This is my first ever 'official' product review of a Rapala, I have no idea if there is any sort of 'scientific formula' for a product review, so I'm just going to wing it.Before I start off I must thank the great folks over at Rapala USA for giving me the opportunity to preview some of their new upcoming 'class of 2011' products. As always there is a lot to get excited about...ok, well I get more excited than most people about this stuff. Anyway...
New for the upcoming fishing year from Rapala is the 'Clackin Crank', which combines the qualities of a crankbait with the 'findability' of a search bait. The distinctive rattle chamber of its pioneer, the Clackin Rap, is also prominent.
The Clackin Crank's debut sizes are the CNC-53 and CNC-74- these model numbers may not
make much sense at first, but the method is simple. For example, on the smaller of the two models, the CNC-53, the '5' simply means the lure is 5cm long, and the '3' is the diving depth. Therefore the CNC-74 is 7cm long, and dives to 4'. This type of logic is going to make it very easy for Rapala to expand the lure line to larger models, and possibly deeper diving models in the future.Both lures feature square lips suitable for bumping off of cover, which is critical - as anyone knows, fish love to strike a lure bumping off timber or rocks. The lips seem thicker and more durable, as it appears to marry very well to its plastic body. They are also equipped with rear SureSet trebles-which is a plus for those short strikes.
The lures' body shape is similar in profile to last years' DT-Thug, but with a flatter and wider head. It almost feels like the offspring of a DT-FAT03 crossed between a Clackin Rap, and this is what you would get get.
As a bass fisherman at heart, I immediately gravitated towards the larger CNC-74 model. The smaller CNC-53 also casts well, and is a nice smaller alternative for those times when the bite is off due to a passing front, and the fish are taking smaller baits. I've always been a proponent of using lighter line, but I think even if I was using 20+ lb line this lure would still cast admirably. I was able to get great distance casting towards shallower waters, even with some significant wind present.
The lure has good action but nothing overly exaggerated that is going to make the rod jump out of your hands upon retrieve. It has the right around of wobble and feels similar to other square lipped Rapala cranks like the new Crankin Rap and the aforementioned DT-FAT03. Around late morning when the shallows bite seemed to go away, I threw it out into deeper waters to see how well it trolled behind my canoe, and it performed excellent. Some lures will rattle the fillings out of your mouth (ok, if you were holding your rod with your teeth maybe) but not the Clackin Crank. I landed a nice bass in around 10’ trolling it which was an extra bonus.The lure I used with SB ‘Silver Blue’ pattern, a Rapala staple color on virtually all of their baits. My home lake tends to fare better with Silver pattern in general, but the Clackin Crank will be available in 16 colors:
BOS Bleeding Olive Shiner, FT FireTiger, GO Gold Olive, HSD Helsinki Shad, OPSD Original Pearl Shad, PRT Parrot, RSD Regal Shad, S Silver, CSD Chartreuse Shad, GCW Green Crawdad, HM Hot Mustard, MBS Mossback Shiner, PGS Pearl Grey Shiner, RCW Red Crawdad, RUCW Rusty Crawdad, SB Silver Blue.
Overall I think Rapala has another winner on its hands. Even though I am a huge Rapala fan, there are actually some lures and products I am not particularly fond of. I was never a big fan of the Clackin’ Rap when it first appeared, I guess the exposed rattle chamber took awhile to get used to. I think this was the perfect time for them to unveil their expansion of the Clackin' Family.
I have the clackin crank and the clackin rap, the crank is the rusty crawdad (witch is indiduous to the lakes I fish) and for the rap I have the red one. I haven't used them yet because the lakes are frozen but I am really excited to use them. I got the bigger crank as well and yes, the lip marrys very well with the body. I have noticed on other rapala plastic cranks, where the design is under the plastic, you have to be careful not to smash it on a rock or hit a cement bridge while casting. They will crack...
ReplyDeleteI also have a canoe, its aluminum square stern, with a Nissan 3.5 HP outboard. Let me tell you that that is the way to fish! But anyway if you are going to use this lure where musky and pike a lurking, wire it up! Steel leaders... For one, the lure is some what pricey, mine was 12.99. For two the musky will go for it, I had a storm lure that looked almost identical as the rusty crawdad clackin crank, only without the rattle. Storm doesent make it anymore its called the storm big bass, audit has the square lip and vmc sure set in the rear. It worked well before I lost it, that's why I picked the rusty crawdad color.
Soo good luck with this lure and have a good safe 2011 fishing season!
i was fishing a section of usually very shallow river today. we had some rain recently and the water was up some, and i was having trouble getting the fish to commit to the floating jerkbaits that i normally throw there. the water was surprisingly clear, but the sky was overcast so i thought i'd try something darker that would run a little deeper. in my bag i came across the Clackin' Crank in Red Crawdad that i had purchased some time ago because it was on a closeout rack or something (i honestly think i paid $2.99 - i know it was a steal because i would probably not have bought it otherwise since the color is not normally what i would use). anyway, i had never used it but decided to give it a try since i hadn't been hanging up at all with the floating lures and the water was definitely deeper than usual. the lure is specified 3' so i figured if i didn't crank down on it too hard i would be OK. on the third cast, i felt a tug on the end of my line and watch my Carbonlite rod double over. this largemouth had hit that lure like a ton of bricks and was fighting as though his life depended on it. when i finally landed the fish, the sureset treble hook was firmly engaged in its lower lip. i removed the hook with my hemostat and gently release the fish back into the current. when it finally realized that it was free, the fish took off through the shallows, only half submerged. i was able to watch it for about twenty yards. this was my first time ever throwing this lure and let me tell you, it sure broke the ice on what could have easily been a busted day. on a sad note, the lure got hung up about three or four casts later and was not recovered. i was pretty bummed about that, but i guess if you ain't gettin' hung up, you ain't fishin'. i was able to find a replacement, in the "Rusty Crawdad" color on sale for $5 but it doesn't have the sureset rear hook that the Red Crawdad had for some reason. i see this review is from 2011 so i guess things change, but definitely not always for the better. on a non-related, if you like topwater, i recommend the Whopper Plopper by River-to-Sea. another pricey lure that musky will hit.
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