Big bass started their voracious feeding on bunker and herring in the Raritan Bay in April, with trolled plugs between Staten Island and the North Jersey Coast scoring big fish up to and over 50 pounds.
One of the top selections – aboard center consoles and kayaks alike – has been the Rapala X-Rap Magnum, which almost unfairly targets fish exactly where they’re showing on the onboard electronics.
Sorry guys, there’s really nowhere left to hide!
When Rapala introduced the original X-Rap, it gave casters the perfect tool for all around tactical retrieves; a versatile hard body lure that casts a country mile, the X-Rap could be reeled slowly and steadily or twitched erratically to entice bites (though the ‘slashing’ retrieve provides optimum presentation with the lure actually suspending in the water column on the pause.).
The X-Rap Magnum takes the amazing color and design of those Rapala plugs to new depths by incorporating a depth-specific diving lip to allow this plug to be trolled at depths of 10, 15, 20 and 30 feet. Spooled with 50-pound braid, these individual X-Rap Magnum models will get down right to the depth where you’re marking fish, and with trolling speeds of 3 to 3-1/2 knots, can be used at motor or ‘pedal/paddle’ power behind your ‘cartopper.’
Hardcore kayak pro Chris Shoplock and crew have been slamming striped bass this spring where the fish have been on the feed prior to their movement up the Hudson and said the XRMAG10 and XRMAG15 have been highly effective in shallower areas where fish were feeding on bunker and herring at 10 to 15 feet respectively. “It went from folks saying ‘not bad’ about these lures to ‘oh my god, I need these right now,’” Shoplock said of the local shop response.
The quality of these X-Rap Magnum plugs is clearly evident, with high-tech translucent color patterns that run the gamut from good old bunker to silver blue mackerel. But it’s the unbelievable quality and overall versatility that’s won a whole new batch of converts over the years.
“We’ve got yellowfin on them, and I know I’ve heard of some bigeye taking them too,” said Capt. Steve Bent of Free Spirit Sportfishing, adding he’s also had success with mahi and longfin on the Rapala X-Rap Magnums too. “I haven’t caught any wahoo on them yet, but I know they’ll take them,” evidenced already by offshore anglers in other regions who have run these plugs up to 13 knots for big gamefish.
Offshore, Bent trolls these through-wired plugs at about 5 to 6 knots for tuna, and adds them into the other offshore spreads he also runs at the same time, using 6 to 8 feet of 100-pound leader and a Hi-Seas Mighty-Mini snap, preferring the ‘non-painted’ lip in blue sardine and yellowfin tuna patterns.
The Rapala X-Rap Magnums run right out of the box, and each one is built to hardcore saltwater standards with 3X split rings and VMC Perma Steel hooks. The XRMAG10 comes with a pair of No. 3 hooks, the XRMAG15 with a pair of No. 2 hooks. The big water versions go big with the XRMAG15 and 1/0 hooks, the XRMAG20 with 2/0 hooks, and the XRMAG30 having 4/0.
Inshore or offshore, stripers to wahoo, having a few different trays of various Rapala X-Rap Magnums in the cockpit can help you present patterns at the right speed and correct depth, whether you’ve got ‘em lit up on the screen or just know from VHF chatter that there are hungry customers in the neighborhood. Definitely an unfair advantage, in your favor!
