com/articles/index.cfm?id=11661&section=Columnists&columnist=Nick%20Simonson

How many times have you purchased a lure/bait and just sat on it and never used it?


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## Captain Ahab (May 23, 2007)

I purchased the X-rap last spring as part of the X-rap craze that went through the area. Seemed like everyone I spoke with was singing the praise of this lure. 

I hardly ever used it, except last winter on the Delaware River where I broke the bill off - it became an X-spook! I sent it back to Rapala and they sent me a new one so all is good.

I have yet to give it a hard core try as I love some of my other stuff more. I do fish with a guy who uses the X-rap and Husky Jerk almost exclusively and he catches everything, including trout. I just cannot get his "touch" when working this lure. I did use it to test the Lure Saver O-Rings  

Here is an X-Rap December bass:


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## Anonymous (May 23, 2007)

I picked up a couple last week and cought a few. They have a good action and are easy to work. Purple Ghost is my go to color.


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## xmytruck (May 27, 2007)

I love X-raps and husky jerks they are my go to baits... I just nailed a 29 inch pike off one last week. It is one of those baits that you have no idea what just hit your line. I have gotten everything from trout to pike on this lure. But then again 95% of my hardbaits are rapala . Check out the new X-shad.. https://www.rapala.com/enews/may11_07/


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## wingshooter1002 (May 28, 2007)

i have the two he spoke about in my box. the blue and silver and the black and silver. i have never had a fish hit one of them though. i havent given them much time to either. i did know how to present this lure so i didnt use it much. i have a better concept now. the jerk jerk pause. does anyone have any tips with this lure? i would surley welcome them.


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## Mattman (May 28, 2007)

The X-Rap has become one of my favorite baits. Produced my largest Largemouth of the season last year.

You can run it just like any crank. Or throw a bunch of pauses in as well.

You need to let the fish tell you how they like it. Some days it needs to be moving like a crank. Some you need to be fishing it like a jerk bait. Sometimes its long pauses. Sometimes its short quick pauses.


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## cjensen (May 28, 2007)

I use both the x-rap and husky jerk alot, especially in the spring or when I find fish suspending off structure. The x-rap darts around alot and is good on smallmouth or really aggresive largemouth. I've found that the husky jerks action is alot less aggressive and for whatever reason appeals to a broader range of fish including walleye, northern, and stipers among others. 
I usually try some variant of the jerk-pause-jerk. One thing that works for me is pausing for a long time, sometimes for a minute or more, then resuming the retrieve


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## Captain Ahab (May 6, 2015)

Jerk baits are making a comeback!


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## Johnny (May 6, 2015)

.




Captain A.


> I purchased the X-rap last spring as part of the X-rap craze that went through the area.
> Seemed like everyone I spoke with was singing the praise of this lure. I hardly ever used it,


Same as mine, word for word.







.


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## Captain Ahab (May 6, 2015)

Barefoot_Johnny said:


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> 
> 
> 
> ...



That was in 2007 - I now use them fairly often


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## lovedr79 (May 7, 2015)

i have wanted to buy one but cant find the color i want. i have used jerk baits since i was a kid. anywhere from rivers to lakes. used a yozuri this past sunday to catch the first fish of the year. granted all i caught was 4 6" bass. but the pond is still cold and i had a 4 year with me. blue gill arent even swimming around yet.


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## onthewater102 (May 7, 2015)

wingshooter1002 said:


> i have the two he spoke about in my box. the blue and silver and the black and silver. i have never had a fish hit one of them though. i havent given them much time to either. i did know how to present this lure so i didnt use it much. i have a better concept now. the jerk jerk pause. does anyone have any tips with this lure? i would surley welcome them.



The trick to jerkbaits is to get the right action you have to snap them on a slack line. You should be able to hear the limpness of the line swishing out each time you jerk it & ideally it shouldn't move toward you more than a few inches with each jerk, most of the energy should be making the lure dart sideways. 

If you're just casting & cranking you're totally wasting the lure's potential. Not to say it won't catch fish as a skinny shallow diving crankbait, and maybe sometimes the bite calls for that vs. a squarebill, but the side to side action followed by a pause is really what these things were meant for.

Water temperature always determines where I start with the length of my pause - the colder the longer the pause, I'll start out going 30 seconds+ if the water is <40, 10-20 seconds usually until the water is over 45, 5-10 up until 50 deg, above 50 I play around with only a few seconds until I get it right. If I'm not getting bit where I think i should be i'll change speeds until I either move along or dial them in, but their activity level is usually similar throughout the lake so if I get the pause down right in one area it'll usually hold true elsewhere.

I fish suspending jerkbaits all year long, not just in the cold water season. Great lure for covering flats and other open areas with scattered structure quickly. I really don't like the floating ones anymore, some I've weighted down to get them to suspend, those are usually my favorites because the action is so erratic.

Great video on the technique - you can see the slack in the line really well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLkENvmvnO0

[youtube]qLkENvmvnO0[/youtube]


...only took me 4 tries to get the youtube video working...


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## DaleH (May 7, 2015)

Jim said:


> An article about this lure!
> 
> https://www.westfargopioneer.com/articles/index.cfm?id=11661&section=Columnists&columnist=Nick%20Simonson


That link wouldn't connect for me ... so I used this one: https://www.westfargopioneer.com/content/x-marks-spot-0


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## Insanity (May 9, 2015)

I've got a couple. Never had enough confadense in them to use them much. But I just purchased a Ducket rod like the guy is using in the YouTube video. I suspect Il use them more now that I have a softer rod. 
However my first choice is the Smith Wicks. Usually not jerking them. Just killing them. I need to learn how to jerk this year.


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