The Rapala Deep Tail Dancer is a fantastic option when it comes to targeting trophy caliber walleye on some of the largest fisheries in the Midwest. The wide wobbling action attracts fish from a distance and can trigger aggressive strikes from the largest fish in the system.
Fish It Like Nick
“The Rapala Deep Tail Dancer is personally my favorite option when trolling for trophy walleye,” says Nick Harrington, Owner of Lip Ripper Fishing. “This is a big bait that combined with it’s wide wobbling action, fishes even bigger.”
The Rapala Deep Tail Dancer is ideal for trolling on both monofilament or leadcore, depending on the depths being fished. This bait performs best in the summer months and into the late fall as water temperatures warm and prey reaches larger sizes.
“Generally speaking when the water is cooler, particularly in the spring, I favor a bait with a tighter action,” explains Harrington. “As the water warms, I like baits with a wider action and the Tail Dancer is one of the widest, most aggressive actions I’ve ever personally fished.”
The wide action serves multiple purposes, the most important calling fish in from a distance.
“Anglers need to understand that the action a bait produces in the water is what fish literally feel,” elaborates Harrington. “The more action, the more vibration, the more the fish feels, and the more likely they are to strike it.”
The Deep Tail Dancer, particularly in larger sizes, plays an important role emulating the largest prey in the system.
“When you look at massive reservoirs like Lake Oahe, the primary forage these trophy caliber fish are feeding on is smelt and lake herring,” continues Harrington. “These lake herring can reach large sizes, up to 12 inches, so the #9 and #11s are how you can emulate this larger prey source and exactly what these trophy caliber fish are feeding on.”
Lake Oahe is where Harrington began fishing these baits, but they can work anywhere big walleyes, and more importantly big forage, swims.
“Big water often means big walleye and big forage,” concludes Harrington. “Whether it’s Lake Oahe or the Great Lakes the common denominator is big forage, the Deep Tail Dancer is the perfect way to emulate this big forage and produce big fish.”
Bait Details
Profile: Minnow
Forage Emulated: Smelt, Lake Herring/Ciscoe, Perch
Body Composition: Balsa
Favorite Waterbodies: Lake Oahe, Merritt Reservoir
Favorite Sizes: #9 and #11
Favorite Colors: Purpledescent, Blue
Dive Depths:
TDD07 15’
TDD09 20’
TDD11 30’
Dive depths courtesy of Rapala Depth Chart.
Get Geared Up to Catch More Walleye
Want to learn more about the gear we use when targeting walleye? Whether it’s on the Missouri River, Glacial Lakes region of South Dakota, western Nebraska reservoirs, or anywhere else across the Midwest we share our favorite baits and how we fish them on our Getting Geared Up page!
