i carry a few rattlin raps on me at all times. i mainly stick to the crayfish colored ones, gold, brown, orange, red, yellow, green. i got started on them for one of the reasons you mentioned. when i first started with a baitcaster it was pretty tough to cast long distances. tie on a rattlin rap and you can cast a mile. they are good baits for covering water and are fairly versitile. you can fan cast them to find active fish and jig them or even fish them vertically. i got a clacklin rap (the rattlin rap with one giant ball bearing rattle) for my birthday that im pretty excited to try this spring. the thing weighs 5/8 of an oz, so i might need more line...

Rattle jiggin

My general dislike for loud rattles in canoe country is well known to those of you who follow my comments on fishing. But I do have a notable exception.

I am quite fond of using lipless rattling crankbaits as jigs. The lures I speak of are the rattle trap and the rattlin rap (made by rapala). I am drawn more toward the rattlin rap as it is generally a bit heavier and slightly more compact and sinks better.

While these lures can be effective trolled I tend to use them as jigs. This implies, as with any jigging scenario, that you have a general understanding of where the fish are. Basically I flip them out and let them sink to the bottom......let them sit for a few seconds and give them a nice snap off the bottom and then let them sink back again making contact with the bottom. Vary the strength and speed of the snaps. Sometimes you might want to do exaggerated high snaps and at times double snaps. In all cases let the lure sink back to the bottom. Don't be afraid to let it sit for 15 or 20 seconds at a time.

Braid is tops with this strategy. You can feel every little bump and rock. Most of your strikes will happen as the lure drifts back down. I remove the belly hook and upsize the rear treble by one size.

You can use this quite effectively at the base of a falls. It is common for all sorts of critters to get wounded going over the falls and act exactly like what I'm describing. One must be very careful however as if you let the lure sink to the bottom below a falls and any "belly" develops in the line you will likely end up with your lure under a rock. Again the braid is tops and some concentration will put fish in the boat and keep your lure in your tacklebox.

The nice thing about this lure is its versatility. You can troll with it, cast it a mile and it makes an effective jigging tool. Color is not that important. Silver imitates a wounded cisco/shiner and the darker colors imitate the all important crayfish. Anyway, this is a fun and effective presentation.......Catch a walleye trolling and then go back and drop down a rattlin rap. It is something just a bit different and I have seen where it has made the difference. Good Luck.