“This is the kind of bait that gives you goose bumps,” says Rapala® Chief Rapala Lure Designer Mark Fisher, who helped dream up and design the RipStop. “It’s a cross between a swimbait and a jerking, twitching bait that suspends.”
“The ability to stop and suspend is the missing link that swimbaits don’t have,” Fisher explains. “And Rapala has that. The lure comes to a fast stop, almost as if it’s making a collision. And it doesn’t go out of the strike zone — it stays right in front of the fish. That is the integral part of this whole philosophy.”
Also integral is the RipStop’s unique hard-plastic-boot tail, which creates what Fisher describes as a “hard-rolling, slashing action” that mimics the live-minnow moves of a soft-plastic swimbait. “But it’s not a hybrid,” he says. “It’s not incorporating soft plastics into the element of the bait. It’s a hard bait with a soft-bait action.”
Although soft-plastic boot-tail swimbaits elicit bites well on the retrieve, many sink like a stone when paused, scaring off fish still considering whether to commit. The RipStop’s ability to stop, suspend and then resume swimming will convert lookers into biters.
For the best results, fish RipStops on a spinning rod spooled with 6- to 10-pound-test Sufix® 832 Advanced Superline® braid tipped with an 8- to 10-pound-test leader of Sufix Invisiline 100 percent Fluorocarbon.