Loading Up On Summertime Lakers With Crushcity

Despite being on the market for only two years, Rapala’s CrushCity baits have rapidly become the top soft plastics for scores of anglers. This blog expands coverage of CrushCity fishing techniques, detailing how to catch lake trout in summer using the Heavy Hitter swimbait on a VMC Boxer Jig.

Rapala Pro Steve Meredith’s confidence in the Heavy Hitter grew fast. Sent prototypes of the Canadian-exclusive 4-inch, Super TPE swimbait to test, he immediately noticed the Heavy Hitter consistently caught more lake trout than other soft baits on Alberta’s Cold Lake, and several other waterbodies within his home province.

“In summer, the Heavy Hitter and Boxer Jig combination consistently out-fishes a tube 10 to 1,” Meredith said. “A lot of people want to use a tube because it has a big, circular swirling fall, but electronics have shown us that lake trout can quickly become uninterested in this action.”

Contrasting a tube is the pronounced vertical fall of a Heavy Hitter on a 1-ounce Boxer Jig. Less evasive than a spiralling tube, the Heavy Hitter is easier for lake trout to hunt down. 

“I truly feel the thump of Heavy Hitter’s paddletail is what the fish are keying into. I’ve tried all kinds of soft baits, and the Heavy Hitter’s tail action and thump are what do it.”

During summer, anglers across Canada can catch lake trout jigging the Heavy Hitter in deep regions of lakes spanning 40 to 200 feet. Lake trout favour the cool temperatures of these areas. Forage also influences preferred locations.

“Lakers may be out in open water, following ciscoes, or they may be found around structure, like rock points or deep reefs, holding baitfish,” Meredith said.

Wind-blown bluff walls, rocky shores, islands, neck-down areas, basin reefs and other structures beside deep water also attract fish. Churning water pushes baitfish into specific areas, ringing the dinner bell for lake trout to move in for the kill.

Meredith’s summer lake trout program begins with using his electronics to find concentrations of bait and predator fish. Once located, he maneuvers the boat over the fish, and then drops down a Heavy Hitter.

“A lot of times when dropping down on a school, we hook the really active fish right away,” Meredith said. “I’m a big fan of a 1-ounce Boxer Jig because it gets down to the fish quick…. As soon as my electronics show a lake trout coming up, I start reeling faster. In my opinion, you can’t reel it fast enough for them not to eat it if they really want it.”

When fish don’t immediately engage on the initial drop, Meredith lets the Heavy Hitter fall to the bottom. Then jigs it several times to stir-up sediment and mimic a baitfish feeding or struggling on the bottom. Next, he slowly reels the Heavy Hitter up to try and get a lake trout interested in following the bait.

Some fish don’t hesitate to bite soon after engaging in the chase. Others require convincing.

“Watching on sonar, you can see when a lake trout turns away from a bait,” Meredith said. “When this happens, open the bail and drop the bait back down to see if they will chase on the drop. Then reel up again and repeat the process.”

Pro Tip: When specifically targeting bigger fish, Meredith also uses the 5-1/2-inch Heavy Hitter.

If fish don’t start biting within 5 to 10 minutes on a spot, Meredith relocates. This can range from a small 20 to 30-foot adjustment on a piece of structure to a bigger move to another spot.

Rapala’s unique Super TPE material gives the Heavy Hitter many advantages over traditional PVC plastics. One benefit Meredith is quick to point out is the bait’s impressive durability.

“With Super TPE coming into play and the Heavy Hitter not getting destroyed like other soft baits, your hook is constantly in the water, and obviously that accounts for more fish.”

Given the violent nature of a lake trout strike, Meredith bolsters the already impressive holding power of the Boxer Jig’s molded-in bait keeper with a drop of super-glue to the nose of the Heavy Hitter before snugging it against the jig head.

“You don’t need to use glue, but adding a dab makes it rock-solid,” he said. “We’ll have days where we catch 40-50 fish on the same Heavy Hitter, and having 100 fish days is not uncommon when the fishing is on.”

Downsizing from the 4- to 3-inch Heavy Hitter is a strategy Meredith uses to get bites from less aggressive fish. Dropping from 1- to a 3/4-ounce Boxer Jig is also effective. He’ll also use the 3/4-ounce VMC SBJ Swimbait Jig to show fish a slightly bigger profile.

When fish are shallow or feeding high in the water column, Meredith has good success using Whitebait, Sparkle Shad and Baitfish. In deeper water, brighter colours, like Ogre and Neon Pearl, get added to the rotation. Other favourites include Black Gold for imitating ciscoes and Perch, which does an excellent job mimicking yellow perch as well as burbot, Meredith explains.

Pro Tip: In extremely tough bite conditions, dropping a CrushCity Freeloader on a Boxer Jig or a VMC Bucktail Jig (1/2 to 1 ounce) to bottom, letting it sit, and then working it with light twitches on semi-taught line is another way to finesse bites from lake trout.

For 4-inch Heavy Hitters and 1- to 3/4-ounce jigs:

13 Fishing Omen 7’5” medium-heavy casting rod, 13 Fishing Concept A baitcaster, 20-pound Sufix ProMix Braid Neon Lime, 6’ to 12’ of 20-pound Advance Fluorocarbon Leader.

For fast drops with 3-inch Heavy Hitters and 3/4-ounce jigs:

13 Fishing Defy 7’2” medium-heavy spinning rod, 13 Fishing AL13 (3.0) spinning reel, 20-pound Sufix ProMix Braid Neon Lime, 6’ to 12’ of 20- or 17-pound Advance Fluorocarbon Leader.

Pro Tip: Meredith stresses the importance of using high-visibility Neon Lime ProMix Braid for detecting more strikes when vertically jigging lake trout.

“Nothing comes close to the Heavy Hitter for catching lake trout,” Meredith said. “Its tail has the perfect kicking action. It’s soft and subtle, and it doesn’t get destroyed because it’s made of Super TPE. Tons of guides and outfitters out here are using the Heavy Hitter — and all of the CrushCity Super TPE baits — to save time, money and put their clients on fish.”