The Rapala Husky Jerk is a crankbait that is designed to suspend in a water column. When a person pause the retrieve for the Rapala Husky Jerk or maintains a steady trolling speed, the Rapala Husky Jerk will remain in one position in the water. The Rapala Husky Jerk will not sink or rise from that position.
The length of the fishing line are a depth control system for the Rapala Husky Jerk. Because fish tend to remain in specific depths in the water column, the depth control system allows the Rapala Husky Jerk to remain in an area where the fish is located rather than forcing the fish to move to the lures. The chart provided illustrates different sizes of Rapala Husky Jerk lures and line length.
How to Control the Rapala Husky Jerk Depth
Each Rapala Husky Jerk model come in four different size of lures, and each model comes in ten different line lengths. The chart displays the depth of the Rapala Husky Jerk when a person is trolling at a standard speed. As shown on the chart, the longer the line, the deeper the Rapala Husky Jerk will run.
Additionally, the larger the Rapala Husky Jerk model, the deeperer it will run. When a person interprets the chart, they will note that the depth of the Rapala Husky Jerk increases with the size of the model but with decreasing increments as the line length increase. When using the Rapala Husky Jerk models, a person should of only use line lengths beyond two hundred feet because the depth will not increase significant beyond this length.
A person can choose the size of the Rapala Husky Jerk model based off the type of fish that a person want to attract. For example, the smallest Rapala Husky Jerk models will attract walleye and trout to shallower depths. For areas where there are alot of pike, using a medium sized Rapala Husky Jerk is effective because the lure isnt too heavy for the light tackle of the pike.
Additionally, the two largest Rapala Husky Jerk models has the weight to reach deeper depths to find fish such as musky and salmon. The type of fishing line that a person uses with Rapala Husky Jerk lures will impact the depth of the Rapala Husky Jerk. For example, if a person uses eight pound monofilament line, the Rapala Husky Jerk will sink deeper than if it were on ten pound monofilament line.
The reasoning behind this is that eight pound monofilament line has less drag on the lip of the Rapala Husky Jerk than ten pound line. If a person uses fourteen pound or twenty pound monofilament line, the Rapala Husky Jerk will run at a shallower depth. Braided lines of the same weight will have the same effect on the Rapala Husky Jerk as heavy monofilament line.
Fluorocarbon fishing lines will allow the Rapala Husky Jerk to reach a deeper depth because fluorocarbon lines sink more fast than monofilament lines of the same strength. A third factor that can impact the depth of the Rapala Husky Jerk is trolling speed. Rapala Husky Jerk lures are meant to be used when trolling at speeds between one point five and two miles per hour as the lures will reach their maximum depth at these speeds.
If the speed that a person trolls at is between three and more than three miles per hour, the Rapala Husky Jerk will rise several feet in the water column. Raising the speed at which a person is trolling with the boat will make the Rapala Husky Jerk rise and will force the fish to chase it. However, trolling at these increased speeds will make the Rapala Husky Jerk run to shallower depths.
In this situation, the person can slow the speed of the boat to restore the Rapala Husky Jerk to the depth at which it was first set. The depth at which the fish live will change with the seasons. Therefore, a person will need to change the Rapala Husky Jerk lure and line length with the seasons.
For example, in the spring, the depth of the walleye ranges between three and seven feet in depth so smaller Rapala Husky Jerk models and shorter line lengths should be used. Between midsummer and the fall, walleye live between eight and fourteen feet in depth so larger Rapala Husky Jerk models and longer lines should be employed. In the fall, walleye fish move to the depth of the middle depths in the water so the medium sized Rapala Husky Jerk models should be used.
This chart allows a person to adjust the Rapala Husky Jerk to the depth of the fish that are being targeted. For instance, if a person sees fish at nine feet on the sonar fish finder but the Rapala Husky Jerk is only at seven feet in the water, the person can adjust the line length or the Rapala Husky Jerk model size to reach the fish. These adjustments will be more effective than no plan at all for where to fish.
The Rapala Husky Jerk can be used to attract fish by varying the speed of the boat with which a person is fishing the Rapala Husky Jerk. For example, if a person makes a burst of speed with the boat, the Rapala Husky Jerk will rise in the water until it reaches its maximum depth. After this burst of speed, the boat should return to the cruising speed of the fisherman to allow the Rapala Husky Jerk to stall.
Additionally, if a person makes wide S-turns with the boat, the depth of the Rapala Husky Jerk will change. If a boat makes an S-turn, the line on the inside of the turn will slow the Rapala Husky Jerk, forcing it to dive to deeper depths. However, the line on the outside of the turn with the boat will force the Rapala Husky Jerk to rise in the water column.
Therefore, by making S-turns with a boat, a person can fish at various depths in a single pass of the fishing spot. By understanding these factors, a person can adjust the line length, the Rapala Husky Jerk model size, and the trolling speed so that the Rapala Husky Jerk is at the exact depth at which the fish are located.