Tuesday 7, Sep 2010
Home > Rapala Clackin' Rap
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Long time followers of Fishing Australia show will know that Rob is a big fan of the Rapala Clackin' Rap. Useful in a wide range of fishing scenarios and habitat, this sinking, bibless lure features a unique sound chamber with a single steel ball and external metal discs that transmit a distinctive clackin' sound and significant vibration. Offering a straight running profile, the lure can be fished in a traditional cast and retrieve method or vertically jigged up and down when fishing close-in cover or in deep water scenarios. Rob and many other New South Wales South Coast snapper fishermen have also proven its worth on in-shore snapper using a somewhat different approach to lure fishing
Below are a few of the methods and tactics that Rob regularly employs when using the Clackin' Rap.
It's the versatility of the Clackin' Rap that makes these lures so valuable when chasing Australian Bass and other freshwater native species. Use the 6cm model and cast in hard as close to the cover of trees or the bank as you can, let the lure fall to the bottom on a tight line and then work it back over the snags and rocks, in close. By varying the retrieve speed or rod tip height you can work these lures as shallow or as deep as needed.
Always keep the retrieve going into deeper water as the in-built rattle will attract the attention of fish from a long way off with strikes often coming right next to the boat, a long way from cover.
Both the 6 and 8cm model Clackin' Raps are very useful lures when chasing flatties in discoloured, deep or fast flowing water. Often flathead will pick these lures up off the bottom with the lure having finished its descent. One more challenging method is to flick the lure slowly across a muddy or sandy bottom, allowing the lure to raise small puffs of sediment while seeking to imitate a small noisy crab in the process.
It's surprising but it works and is particularly good for fishing the sandy patches and channels found in between estuary weed-beds.
Chasing big snapper is one of Rob's favourite pastimes and its perhaps surprising that under the right circumstance, snapper also respond very well to Rattling lures such as the Clackin' Rap. However, there is a bit of knowledge and expertise required to get success from this lure.
After much experimentation, Rob has found that leaving the lure dead still, at a depth of 2 to 5 metres off the bottom is one of the keys to success. Another is leaving the lure to fish dead with no additional rod action. Fishing the Clackin' Rap in this way means that there is only the occasional click from the rattle as the wave action gently moves the lure around. Be sure to use the lightest leader possible however (4kg is a good line weight), as snapper are extremely line shy.
Strangely enough, leaving the lure alone while you are free to try other methods like bait or soft plastics often results in the biggest red of the day hitting this lure. Go figure!
When berleying a school of fish like trevally up behind a boat, a rattling lure like the Clackin' Rap will often out fish bait as the lure both attracts and fires up the fish when they are in a feeding frenzy. Many species behave in the same way and Rob has successfully demonstrated this technique on a range of species including a school of XL golden trevally in Exmouth, Western Australia. However, the same technique will work on a range of species including snapper and tailor.
Jewfish are renowned for their love of the dirty water conditions that result from heavy rainfall or floodwaters washing down through saltwater estuaries and river mouths. When these conditions are prevalent, the Clackin' Rap comes into its own. Although able to fished in a very subtle manner such as the tactic employed for targeting snapper described above, when fished aggressively, there are few louder lures than the Clackin Rap. This allows the jewfish (and other species) to succesfully zero in on the lure in low water visibility when fish are hunting primarily via vibration rather than sight.
The Clackin' Rap has proven to be a "must have" amongst barra anglers. In fact some of the biggest barra over the last season have fallen to the Clackin' Rap. Again, the lure's value in murky water scenarios; think creek drains and deep and fastwater rock bars cannot be overestimated. But it is not just low visibilty scenarios that this lure shines. Large tidal movements make lots of underwater noise so the rattle of the Clackin' Rap assists barra in finding the lure. Some diving lures work well for the same reason, but the Clackin' Rap allows anglers to fish deeper or shallower and it is this versatility which makes it a must have in a barra angler's tacklebox.
In Rob's own words, "... the real secret of the Clackin' Rap is in the rattle and lure movement, I am yet to find a colour that doesn't work." This noted, some of Rob's favourite colour choices are Glass Ghost (Code: GGH), Moss Back Shiner (Code: MBS) and Olive Green (Code: OG).
