The first time I fished the Rapala X Rap was on a reservoir in Northern California. I casted from a cliff and managed to dive the bait a few feet and twitch and pause it. I could track the lure from my vantage point, noticed the action, and thought “What a gem.” A flash of silver and yellowish brown raced beneath the surface several yards behind the lure and clobbered the X Rap, and the fight was on.
I landed my first 16-inch Brown trout on that lure. But the X Rap isn’t just a killer Brown Trout Lure. It attracts all manner of game fish. It’s about time the Rapala X Rap got an honest review. And I can honestly say that over the years it hasn’t let me down. Yes, It’s been overshadowed by lures like the Megabass Vision 110, and for good reason, but the X-Rap is a phenomenal slash bait, perfect for fall. Â It also has its own unique set of features.
Long Cast System
The X Rap casts well despite its small size. It has a swift transfer system that lets you bomb long casts across your target zone. I used to fish from a cliff on a secluded reservoir in Northern California’s gold country, as I mentioned. I would have trouble casting rooster tails and other standard floating Rapala minnows and keeping them at the right depth was difficult, too. The XRO8 is only 3-1/8″ and weighs 1/4 oz, Â but I was able to cast it far enough to where I could twitch it down to three feet and remain in the strike zone. This lure has excellent capability for being so small.
Action And Components
The X rap’s action is silent and effective and dives quickly to where it needs to be. This comes in handy in fall after fish have seen jerk baits ripping around all year. The suspended pause is unbeatable for a small jerk bait and it doesn’t take much effort to achieve the action. The XRO8 also works well in moving water when fishing for trout in streams. The hardware on the X rap is durable. I’ve never had the issue of having to change out hooks (VMC) or split rings. They’ve held up against large trout, black bass, striped bass, and smallmouth. This lure is ready to fish straight out of the package.
Paint And Body Detail
I’ve fished the brown trout color, rainbow, and purple gold. All three colors are effective in targeting specific predator fish and look realistic. The body detail is impressive with 3D eyes, lateral fins, and a gill plate. Amazingly the body is light. It has a foil insert for flash that looks beautiful underwater, particularly during the classic roll action, and it has a teaser tail on the back that gently waves as the bait pauses.
How to Fish the Rapala X Rap
You can fish the X Rap like any Jerkbait. Give it two twitches pause and repeat. You can also retrieve the bait straight and give it intermittent twitches. One benefit of having such a light lure is that it won’t wear your wrist out after a long day of twitching.
Final thoughts
I would say the Rapala X Rap is a lure designed for all predator fish. It’s easy to fish and has unrivaled action and body detail with insane cast ability and silent action. It’s a fantastic bait for finicky bass and aggressive trout due to its smaller size. However, Rapala provides a lot of sizes of the x rap for anglers to experiment with. Whether you’re targeting striper, black bass, smallmouth, trout, pike, or musky – the X Rap should be in your box year-round.
Good write up – and I agree – it’s a good bait. The only mod I suggest people keep in their back pocket (If I may) is to swap out the dressed treble in ultra-clear water if they notice the fish are finicky. I have had days when that dressed treble was helpful – and days when it scared ’em off. Tight lines!
100% agreed.