Angler and renowned Leech Lake, MN, guide Toby Kvalevog discusses how he teaches clients to fish the jigging rap and how people often fish this bait incorrectly. We often talk about how fishing above the fish is important, especially in ice fishing, but that is not exactly the case with the jigging rap. When watching this presentation in action on forward-facing sonar, you’ll notice that fish are just as tuned-in with chasing baits downward, or perhaps even more, since it’s a defined edge they can pin bait against. With vertical jigging, the jigging rap is a bit more straightforward in its application, but when pitching it out at schools of fish, knowing the correct nuances of the cadence can make all the difference for putting more fish in your boat.
Kvalevog explains how to pitch the jigging rap by starting with the simple anecdote comparing it to pulling a car out of the ditch. When the rope is tight and you punch the gas, both cars just spin. But, when you back up a few feet and then hit the gas you get a jerking action when the rope pulls tight, it’s that snap that creates a different reaction and gives you more success getting the stuck vehicle out. Fishing the jigging rap effectively requires that same slack-in-the-line snapping action idea.
Drop the Bait on the Fish
For starters, when pitching the jigging rap you first need to know exactly where you’re casting it. Simply pulling a jigging rap through a school of fish is often not as effective as dropping the bait close to the school and having it fall right into them. When you watch this on forward-facing live sonar, you’ll see that when the bait lands on the fish in the right area, they will follow it right to the bottom and hammer it immediately.
Hold the Rod Correctly
How you hold the rod with the slack-in-the-line technique is also very important. Position the rod underneath so that you are using your bicep, not your shoulder, to control and snap it with your wrist. The snapping action with your rod does not require a large sweep utilizing the whole shoulder.
Utilize a Slack-In-Line Snapping Cadence
After you pitch it out, let your jigging rap fall to the bottom. Once it does, reel up some but not all of the slack in your line and then give it a snap and let it free-fall to the bottom again. It’s important to let the jigging rap hit the bottom because it creates a dust-cloud that simulates the action of baits like crayfish they are eating off the bottom. Fish will often hammer the bait and pin it right to the bottom on the fall, and you’ll be setting the hook on the next snap from the slack and you’ll have a fish on. If you stop the fall too early and don’t let the bait hit the bottom, it goes from a fall to a swing which doesn’t elicit the same reaction.
What Kvalevog often sees people doing wrong when learning how to pitch the jigging rap is just reeling it in and pulling it back on a straight line without getting that erratic popping and falling action. Using colored line, such as a bright yellow can help with this so that you can easily see everything happening with your line.
You also need to keep in mind that as your line gets closer to the boat, the angle changes and you don’t need as much force in the snap. Just a small pop will create the same effect because you’re getting much more of a pull on the line with less effort. When you’re pitching 60 feet out, you need to give it some torc on the snap. But when you’re just 20 feet from the boat, you only need a small pop. This is where a good quality medium-action vs. medium-light action rod with a soft, moderate tip can make all the difference when snapping your jigging rap.
This tip was part of our live angler session episode 6 which aired July 12th, 2023, featuring Toby Kvalevog, Mike Peluso (Lake Sakakawea, ND, Guide) and special guest host Jason Mitchell. You can view the full live session here (available to members only).
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