thaught about trying rapala magnum xrap?

has anyone thaught about trying the rapala magnum xrap but was turned off by the price and went for halco instead (nothing wrong with halco) i strongly recomend checking out these lures. i love the colours .its like a
3D finish, good quality hooks and split rings sharp as. they are a deep diver around 8-10m,they swim really well if you use multi strand  plastic wap SS wire ive got one of every colour the bad news is that only one has seen the water and a 21kg mack smashed it like a train , swallowed it hole - so you cant see it when i hold it up in the photo (soon to be posted) oh well. and another secret you can get them for $16 in bali. hence the trip to bali in 3 months time with an empty suitcase


milsey's picture

Posts: 1462

Date Joined: 22/08/07

i used one in exmouth

Sat, 2007-09-22 21:34

their stronger than halco but much more expencive, i preffer halco crazy deeps mainly cause of the price, we trolled it for about 1hour in total and with only one small mackie (the blue one). we were only using 30lb gear and if i was going to lose a lure i would rather it be a crazy deep. also they dont swim that different to halco so unless you wanted to frame it i would recomend  halco and i dont think the fish care if it's 3d or not but as i said i only used it for a short period

but u cant go wrong if u get em 4 $16, go 4 it that must make crazy deeps around $10-$12

big john's picture

Posts: 8759

Date Joined: 20/07/06

Speed kills

Sat, 2007-09-22 22:01

Yeah but you can run the X-raps at 13 knots. One thing macks/hoo/and yft love is speed.

Crazy deeps are good but if your running them both at the same time then the rapala will not be as effective because of the slower speed required to get the crazy deeps to swim. This is also true for the original rapala magnums as well.

Johnno, have you tried stainless single strand wire? A much more subtle presentation than the multi strand which will IMO result in you having more hits from wary fish when trolling.

John

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WA based manufacturer and supplier of premium leadhead jigs, fligs, bucktail jigs, 'bulletproof' soft plastic jig heads and XOS bullet jig heads.

Jigs available online in my web store!

mitch's picture

Posts: 1285

Date Joined: 14/08/05

yep gotta agree with big

Sun, 2007-09-23 01:02

yep gotta agree with big john on this one .single strand .....you can cover more ground quicker where the others will not handle the speed....the other brands just start jumping out of the water . the xraps are very tough .AND THEY COST A HEAP but thet have good terminal tackle hanging from them....... im certainly not bagging the halcos or raplas though.proven themselves many times

always in it just the depth that varies

bouttime's picture

Posts: 703

Date Joined: 27/07/06

All depends

Sun, 2007-09-23 05:15

All depends what your chasing. Have used the rapala's and for the money spent i would go for the Halco any day. Yea the the rapala run deep and you can pull them along at hight speed but unless your running 24kg plus you can't run them to fast as all they do is pull line. At about $10 each the halco represents good value for money. I have caught everything from kingies, yellowfin, mackies and wahoo and still get about 10 fish per kure before replacing hooks or retireing lures due to holes from teeth.


Each to there own

Adam Gallash's picture

Posts: 15652

Date Joined: 29/11/05

Xrap

Sun, 2007-09-23 08:08

I have run a green xrap for atleast a year in nearly every spread I've set and never caught anything on it. I have seen some monster coral trout come in on them thou and seen Gully get a few rankins on the blue one. They've never produced for me, but when it does its going to be worth it.

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big john's picture

Posts: 8759

Date Joined: 20/07/06

Colours

Sun, 2007-09-23 20:32

Never had much success with the green/gold rapala's apart from YFT's.

Try and get hold of the blue mackerel, red/white, black/silver or the gold orange patterns Adam.

I've trolled them on 15 kg Bouttime but occasionally the drag might creep when you surf down a small swell.

John

____________________________________________________________________________

WA based manufacturer and supplier of premium leadhead jigs, fligs, bucktail jigs, 'bulletproof' soft plastic jig heads and XOS bullet jig heads.

Jigs available online in my web store!

SPESS's picture

Posts: 3356

Date Joined: 29/12/06

They look good but IMO too

Mon, 2007-09-24 09:11

They look good but IMO too much cash required to get a good selection! Ill stick to the halco until they dont get me fish then i might look at something else.

Keep it tight, reeeeeeel tight!

Gully's picture

Posts: 963

Date Joined: 04/10/05

X-raps are awesome I have

Tue, 2007-09-25 09:20

X-raps are awesome I have found.

The blue-mackeral one i have used has been smashed when others have failed to even get looked at. Also the terminal hardware on the Rapalas is brilliant. I dont know how many times I have had to replace the trebles or split rings on Halcos due to them straightning on their first fish. This is one thing Halco really has to pull their finger out on IMO, love the lures but hate having to change the terminals.

So when you look at the cost of a lure dont forget to add in the little extras but I dont care about price (might feel differently when I loose one :X) but they work and work well.

You do have to go a high drag though due to the speed and drag, but how many bibbed minnows can you throw out in a marlin spread - not many but this one does it with ease. Will allow other captures like Big John said - hoo and YFT.

Gully

Posts: 85

Date Joined: 13/09/07

well said gully. i agree

Sun, 2007-09-30 19:37

well said gully. i agree with everything you said. my fav is the mackel blue. i also have mackeral green yet to go into the water.