Trolling crankbaits is a proven tactic to put more walleyes in the boat. Along those lines, there are many baits to choose from, but few offer the distinct, fish-catching attributes of Northland Fishing Tackle’s incomparable new Rumble B. Featuring a loud single knocker rattle and sturdy body, the bait is available in numerous custom artisan and reflective chrome finishes.
The secret to the new lure? Besides the loud knocker, which calls in fish from afar, its unique swimming lip causes water to flow over the shoulders of the bait eliciting a rocking motion that fish can’t resist.
Northland pro, Nick Lindner, notes: “I’ve fished the Rumble B a lot and it’s become one of my favorite walleye trolling baits! From Minnesota lakes to Lake Erie, it’s been a real producer on spreads from the back of the boat. It’s sturdy, has a wide, irresistible wobble and comes in colors that will produce anywhere in the Walleye Belt.”
Seasoned guide Brad Hawthorne interjects: “Being able to run it at all different speeds is a huge benefit. Nick Lindner and I were running Rumble B’s at 1.2 to 1.4 miles per hour on Erie and just smoking the fish. And the coolest part is I haven’t been able to blow the Rumble B to the surface yet. Occasionally, especially turning the boat, you’ll get up to 3.0 or 3.2 miles per hour.
“When you’re running a big planer board setup this is key—if baits start blowing out, the next thing you know you’ve got one line tangled and the next one will go, too. And that can be an hour’s worth of a mess to clear and get baits back in the water. With the Rumble B, the baits don’t blow out and cause these problems. You put the Rumble B behind the boat on boards anywhere between 140 to 180-feet on 10-pound fluorocarbon and it gets the lures down about 18-feet, which is perfect for trolling the edges and the tops of the flats. Get the boards away from the boat 20, 30, 40-feet with your spread and the flats start going. It’s that simple! The only thing that usually changes is the preferred speed – today the fish might want the baits around 1.6 to 1.8 miles per hour. Tomorrow it might be 2.0 to 2.4.”
There are nuances to the bait design that Hawthorne notes as well.
“On a lot of stickbaits you need to replace hooks and split-rings. You don’t have to do that with the Northland Rumble B. The hooks feature a wide gap and are sticky sharp. The oval line-tie is perfect, too. On a lot of different crankbaits if your clip runs in where the two wires become one wire it will mess up the action of the bait. That’s why you see a lot of walleye pros change out the line-tie with a different split-ring. On the Rumble B you don’t have to worry about that—the oval design keeps the clip, snap, or direct line-tie in place and the lure running true!”
North Dakota-based Northland pro Jason Mitchell contributes: “Especially with that knocker, the Rumble B has really turned into a lowlight and nighttime trolling gem. It runs true up to some pretty fast speeds, so if that’s you game, it’s a great lure. But at speeds like .3 or .4 miles per hour up to 1.2, it’s also got a wide action and pronounced rattle. Like I said, it’s a great after dark bait, especially on lakes in Minnesota that might have a lot of recreational boat traffic during the day—I’m thinking Leech, Gull, Ottertail, and others. That’s a situation where you can simply long-line them off the back of the boat and hang on! It was also a great fall bait for me, and I see it coming into play as the early spring river bite takes off on Rainy, the Mississippi, and the Missouri.”
The Rumble B comes in three sizes: 3.75” long, ¼ ounce, #4 hook size with a diving depth of 8-10’, 4.25” long, 3/8 ounce, #4 hook size with a diving depth of 10-14’ and a big daddy that’s 5.25” long, 5/8 ounce, #2 hook size with an extreme diving depth of 16-21’. MSRP is $8.99.
In terms of colors, there’s something for every angling scenario with 15 different patterns available. The colors comprise hues that resemble big walleye tournament custom colors like Bubblegum Tiger, Spotted Lava, Purple Wonder, Purple Dot, Sneeze and Wonderbread. Match-the-hatch colors are available, too, with perch-mimicking Steel Chartreuse, Gold Perch, Yellow Perch, Hot Perch and Lemon Tiger. Additional forage-matching colors include Albino Orange Belly, Silver Shiner, Silver Fluorescent Chartreuse and Purple Pearl. No matter the situation, there’s a color and a pattern to bring in the bites!