Anyone ever try these for trolling for deep water pike or large lake trout? They are made for salt water but I have heard some musky fisherman who like them. Think I might try one or two this year.

Any thoughts?

I'm sure they'd work great. I use some of the saltwater Rapala top waters for big pike and they've produced well. You'll also have some stronger hooks, which is a good thing with the toothy critters.

I have used the 30's for grouper fishing in SW Florida. They're designed to reach their design depth at trolling speeds greater than you will be able to achieve in a canoe. For example, probably at least five knots for the Magnum 30 to reach 30 feet. Also, you'll need stout tackle to drag them at speed. We use 50# braid for the 30's.

correct me if I am wrong but id depth independent of speed when trolling unless using a very bouyant lure. Here is a quote from precision trolling.

"TROLLING SPEED

It's a common misconception that trolling speed influences a crankbait's diving depth. It does not! Within the ranges of normal use, crankbaits will dive to the same depths regardless of lure speed. The exception of course are lures that are out of tune and not running properly.

Holt and Romanack discovered that lurestrolled at .75 to 3 MPH all achieved the same maximum depth, but lures trolled slowly took a little longer for the baits to reach maximum depth.

Trolling speed does however have a profound effect on lure action. Certain baits have little or no action at slow speeds and must be pulled at a brisk clip to be effective. Other baits simply can't be trolled fast or their subtle action is lost and the bait worthless.

The best way to determine the ideal trolling speed for individual baits is to observe them running near the boat."


So the action my not be right but if it looks good off the side of the boat then that would be the best indication, right?. Also I am finding that the lure works best from 3-13 knots. At the low end that is just barely more then 3 mph, do-able in a canoe? Will pike and lake trout hit lures at 3-3.5 mph?

Wow, you've done far more research on it than I! (actually, I've done no research at all, just fished the Magnum 30's quite a bit)

With no research to back me up, I'll predict that a Magnum 30 will not reach the 30 foot target depth at 0.75 mph, based on what I've seen. Perhaps the smaller models, with which I have no experience, would achieve their target depths at slower speeds, but I don't know.

I think a key statement in your quoted research is "within the ranges of normal use". Since these lures were designed to be trolled in saltwater I suspect that the designers were assuming a higher speed through the water than would the designers of a bass lure. (And I don't know if a Magnum 30 at almost nine inches in body length even qualifies as a crankbait in the first place)

Getting back to your original question, these things do catch fish for us and they're tough enough that they hold up pretty good. So, they'd probably catch northerns and lake trout, though maybe not at the stated depth when deployed at canoe trolling speeds, but this is entirely a guess on my part. Send Rapala some photos with Magnums in nice fish and maybe you'll open up a new market for them!

They do track very well at higher speeds, and as TeamTuna noted above they have very stout hooks. I was given my first set at a trade show by a Rapala Rep who told me that a big part of the reason that they track so well is that Rapala uses custom-tuned treble hooks. He even said that putting Rapala trebles on other brand lures would make the others track better too.

Tim-
I can add a couple things. My wife and I pull the deep tail dancers paddling for trout. 3mph is no problem, but those big lures create a lot of drag! After a while you start to think about jigging. I am not sure about trout, but my guess is that they are at least somewhat similar to pike. In my opinion, you literally can't go too fast for pike, especially in warm water. Most equipment fails before the lure is going too fast for a pike to eat with ease. I'd love to rig up with some big, stout, saltwater gear and do some research to discover just how fast you'd have to go to not catch pike. In August and September I go as fast as I can until the lure spins out then back off a hair. Pike love it.

It's funny to me that Great Lakes Lake Trout seem to want a specific speed, lure color and precise depth control and Bdub Trout seem to be much less picky. Is it just less fishing pressure or what?

Thanks, I would like to experiment too but I am not sure I want to put in the effort to do so on this occasion. I will let you all know but dragging in extra heavy gear for this might not make to the top of the priority list.