Rapala Fishing Lures History

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Rapala fishing lures are one of the tops brands of artificial bait in the world today. 1936 marked the beginning of Rapala lures and they have been going strong ever since. As you can imagine, back in 1936 they didn’t have the fancy aluminum and fiberglasses lures we are familiar with today. In fact, they started off as hand carved cork and wood by a man named Lauri Rapala. Lauri lived in Finland and his ability to understand fish allowed him to develop lures that would entice even the most pickest of fish. One of his signature ideas was for his lures to mimic a wounded fish.

Mr. Rapala decided to experiment more with these simple lures made with materials found around his home. He began wrapping the cork with foil with great results. This is because he was able to give a more realistic look and feel to the lure. Also, when the fish first strikes the lure and doesn’t set the hook, the lure becomes damaged and pieces may come off just like a real bait fish. After this discovery he tried melting photo film to outside the cork lure which gave it extra protection. Although pieces would not break off, they still gave the lure an amazing injured fish image. This gave him a huge advantage at fishing events.

In the beginning Rapala fishing lures were made by Lauri himself. He also tested and tweaked them all by hand. Of course this didn’t last long because they were so popular. Soon he had hired help to assist him with the production of his fine crafted lures. The rapala fishing lures that get sold today go through thorough testing before leaving the warehouse. This is to ensure that each and every one of them will perform in the water the way they are supposed to.

The Rapala float lure was the original lure that reigned from 1936 to 1965. It was the only one available on the market during that time. But soon after, he created a jigging lure, and a salt water lure that floats. In the early 70’s a jointed lure was created and less than a decade later the shad lure was released and became popular.

Since the late 90’s, almost every season a new line of rapala fishing lures are created and sold. Because of the lures performance and popularity, they are now sold in almost every country in the world. Even countries that don’t have fishing stores, can order them online. Millions of rapala lures are sold annually. Rapala now has expanded their line of products and have ventured in to other fishing tackle such as rods, reels, and knives. Over all, rapala fishing lures is one of the best made lures of our time.