A Brief History Of Rapala Fishing Lures

There are numerous manufacturers of fishing equipment, and they 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 lure production was initiated some 60 years ago. Experience and tradition definitely influence the quality of the products 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 were first produced in Finland. Lauri Rapala, the one who founded the business, was born in Finland in 1905 in a poor family, later in life making a buck by working on farms and fishing. 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.

Rapala company won most of its fame after the Second World War. After the war Rapala revived his small lure making enterprise. In the very beginning, all the Rapala fishing lures were made by the founder himself and later on he involved the members of his family in the process as well. 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. Exports began soon afterwards, first 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.

After the success in the States, Rapala went international, copies having been made after their products. The company has defended itself against these copies both by taking legal actions and, more importantly, by continuing the production of consistent high quality equipment that has always made the difference between the original products and the copies.