Rapala DT Fat 3

[Jim]

New lure from Rapala. Is this competition to the Manns Baby series? Or the Clunn LuckyCrafts?

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[Anonymous]

Hmmm I think hear the bait monkey calling #-o





fishnfever

 

[SMDave]

In my opinion, NOTHING beats a Rapala's action, especially for price. The Mann's Baby 1-Minus is about half the price, but the Rapala's action is MUCH better, more natural, etc. The Mann's is better when you need a wider wobble, but I find Rapala's wobble much better for most applications. The Mann's also does not have a square bill, which is the new craze for shallow water cranks. The Rapala is about 2 to even 3 times the price of Lucky Crafts, and they are on parr in terms of wobble, action, etc. Both of their paint jobs are very delicate and not durable. Another con (actually, the reason I don't really like Rapala's) is that they are EXTREMELY hard to cast! Especially the Shad Rap. The Mann's and Lucky Craft cast like a rocket. I don't know if Rapala improved this with their newest models of crankbaits, such as this Fat 3, but I hope they did, maybe I will go back to using them. Another con (with the DT) series is that the lip is so thin and fragile, I have broken 2 lips, not even fishing on rip rap but right off the bottom. The pros of Lucky Crafts and Rapala's over Mann's is the factory hooks. Not sure what Lucky Crafts are, but they are EXTREMELY sharp. Same with the Rapalas with the introduction of the VMC hooks. I don't think the shure-sets have much of an effect on DT's, but seem to have a more noticable difference on other crankbaits.

Mann's:
Pros: Cheap, wide wobble, dives nicely, floats at a nice rate, casts like a rocket.
Cons: No square lip, bad factory hooks, wide wobble (a pro and con), not as detailed, not loud (rattles).

Rapala (DT original series):
Pros: Dives quick, nice wobble (best of both worlds, a little more wide, but also has that flat-sided wobble), balsa wood, bouyant, stays in strike zone longer, high quality hooks, detailed.
Cons: Very fragile lip, delicate paint job, a little expensive for some anglers, not a lot of noise from rattles, VERY light.

Lucky Craft:
Pros: Some are balsa, nice wobble, wide variety, good selection of cranks (including square bills), MOST detailed, dives quickly, nice suspension and floating, SHARP hooks, pretty loud (rattles), casts like a rocket.
Cons: Delicate paint job, expensive.

But hey, I've caught fish on all three.

 

[whj812]

I picked up a Rapala Xrap XR-8 which is a slashbait, and caught so many Spots on it last Saturday that I lost count. Nothing big but there was a lot of fish caught.

I saw those DT series right beside of the lure that I got. Im thinking of trying one out. They seem awesome.

When it comes to crankbaits nothing beats Rapala in quality IMO. I catch fish on almost all rapala stuff that I have tried out.

 

[SMDave]

Oh yeah except the X-Raps. Those cast pretty nicely.