As per my usual custom when I travel about I spend my free time ambling about the big box stores like Bass pro or cabelas in various cities. I spent one such evening in Gander mountain in Kenosha Wi a month ago and while eyeing their considerable muskie selection I came across what I suspect will be my new "go-to" lure when traveling and trolling. A very large flat rap.

I had not come across this option previously at any other tackle shop and had not even known it was produced in this size. I liken it to an f-18 original rapala but with a wider profile and better looking action. It is also a bit heavier and has neutral buoyancy. I would say this lure is a good 6" long.

What I look for in a lure that I can run while traveling is something big that doesn't have a lot of drag on my boat. This should fit the bill perfectly. During my recent injury I spent some time casting from the sandbar while awaiting a ride out and was able to see how the big lure performed. I coupled it with an 80lb FC leader and was very impressed with both the action, the 8ft running depth and the nice pike that thought it good to eat.

The hooks are ideal for tackle that is usually brought into canoe country. That is, they are of narrow diameter and extremely sharp so they could be set easily by a rod rated for 10lb test and above. I have a very good feeling about this lure and will stock up lest it be discontinued (like the original large fat raps and the original balsa husky lures).

Looks similar to a floating shad rap but i see the flat rap is a neutral buoyancy lure. how similar/dissimilar is it in your opinion? Plan for me was to gradually stock up on shad raps but this flat rap might nose in on the plan.

Most people would view the largest flat rap version I speak of as a pike lure and rightly so. I did, after all, find it in the "muskie section" of the store. The size of the lure puts it more in the category of a super shad rap than a regular rap.

But without the heavy drag on a boat that a super shad rap has. In that respect the big flat rap is likely similar to the drag a shad rap would have but in a bigger offering. That my friend is the beauty of the package.

My inclination in canoe country (and yearly experience at Sioux Lookout fish camps previously) is that northern fish are quite savage when it comes to killing and are used to eyeing big meals and in my experience often prefer them. Curiously I have noticed no drop off in catching average sized fish on oversized lures. And that includes walleyes as well as pike. One of my favorite big walleye lures is a super shad rap. But just try pulling one for an hour or two.....no dice!

The big flat raps have a decided disadvantage however when it comes to getting snagged. They have a small plastic lip and generally run parallel to the bottom which makes their hooks ideal candidates for grabbing any snag present. The shad rap on the other hand is surprisingly snag resistant with its angled down attitude which helps keep the hooks out of trouble. The equalizer would be a depth finder. Remember, although I suspect the lure would work just fine casting I am viewing it specifically as a trolling lure to be used while traveling. My philosophy is to pull a big lure that won't wear you out after 8 hours of pulling it and this seems to fit the bill nicely.
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The largest size is what I am looking at (6.250" long) 

Hey MT,

Agree completely on the flat rap. Great lure. Also funny you mentioned the original balsa rapala Husky. It still had the tighter wobble of a regular floating rap, with a wider profile that pushed more water. I used to slay on that lure.

Moonman.

Hey Moonman
Curious if you have tried the large version? I never got a chance to run one although I did pop a good pike while checking them out from my little sandbar home.

A word about that little sandbar home........I had to set up literally within feet of the water and spent a mostly sleepless night. What I noted during the night was the tremendous fish activity just outside my door that night. I had noticed a good amount of minnows and small perch were using the bar when I rolled up to it and now, during the middle of the night, the fish were tearing them up. Walleyes I would suppose including some real whoppers (big splashes).

Hi MT,

Personally I haven't used it. My regular canoe partner uses it when we do our spring lake trout trips (I am usually trolling huge streamers on my fly rod). It has a bit wider wobble than a regular floating rap but the size is perfect for imitating the 6-8 inch ciscoes the lakers are eating. Funnily enough though, the perch colour pattern has caught the most fish. Still, the #12 husky jerk, with the dark top, greenish sides and orange belly catches the most fish overall (among minnow baits) - even large brookies eat it.

Moonman.

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...

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.   

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....

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.

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.

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.

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!

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. 

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!

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!!