I have a love/hate relationship with Rapala DT 6 crankbaits right now. In five club tournaments so far this year i have won two, placed second in two and fifth in one. Of the 19 keepers I have weighed in, 17 have been caught on crawfish Rapala DT 6 crankbaits. In January the first tournament I fished I had three keepers and the biggest one, a 3.7 pounder, hit the DT 6. The second January tournament I won with a limit and caught all five on the DT 6. In early February I had just one keeper, but it was on the DT 6 but then in the next one I had a limit and caught all five on the crankbait. In the first March tournament I again had a limit and four of the five were on the crankbait. And in the December club tournament two of the three I landed hit the DT 6. But I have broken five of the $8.00 crankbaits in those five tournaments!

I started using them last fall when I did a Georgia Outdoor News article on West Point with guide Ken Bearden. He caught several nice bass on the DT 6 crankbaits that day so I bought a few. They all run true right out of the box and have good hooks on them. And bass seem to like them.

Breaking the first two were my fault. I slapped them on the water to get a leaf off and broke them. The first one I thought it was a defective plug or I had cracked it somehow, but the second one made me realize I could not do that so I was real careful after that. But while fishing at Bartletts Ferry in the third tournament one broke on a cast. Then after the fourth tournament at Sinclair I was retying to get ready for the West Point tournament and saw the bill was cracked on that plug so I got a new one out.

During that tournament I was reeling the new plug very slowly, bumping the bottom, when my line went slack. I thought a bass had hit from behind and ran toward me so I started reeling fast, and reeled in the lip. A few seconds later the plug floated up.

Rapala has always made quality lures. I caught many bass on the floating Rapala while fishing ponds growing up and then caught a lot on the Countdown modle in bigger lakes when I started fishing tournaments. And I have caught hundreds of bass on Shadraps since they came out in the early 1980s.

I had another problem with the Rapala XR jerkbait. I tied a new one on at Clarks Hill in February and after a few casts it started sinking. I looked at it and it had water in it. I did catch two bass on it after that but by then it sank so fast I quit using it.

I am sending some of the broken plugs to Rapala. It will be interesting to see what they say.