Bait size largly depends on season.  The later in summer, the bigger baits I use, generally speaking.

i agree with you on big baits dont always catch bigger fish. most of my biggest fish have come on small baits. my little brother really sticks with smaller stuff. he doesnt have anything bigger than 3 inches in his tackle box.

looking at the rapala site for the specs, i use the "x rap shad shallow 08" and the "x rap deep 10(minnow body)" and the "x rap shad 08(big lip)"

my older brother runs mostly minnow profiles and swears by the "blue/silver" one. he is really big on the "match the hatch"

i prefer the deep shad body and find  "moss shiner" to be the most productive paint pattern. i prefer to match the colors of the hatch but do something to stand out

for smallies i use the "rap shallow shad 08". the thick lip keeps the rocks off the hooks and it doesnt snag up easy. for smallies i mainly use the dark purple back gold sided one, might be some limited time only paint because i cant find it when i look for it now

Early spring xr6 is a solid choice for smallies. then as water warms i stick with the xr8. Sometimes i will toss the 10 but not all that often. Smallies will hammer them all year long. For walleye I have had good luck with the 08.

As for the shad shape, I would agree they work quite well and even better in some situations. I think its the shallow shad x rap? but that works best for bass, at least for me. Trolling a xr08 is really tough to beat for the walleye. if you want deeper try the deep running xraps before going up in size. I know there are alot of believers in "bigger baits catch bigger fish", but i strongly disagree haha. My biggest fish ever have hit on small baits. including a 46in pike on a 3inch bait.

I have seen 44inchers caught on 1/8oz mistertwisters, and I have seen 10inch pike caught on 12inch baits...

i dont really know the numbers. i use the bigger body shad one in shallow and deep versions. i have a couple of the middle size minnow body in both shallow and deep but im a bigger fan of the shad shape. a little more color/flash/vibration and the lips on the deep minnow body ones are flimsy by comparison and ive broken a couple off by pounding too many rocks. i have one of the bigger minnow body ones(i would assume its the xr 10) and it catches just about everything. i have what then i would guess to be an xr12 that i use for muskies also but i havent caught anything on it yet.

xcskibum1, jaximus,MT,

What model # XRAP do you guys prefer for walleyes ?

XR06   3-5' deep   2 1/2" long
XR08   3-5' deep   3 1/8" long
XR10   4-6' deep   4 in long
XR12   4-8' deep   4 3/4 " long

Seems like XR12 would suit me better for late June/early July trips.

How is the XRAP on smallies?

I am also a huge believer in the x-rap, in fact it is my go to almost everyday fishing the wisconsin river, and I have had great luck with it in the Q. However I can not say i am a fan of the sureset hooks. seems to me like I loose more fish with them compared to the standard treble. Also they do tend to snag up a lot more. Just my thoughts.

Give silver and blue a go.. It wont let ya down.

Quote:

You'd have the ease of hooking of a treble but the holding power of a single hook. I fish barbless everywhere, and I've noticed improvement with the sure sets.

jaximus wrote on May 5^th, 2012 at 12:45pm:

I'm an ultra-noob when it comes to fishing, but since most Canadian regs specify barbless-only, would that make a difference?

mastertangler wrote on May 5^th, 2012 at 1:45pm:

i have never once straighted out the extended hook. i think they do some sort of hardening on the thing. . ive straighted the regular tines on a sure-set, however.

when adding the sure sets(only on the tail hook) i always make sure the long tine is pointing up. this way you get more upper lip hookups and less snags. rapala seems to like putting sure sets on the front hook on a few of their lures with the long tine facing down. (i see this mainly on the DT thug/flat series') i really dont understand this thinking per these lures are made to bang on bottom/structure/wood and that hook hanging way down doesnt make any sense. i remove the front hook on those all together.

Dude I dig the x-raps in a big way myself......in fact there are few things from Rapala that I wouldn't tie on. I will have to give those hooks some thought. I have always shied away thinking the extended hook might be prone to straightening out.......I will have to give that some reconsideration.

BTW......perhaps you could modify and make this "Jaximus tip of the month". I'm running behind (and here I am at this stinking keyboard )