BWCA Hard Bait Selection

What a great surprise the other day when I found out that I could get something that I actually wanted with my credit union reward points!  For X points, a $100 gift card to Bass Pro Shop.  After requesting the gift card with my reward points, it took at least a week for it to get here- perfect.  In the mean time, I racked my memory for what was always on my Rapala want list.  That list has changed significantly over the past three years, and not because I've discovered better hard baits, dumber fish, or anything to along those lines.

A combination of several factors led to my Rapala purchasing strategy:

1. I recently found that I love fishing and eating lake trout

2. Massive sale on certain Rapalas, especially Husky Jerk and Deep Husky Jerk on Bass Pro Shop website

3. Need to expand beyond basic walleye colors and expand depth/color variety

4. Again, lake trout... blue/silver has been good to me and was a priority (about 1/3 of my total purchase)

5. Purchasing multi-purpose BWCA lures.  The colors, sizes, and running depths of the raps that I bought are great for what I do- focus on lakes the first few weeks of the season, and walleyes after that.  The color selection and running depth was mostly based on fishing lakers for the first month of the season.

6. BWJ article that mentioned a white Heddon Hellbender as a money lure for lakers in the BWCA- great excuse to try a new lure!