Getting too many snags or short-strikes? Lace up a Rapala® Slab Rap® to keep your bait off the bottom and convert lookers to biters.

“What I like about Slab Raps is they’re a lot lighter and fall slower than a Rippin’ Rap®, but trigger bites with a similar sound and action,” says Tony Roach, an in-demand Minnesota fishing guide and media personality. “If the fish are following Rippin’ Raps but just won’t commit, I’ll downsize to a Slab Rap. It’s one of those versatile baits that just catches everything that swims – from panfish to pike, from walleyes to smallmouth bass.”

Roach calls the Slab Rap “more of a finesse-style lipless crankbait.” In addition to being “not quite as aggressive on the fall,” he says, “it’s got a little sleeker profile; is more streamlined.”

When reeled in with a lift-drop cadence, a Slab Rap will vibrate subtly on the rise, then search in erratic directions, circling back to center on a slack-line fall. “More times than not, those fish will smack it on the fall,” Roach says. “Its center line tie and weight-forward design enables a rocking action to further trigger bites from negative fish.”

Roach often slings Slab Raps around hook-grabbing bottom structure and cover like rock piles, moss and zebra mussels, when water temps are cooler than usual for the season and on mornings when fish not quite as aggressive. “You can kind of yo-yo it rough the structure without getting hung up,” he says.

The 2-inch Slab Rap weighs 1/4 oz. The 1 ½-inch model weighs 1/8 oz. Each comes armed with two No. 12 VMC® Black Nickel Round Bend Hooks. They’re available in 10 color patterns: Chrome, Chrome Blue, Gold Chrome, Glow Hot Perch, Glow Tiger, Green Tiger UV, Glow Yellow Perch, Orange Tiger UV, Pink Clown, Pink Tiger UV.