What I found so cool about these baits was that I was able to cast them with 100 FC leader and they still looked very attractive in the water....no easy feat for a wobbling lure to be saddled with a stiff meaty leader and still have what it takes.

Thanks cwestly for the affirmation. I knew it would take walleyes in addition to being an attractive trophy pike lure. You got to use them before me! I still have to wait another year. AAARRRRGGG!!

i think you guys are on to something here with the flatraps. i hadnt used them until this past weekend when i picked one up for the wife from the clearance bin. i saw it as a perfect lure for her because she manages to snag bottom so often, what better to not get hooked on bottom with than something that only dives a couple feet! i was amazed at how well the things casted and they have some pretty nice action. she caught a small bass her first time out, so she was excited about fishing! my usual haunt of fleet farm doesnt carry the really big flat raps, but im considering picking up the next biggest size and giving that a go.

recently i got the muskie itch, so ive been tossing big stuff on heavy gear, a far cry from my norm, and even though ive come up empty everytime, its still fun and new.

so unfortunately these flat raps are something that interest me, so thanks again MT, my wallet is going to be thinner. luckily the new job pays better than the old one!

Had a chance to fish the "big honkin flat raps" quite a bit on my trip to Pickerel 8/28-9/3

This bait is very easy to cast with MH baitcasting bass gear.  Seemed to dive around 3-6' casting on 10lb test.  I also trolled it quite a bit.  It doesn't pull very hard but still dove to around 8' or so.

I think this will be a very good big pike bait when they are relatively shallow.  I lost one about 40" but that was the only big fish bite...water was unusually warm for this time of the year so I assume most of the big girls were deep.

I caught a surprising number of walleyes casting reefs with this bait.   Most were between 20-23" and in 5-8' of water as the sun was setting.  Smallies also attacked this bait including a nice 18" and I caught them as small as 12" on this 6 1/4" bait.

I will definitely not make another trip without a couple of these in the box.

it took me a while but i found that thread talking about the flat rap lip issues. i already had linked it to the qj site at some point apparently...
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as for the rattles, i personally like them. i like the rattle in the trolls to series the best, on the smaller size with a nice little 'ping' noise. the rattles in x raps are too big and too clumsy for my taste.

also from my info gathered on what caught fish and what didnt, 80% of the fish we caught were on lures with rattles. but that doesnt mean overly much as most of the lures we do troll have rattles. only one guy in our group trolls a rattle-less crank frequently, a silver/black fat rap, and that lure is tied for 2nd most fish caught. but again, skewed because its almost the only lure he does troll, so it sees the most time in the water. which takes us back to (i think snow_dogs) the point that the lure thats in the water most catches the most fish!

I agree completely on the 'too much noise' rattle thing. At times, I think a very fast retrieve with loud rattles (ie. rattling rap/spot etc.) are awesome, and I've had great days on that presentation in the past, but day in day out, I think less rattle is better. Its amazing how loud just the hooks are on a lure. Just dunk your head underwater and have a buddy cast a lure nearby. Those hooks hitting the body of the lure are incredibly loud. For walleyes especially, like you mentioned, I think vibration is much more important than noise. Thats why I think spinner rigs work so well. Sure, no walleye is going to turn up its nose at a big crawler, but I really think its the big thumping blade that gets them turned on and moving towards your bait.

Moonman.

Indeed moonman the longer profile is typically very attractive to walleye but what is so appealing (at least to me) is the much wider profile than say a husky jerk or original rapala). It gives the lure a bigger "feel" and quite probably a bigger vibration while in the water.

After they discontinued the original husky lure (balsa, no rattle) I was lost for a while. I was not a fan of the loud plastic husky jerk lures and struggled to find a replacement that fit the bill. I had been eyeing the f-18 original rapalas (an excellent  night time trolling lure) and had already picked up a few. I also like the x-raps in the larger version but I actually prefer a quieter presentation. Alas, I was missing the original husky.

I can foresee these big flat raps and I having a long and lasting relationship . Quite likely I will stock up lest I be without one but first I will give them a better test drive. They have 1 tiny rattle which I think might just be enough to wake them up without putting the big ones off.

In spring, the trout pattern we use for lakers is trolling open water adjacent to humps and shoals - and sometimes right over the deep basin. Lakers come up and will take lures anywhere from 5-15 feet down so the running depth of the flat rap is fine. I also think it could be interesting along a deep weed edge - say running 8 feet down over 12 feet of water in the early summer for walleyes. The thing that appeals to me about them is the thin profile with that longer length. It really could be the ticket for for picking up bigger than average fish while working lots of water on a troll.


Moonman.

Springtime
Early...when the female 'eyes are putting on the feedbag in 3-4 ft of water
6" raps cast from shore or a dock are the cats meow....

Jax,
looks can be deceiving. One of the things I liked about the flat raps is that they dive deeper than original rapalas. My largest smallie last year in the Q came on one.

I would wager a strong bet that the large flat rap that has caught my attention would run in the 8' to 10' range which is perfect for my shoreline running style of paddling that I generally employ.

Are you sure it was the flat raps that have had "issues" with the lips? Curious as their lips protrude only very slightly.

What I really liked about the smaller versions was the sideways roll they exhibit when snapped. With their wider profile that snap really creates a lot of flash in the water......a key strike provoker IMO. You really should try one.........a 1st rate lure.

The other thing I liked about the large version (and why I'm so high on it) is that the wobble was strong enough to overcome the heavy FC leader that I employ while trolling an "all species lure". Much has been made of trolling wire and still catching any and all fish and the idea being it makes little or no difference. With all due respect, ( there are many accomplished anglers on this site that hold that belief) I personally believe that is just wishful thinking. If it were so the pro walleye circuit would be using heavy line for any application. It is common knowledge that the lightest and thinnest line generally will prove most productive especially for the larger specimens.

Can you be productive trolling wire? Yes, absolutely. But I can't help but wonder how many larger fish turned away. Neither side of the issue can prove much of anything unless they troll side by side but truth has a certain ring to it and using wire for big walleyes seems, at least in my mind, an error. Besides, I lose very few lures to northerns anyway even trolling straight mono (zero last year in 9 days).

Anyway, I liked the big rap with 80lb FC. Looked menacing and challenging. Something to get a big fishes attention and make it worth while to get her big fat butt in motion.

ive heard somewhere that the lips on flatraps are subject to easy breakoffs. ive looked into those lures before, but i couldnt really find the niche where i would use something that runs that shallow...im not really a fan of weights in front of my cranks, but its hard to justify leadcore for only a couple lures.

@ moonman, the color pattern you are refering to is tennessee shad? every time im in the store looking to waste money on another crank i have that one in my hand but ive never gotten it. over the last couple years (my nerdy side is gonna show through here) ive been keeping records of what we catch fish on, size/color/depth/etc. ive even gone as far as breaking the color pattern down into top/middle/bottom. i guess what you say makes sense with that pattern because surprisingly the probably skewed and insufficient data i have says green top, silver sides, and white bottom(with orange coming in a close second).

my arsenal of lures contains mostly xraps and taildancers, but this year i took a deep husky and i really liked how it performed. ill have to look further into it because i really like the dive curve, but from what i can tell the tennessee shad doesnt come in the deep version. that would be a shame...