A Brief History About Rapala Fishing Lures

Whether famous brands or no-names, there are lots of companies out there for fishing that produce everything you may need in the branch from lures, hooks, and rods to beginner fly fishing rods. Among the oldest companies in this business there are Heddon and Rapala. And the history of the Rapala company is told by some of the oldest items they produce such as the Rapala fishing lures. The company started the lures production some 60 years ago. The products are clearly crafted from experience and the company's track record and current unique distribution network, brand portfolio and manufacturing brand gives it a great position for further growth.

Rapala fishing lures came from Finland, originally. Fishing and farming was the occupation of the man, Lauri Rapala, who founded the company in his native country Finland. As the saying goes 'Necessity is the mother of invention', so did Rapala decide to improve his fishing productivity, by developing a better lure. The prototype for Rapala fishing lures saw daylight in 1936 in the form of a carved lure that caused an off-center and wobbled in the water. This initial model makes the basis for a lot of the Rapala fishing lures.

Rapala company won most of its fame after the Second World War. After the war Rapala revived his small lure making enterprise. Lauri Rapala made the fishing lures himself at first, but in time, the craft was also learned by some other family members. Since the very first days of the company, high emphasis was put on testing, and all the Rapala fishing lures still have to go through a rigorous quality checking process.

After the Olympic Games in Helsinki in 1952, foreign visitors were among the first who took Rapala fishing lures beyond the country’s borders to other countries. From this moment, exports started, first toSweden and Norway and then to the US. In 1957 the business got formalized and the Rapala and Sons / Rapala-Uistin company was established. In 1962, Life Magazine published a long article about Rapala products. Maybe the fact that the article appeared in the same magazine issue that wrote about the death of Marilyn Monroe, had something to do with the company’s growing popularity in America; however the quality of its products definitely helped.

After the success in the States, Rapala went international, copies having been made after their products. Legal actions have been taken against unauthorized copying, yet, forged versions still exist; yet, the quality provided by Rapala still remains a good criterion of appreciation that is surely unsurpassed.

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