Rapala Fishing Lures
There are numerous manufacturers of fishing equipment, and they produce everything you may need in the branch
from rods and hooks to fishing lures. 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. Experience and tradition definitely influence
the quality of the products and the until now, Rapala has developed progressively winning its name of international
brand with a large distribution network and a great position in relation to its competition.
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 is still the basis for a lot of the Rapala fishing lures.
Lauri Rapala’s business had blossomed just before World War II. 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, initially toSweden and Norway
and then to the USA. In 1957 the business changed its official name into Rapala and Sons or Rapala-Uistin. 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.
The rest of the international market opened a lot more easily after success of Rapala products in the United
States, but there appeared lots of imitators too. 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.
| 
