Rapala tail dancer

[Bob M.]

Well, whats the word on the Taildancer? I bought 3 last year and never tried them. Any success stories out there? Are they better than the Reef runners, Bombers, or the original rapala's? I just never got around to trying them.

[RumbleFish]

Where can you get any of these, ive had a tough time finding any.

[Upnorthwalleye1]

I used them a lot last year and they produced very good for me---Like the wobble they got----As for depth, I normally use the curve for the Wally Divers---Seems to be pretty close-----As for finding them, they were only supposed to be made last year on a limited basis--I still see them in stores here in Madison though----6.99 a pop though-----Good Luck------Ray---Upnorthwalleye

[Youngeye]

Gander mountain has a ton of them. I'm sure that you can probably order them from a catalog also.

Youngeye@netins.net

[morriscode]

Try Cabelas in MN last time I was there they had a bunch. They are good lures caught a couple eyes with the gold one last year. I still think Cotten Cordells Wally Diver is the best. Hold them next to eachother and compare features. Tail dancer is Rapalas version of the Wally Diver..in my opinion. Fish ON

[River_eye]

I've only seen them used once, by a couple guests in my boat. They didn't compare to the reef runner that I was using.

Actually, I thought they were another flop like the risto raps because I saw them at the boat/sportsman show for cheap, a whole bin of them, just like the risto raps were last year.

[Reels]

I used them quite a bit last year, and to be honest, the regular shad raps worked better, most of the time...Not to say they didnt catch fish, because they did. They do look pretty though!

[Ralph]

Where is that Bin and what are they asking? Will travel.

I think they're great. They run true out of box, unlike many similar plugs and their bouyancy creates a unique action on the retrieve. The quick dart up and down triggers fish.

I'll always have a bunch in my box, as long as they're available. As far as I'm concerned they blow the Walley diver out of the water.

[Jay]

I bought two #7's and two #9's last year and the only time I really got a chance to test them was trolling for a week last fall on the Rainy River. Ran them side by side almost every crank in the box and they were the most productive lure we tried. By the end of the week, all we used were those four Taildancers. It was only one trip, but it sold me on them - I'll be getting more.

Rapala still makes them, in fact, there is a new #5 Taildancer out this year that I'm anxious to try.

[nubbinbuck]

Was at Cabelas (Owatanna) a couple of weeks ago. Plenty on hand.

[TBO/MN]

YA....WHAT HE SAID!!

Good Fishin'

TBO/MN Joe Smith

[Atomic Eye]

They run a little deeper than an equivalent sized Wally Diver and didn't catch anywhere near as well for me as the WallyDiver.

Atomic Eye (New Mexico) -- "Gone Fission!" ~~~<}}}:>

[morriscode]

Atomic EYE, which color Wally Diver produces best for you? I have caught all species on Gold, blue/silver, and the G-fleck color schemes. You from New Mexico?

[Jim Ordway]

There was a two week period on Bago that I thought they were the best thing going, and then, I couldn't get them to go... go figure. They have there place, but the shad raps, wally divers, reef runners, etc are in no danger of losing there place in the tackle box. Good baits, tight wiggle, a little pricy relative to other baits.
You should try a few, but don't give up the shad raps.
my 2 cents,

[Upnorthwalleye1]

Atomic Eye----I really think the Wally Divers run deeper then the TailDancer----At least when I'm running them, they seem to------Hmmm---------Good fishing to you!---Do they have eyes way down by you?????-------See ya----Upnorthwalleye

[Atomic Eye]

Brian,
The 1/4 oz gold, perch WD seemed to be best. But, then, I didn't even own a Shad Rap.

Yes, I'm from the Atomic City, Los Alamos, in NM.

I snagged my wife, Fission Female, from Burnsville, MN - not too far from your hometown.

Atomic Eye (New Mexico) -- "Gone Fission!" ~~~<}}}:>

[morriscode]

Right on Atomic EYE! Fished every lake in Dakota county several times. Caught a few BIG muskie By Buck Hill...you know where! Burnsville is my old stompin grounds. I graduated from Apple Valley in 98' Met pretty much all of my "fission buddies" from one of those cities. Fish on! or Fission!

[ChuckD]

Taildancers have out produced Wally Divers 2 to 1. Awesome lure and I am buying more. The price last year was $6.99 each, this year they dropped the price. I don't recall how much of a price drop though.

My favorite color Taildancer was blue/white. Lost one dancer to a huge fish! I don't remember what color it was because it was a virgin lure (less than 5 minutes in the water) when the fish broke the line.

[Atomic Eye]

Morriscode & UpNorthwalleye1,

I didn't explain myself very well. I snagged Fission Female while I was precision trolling in a country & western Honky Tonk in Santa Fe, NM. She was living in Burnsville at the time and came to Santa Fe to sing (and eventually meet me?).

Yes, we have WE in New Mexico reservoirs. No natural ones here & all are from some transplant strain. There's adequate Game & Fish spawning collection in 2 eastern NM reservoirs (Conchas & Ute) that New Mexico trades the spawn with other states for different species of fish. These spawning operations also provide a lot of the fish fry for our other NM reservoirs as natural reproduction is usually poor. Other than to catch fish again when they're a little bigger there may not be much reason for releasing eyes here.

I think the state record is about 16#7oz and only about 32" or so long - talk about a Sumo!! Huge girth on that lady.

The altitudes of the WE reservoirs range from about 3,000 to 7,000'. So, we do have a real winter season here. Some of them have shad for forage and others have perch. A few are "two story" lakes where warm water species (WE, SM bass, etc.) are in the warm, upper levels, while trout and some salmon may hang in the lower, colder levels. I'm speculating someone should hang a monster sometime in one of those reservoirs where a piggy sumo has been gorging on high fat content trout / salmon. In most of these reservoirs, the WE (and some big cats) are at the top of the predator chain.

I think there are only about 4 of us from NM who migrate to WC for virtual WE fishing.

Back to Rapala Taildancers. There were some prior posts that I was able to find on "search." Overall, the posts seemed to average out to an "overhyped, expensive lure" with an occasional angler having great success. There are a lot of them available this year & they are very pretty with a new smaller size to compete with the 1/4oz Wally Diver and Shad Rap #5. I will try that smaller size this year.

Atomic Eye (New Mexico) -- "Gone Fission!" ~~~<}}}:>

[Pitts]

Atomic eye there are a lot of fission females here in the souther twincities like in Rosemount MN !!!

Tight lines


Pitts

[lowe boy]

I bought 2 of them last year, I don't know if it was just bad luck or what, but I nearly wore the paint off of both of em without a strike. They were even the same color as other lures (Bill Dance Excalibur fat free shad, fingerling, fry) that we had out. I'm sure I'll use them again this year though lol paid too much for them to leave in box.

[iamwalleye1]

I do have some , I hope the new size 5 works as good as the 7's and 9's. I think they are a little high in price but lure are had to catch fisherman not fish!

[schmidts]

We got a bunch to get rid of a great price $4.20 ea. 605 432 6911.

[T.R. in MT.]

Last summer the walleye in Ft. Peck were more finicky than normal. All the usual patterns and lures didn`t produce for most of the locals. The smart anglers kept trying new lures and presentations instead of crying fowl to the Fish & Game Dept. about stocking. New record weights were set in the Govs. Cup and in one of the women`s tourneys.
To make a long story short, and stay on subject, the Tail Dancer produced for several of the to 10 finishers in both of these tourneys. The water levels were low and the fish responded well to the blue/white and the hot chub Tail Dancers.
I,personally, had 2 very productive weekends using both of these colors on Peck.
My only complaint about them is the PRICE!

[appleye]

I have use them a little in Wyoming. First one I tried was one Semino Res first fish in fisrt hour was 30 3"4" long. I have caught a lot with them since. I like the bright green in green water. Natural is always good in clear water.

Scott Appley
appleye

[eyewitness]

Jay, What colors were you running on Rainy River? I fish there often and was wondering what worked well for you.

[lobo1]

Atomic Eye,

I spent a little time out in the Land of Enchantment - played a little ball at UNM. We used to spend time north of town at some hot springs - Jemez (sp), if memory serves me.
Went trout fishing a few times with some Colorado boys - they said I couldn't catch anything with that spinning rig. Man were they surprised by that big brown I got on a worm and bobber !

lobo

[SUPERTROLLER]

> I bought 2 of them last year, I don't know if it was just
>bad luck or what, but I nearly wore the paint off of both of
>em without a strike.

This could be the best thing for those baits. From what I could tell with my personal experience with them last year, I believe they used the left over "walleye repellant" paint from the Risto Raps they tried to push on us before. I couldn't catch squat on them. Not even a bass! (lol) Glad I only bought a couple. Maybe I need to find a Blue/White model and see if that will break the jinx on the rest of them. I do like the wobble and they way they run. Just haven't had any luck with them.

[Backwater Eddy]

They Rapala Tail-Dancer has an enticing wobble that I have found snags can't resist.

I'll think I will stick with the Lindy deep diver Shad, Cotton Cordell Wally Minnow, Heddon Clatter Mag Tadpolly, or the Salmo deep Bullhead under the same trolling conditions. At the end of the day, or night, I will have more walleye and cranks in the boat.

Backwater Eddy ~ ~><sUMo> ~ ><>

http://home.talkcity.com/ResortRd/backwtr1/index.html

[River_eye]

Well, the bin was at the boat show, which is over now, but the store was United Army surplus sales in Winnipeg. I believe the price was around CAN$4. Maybe I'll take a trip over there to check it out now if you say they're good.