A long time ago I saw an add for Reef Runner..."the envy of lure makers on both sides of the Pacific". Catchy catch phrase I thought. It was a while before I picked up a few of these crankbaits. I often read about them and figured anything that helps me catch a fish is worth having in the tackle box. As I used them I caught some fish on them; they worked well. But what really hooked me on them was a tournament that I fished 8 years ago. The first day, my partner and I fished with live bait and really struggled. In fact it was so bad that a friend of mine said to me before take-off on day two, "Don't quite you day job Marty." Ouch...I remember it like it was yesterday.
Day two started very slow with the live bait again, so shortly into the day a major switch in presentation was in order. We dug out the trolling rods/line counter reels with 10# fireline and put down the crankbaits. We experimented with some different lures and success came with Reef Runner Deep Little Rippers back from 200 to 260 feet - perch color was best. That day we came in with the 2nd heaviest weight. Because of the poor day one, we finished out of the money. But we did move up about 30 spots and saved face. This was an important, memorable fishing day for me; no $ won, but oh what a "Lesson learned!"
Reef Runner lures have two reputations: #1 - have to be tuned alot and #2 -walleye catching machines. #1 is easily dealt with. Reef Runner makes a little device called a Tune-a-Fish. It's used by slipping over the eye attachment on the nose of the lure, not on the split ring, the eye itself. When the lure is put in the water and the lure wants to run to one side, slip the Tune-a-Fish over the eye and lean it to the other side. Don't twist the eye, lean it. It's better to just tweek it a little bit, don't move it too much. The Reef Runner website has a link that describes tuning crankbaits, click
here. It may take a few attempts, but when it's running straight the lure will stay down and not venture to one side consistently. I check every lure, any brand, every time I drop it in the water to make sure it's running straight, even after catching a fish. It doesn't do any good to drag around an out-of-tune lure. Reef Runners' triggering action involves the lure darting to one side or the other, sporadically. When they are tuned, they will dart to one side, then the other, and then track straight for a moment. That random, darting action is what makes them so effective. This leads to #2 - when Reef Runners are tuned, it is very difficult to find a more effective walleye crankbait. This is especially true here on Oahe where smelt are a common forage. I will easily put up with the tuning in exchange for bent fishing rods. I should add that every brand of crankbait I put in the water I check and see if it is running straight. Almost all require some tuning.
Reef Runners come in a huge variety of colors. The Rippers and Ripsticks are banana shaped minnow baits and the RipShads are a shad shaped bait. Check them out at
http://www.reefrunner.com/
If you own a boat you are definitely aware of how hard it is to keep it clean. I shammy mine down every time I pull it out of the water. But there's parts that just don't seem to stay clean, no matter how much effort I put into it.
