More on the New Rapala Minnow Rap

New Minnow Rap to Come in Classic and Bleeding Patterns

It's been called the offspring of a famous heritage, and we like that. Because it is. The new Minnow Rap is the latest balsa creation from Rapala, the only company in the world that can make lots of lures from balsa that all swim the same, right out of the box.

Whether you're a fish or a fisherman, you recognize the shape as that of a 'baitfish' that big fish are born to chomp down on. This lure has the swimming action of a Shad Rap, in a thin 'minnow' profile.

In a never-ending quest to marry the best of old world craftsmanship and modern technology, the Minnow Rap will be available in two distinctly different versions. Classic Patterns will feature clear diving lips and VMC black nickel hooks.

Bleeding Patterns will sport red diving lips, bleeding gills and VMC red hooks to give off the ultimate wounded minnow impression.

Hall-of-Famer Al Lindner already calls the Minnow Rap, “a multi-species fish catching machine,” and says in his testing, he can't find a fish “that can resist its shivering wiggle.”

The new Minnow Rap will come in No. 9 size, measuring 3 1/2 inches long and weighing 5/16 oz.

The color patterns are true Rapala in quality and detail. Classic Patterns include Silver, Shad, Perch, Yellow Perch, Firetiger, Hot Tiger, Hot Steel and Purpledescent. Bleeding Patterns will be Bleeding Copper Flash, Bleeding Hot Olive, Bleeding Olive Flash and Bleeding Pearl.

It's a shad. It's a minnow. It's both.Best of all, it's a balsa Rapala.

New Boat (part 4 of 4)

Post number four from my recent 10-day stay at Leech Lake.

As mentioned in an earlier post, when I pulled my boat out of the water during my recent stay at Leech Lake -- much earlier in the season than usual due to the extremely low level of water in the lake -- I took it to Corner Sports in Bemidji and traded it in for a new 2006 model. While the new boat is techincally mine, it will be in storage until Spring 2007 when I put it in the water for the first time on Leech Lake.

The new boat is a black Lund 1800 Pro-V IFS, Verado Limited Edition (pictured). It will be equipped with a new 150hp, 4-stroke Mercury Verado motor, my old Honda 4-stroke 8hp will serve as the kicker motor. I'll also add a new MinnKota Maxxum Pro 80US electric trolling motor and a new Lowrance LCX-25C professional sonar/GPS+WAAS. I will mount my current Lowrance LCX-15MT sonar/GPS+WAAS unit in the bow and use it with the universal sonar on the MinnKota Maxxum Pro as a sonar-only unit.

I look forward to posting a report here next May after the new craft is in the water.

I will be at Leech Lake in mid-October to close up the house and cabin for the winter -- clean the gutters, close the vents, etc. -- and for one last adventure on the water before the winter. I'll post here again after that trip.

Trolling Crankbaits (part 3 of 4)

Post number three from my recent 10-day stay at Leech Lake.

Once my boat was out of the water for the season, I had to rely on my neighbors the Newmans and Malays if I was to have any fishing action this trip. As usual, their kindness and generosity allowed me several trips out onto Leech Lake to hunt for walleye.

Of the several trips I took onto the lake this trip, one of my first was with John Newman. We started the day with controlled drifting off of Duck Point with Lindy rigs for walleye. The little breeze we had at the start of our expedition died in the middle of our second drift off the point, and with it, any chance we had of catching fish. We motored over to Hardwood Point to try the reported 'hot' action on the west side of Sucker Bay, but we didn't catch anything there either.

We then moved north about a half mile to the weedbeds near Deadhead Bay. There we saw some limited action; we both caught a number of small perch, rock bass, a few small northern pike and John hooked a very large black crappie, which was returned to the lake. To end this trip, John and I motored across the bay to "the birches" where we had very good luck fishing for jumbo perch during my July 4th trip (see July 13 post). But whatever had attracted the jumbos to "the birches" must have passed, because we only hooked into a couple of small perch.

While the fishing wasn't that great, being on the water again was absolutely wonderful. Nothing beats being on the water fishing!

My better fishing experiences came with Tom Malay and his son Sean. Both Tom and I, and later Sean and I, tried Lindy rigging for walleye off Duck Point, but as with John Newman, we never hooked any fish. It wasn't until we changed tactics and began trolling crankbaits that we started to catch fish.

During one angling adventure with both Tom and Sean, we all caught fish. Sean caught a nice small walleye, which we returned to the water, while Tom and I caught a couple of medium-sized pike. As the week went on, both Tom and I, and later Sean and I, trolled for walleye off Duck Point, Second Duck Point and Ottertail Point. All three locations yielded walleye. The best fishing was during the evening -- from sunset until about 10 p.m. There was a full moon on Thursday, Sept. 7, and it was a wonderful experience to watch the giant, bright, full moon rise over the trees, illuminating the entire lake, while we were trolling and catching walleye.

The lure of choice for the Malays this trip was the very new lure from Rapala called the Minnow Rap #9, or the MR-9 (pictured above). The lure is so new that as of this posting it isn't even listed on Rapala's web site. The hot color for Tom was the MR-9 'hot perch', a red/yellow/orange-colored lure with black strips. It looks kind of like a orangish-colored firetiger. Tom landed at least a half dozen or more beautiful walleyes between 19" and 25" with this lure -- unfortunately, those fish fell smack in the middle of the Leech Lake slot limit and were thus returned to the lake immediately.

I used my trusty Cotten Cordell Grappler Shad in the Glory Green color. I hooked several nice walleye and several large pike, including what may be the biggest pike I've ever caught at Leech Lake, a 31-inch marvel that was almost as fat as it was long. Must be from eating all those white suckers that swim in the lake.

This trip was very enjoyable from a fishing perspective. Lot's of walleye put in the boat, all while trolling crankbaits during both the daytime and after sunset.

My last post from this trip will be an update on the new Lund boat I'll be getting next spring. I can't wait to fish for 'eyeballs' next May in my new boat. Until then, may your lines stay tight and your stress level loose.

End of an Era (part 2 of 4)

Post number two from my recent 10-day stay at Leech Lake.

As mentioned in my previous post, I couldn't get my boat off of the boat lift because the water level of the lake was too low. That meant I had to devise another method to get my boat off the lift so I could trailer it for the winter. My neighbor Tom Malay and I came up with the plan where we would use our ATVs, and the attached winches, to pull my boat off of the lift and into the water in my harbor. Once the boat was in the harbor, I could motor it out onto the lake and then put it on the boat trailer using the boat ramp at our cabin next door.

Tom and I positioned our ATVs behind my boat on the morning of Labor Day. I got into the water to attach the winch cables to the boat. Unfortunately, the winch on Tom's ATV was broken, so I ended up attaching only the cable from my Warn winch to the boat. I got back out of the water, placed my Polaris 500 Sportsman in reverse, hit the 'reverse override' button, and began reeling in the winch all at the same time. Slowly, my boat backed out of the lift and into the very shallow water in the harbor.

Tom then got in the water and helped me maneuver the boat out of the harbor and onto the lake. Once the boat was in the lake, I got into the boat, started up the Honda 130hp motor, backed the boat into deeper water, then motored next door to our cabin which has a boat ramp. Tom helped me get the boat lined up with the ShoreLand'r trailer and then attached the trailer strap to the bow of the boat. Tom then cranked the trailer winch to pull the boat out of the water and onto the trailer. In 5 minutes the job was complete and I was pulling the boat and trailer out of the water with my 1997 Chevy Blazer.

This marked the end of an era for me. After pulling my boat out of the water, I took it into Corner Sports in Bemidji where I traded it in for a new boat (more on the new boat in another post).

I purchased my Lund 1850 Pro-V SE in July 2001. It was a used boat (1999), but to me, it was the best boat in the world. During the five years I owned this boat it took many trips out onto the water. I went fishing with my son Joe, my daughters Melissa and Liz, my granddaughter Ashley, my wife Kathleen, my neighbors the Newmans and the Malays, my brother-in-law Tim and his son Jackson, and by myself.

The boat also took me and Kathleen on many pleasure rides around the lake -- looking at the beautiful Leech Lake shoreline in the Fall, or just taking in a sunset from the water. I used my boat to pull Liz , Melissa, Joe and Ashley on a tube. The boat even pulled Liz and Joe while they waterskied. It was a good boat, but it was starting to show its age. The livewells had stopped working, the electrical system was beginning to go, and the motor had been recalled by Honda. As much fun as we all had in that old Lund, it was time to trade her in.

More reports from my Labor Day 2006 trip to come.

High and Dry (part 1 of 4)

This will be the first of several posts about my recent 10-day stay at Leech Lake.

The first thing I noticed upon my arrival on Aug. 31 was how low the lake level had dropped. On Sept. 1, I tried to get my boat out of the lift to do some fishing, but the water level was so low that my boat was left high and dry! I simply could not get my boat off of the boat lift (more about this in a future post).

I called the Army Corps of Engineers at Federal Dam -- the group that monitors and regulates the flow of water from Leech Lake into the Mississippi River -- to find out what the situation was regarding the low level of water. Jason, a member of the Corps of Engineers, told me that the lake was abnormally low, and in fact, was near a 30-year low! Jason said that the primary reason for the drop in lake elevation was evaporation. The north-central part of Minnesota is in the midst of a drought, and with the hot temperatures this summer the lake is evaporating at the rate of nearly a 1/4" of water per day. That results in a nearly 2" drop per week. And with no rain to replenish the lake, the water level continues to drop daily.

Jason went on to tell me that every October the Corp of Engineers "draws down the lake" to prepare for the winter snow fall, but that the current low-water mark is well below the level that the Corps would normally draw down the lake. So this year there are no plans for the Fall draw down. Let's just hope there's lots of rain this Fall, and lots of snow (heavy with water) throughout the Winter.

Contrary to the rumors swirling around at Clem's Hardware in Cass Lake, there are no plans to leave Leech Lake at its current low-water mark to fight shoreline erosion. Everyone, including the Army Corps of Engineers, would like to see the lake return to its normal water level as quickly as possible.