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Lauri Rapala

Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Saltwater Fishing
Forum Name: The Briny Bar
Forum Description: The place for general chat on saltwater fishing!
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=131360
Printed Date: 29 Mar 2024 at 7:27pm


Topic: Lauri Rapala
Posted By: Catchelot
Subject: Lauri Rapala
Date Posted: 26 Jun 2019 at 9:39am
Bit of history...a great readClap

https://igfa.org/history-lauri-rapala/?fbclid=IwAR2Cqv-TAaqX0O7umKZudSAXE9vjDTxBpyEYLkbKM4RUlmizaDivjm0YWUE" rel="nofollow - https://igfa.org/history-lauri-rapala/?fbclid=IwAR2Cqv-TAaqX0O7umKZudSAXE9vjDTxBpyEYLkbKM4RUlmizaDivjm0YWUE


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"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever." - Jacques Cousteau



Replies:
Posted By: Mudfish marquand
Date Posted: 26 Jun 2019 at 7:30pm
I had an association with Rapala Oy in Finland during the late 1970s and early 1980s, when I tested their lures mainly in Fiordland on southern bluefin, albacore, kings and thresher, and in Niue on tropical gamefish. They are very proud of their history, and a Rapala lure even appeared on a Finland postage stamp. They were very professional to deal with and each Christmas, a present would arrive in the mail, crystal glass plates, knives, leather goods, and so on, to show their appreciation. The vast majority of the lures that I tested never made it to the market and I guess the ones that I have are now collectibles. Their lures were and still are deadly fish catchers.

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On the fly or not interested.


Posted By: Alan L
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2019 at 5:27pm
They have become an indispensable part of my game tackle box.
Skirts, flies, poppers and ............always rapalas. Can't count the number of fish caught on them - dogtooth tuna, Yellow fin, wahoo (lots), mahi (occasionally) and even a sailfish.
Alan


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Legasea Legend member


Posted By: spin king
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2019 at 5:49pm
Originally posted by Mudfish marquand Mudfish marquand wrote:


I had an association with Rapala Oy in Finland during the late 1970s and early 1980s, when I tested their lures mainly in Fiordland on southern bluefin, albacore, kings and thresher, and in Niue on tropical gamefish. They are very proud of their history, and a Rapala lure even appeared on a Finland postage stamp. They were very professional to deal with and each Christmas, a present would arrive in the mail, crystal glass plates, knives, leather goods, and so on, to show their appreciation. The vast majority of the lures that I tested never made it to the market and I guess the ones that I have are now collectibles. Their lures were and still are deadly fish catchers.
would love to see some photos


Posted By: Mudfish marquand
Date Posted: 27 Jun 2019 at 6:21pm
Ok spin king, I will take some photos of them and get my boy to post some of them next week. On 11 April 1976, I landed a 148 pound southern bluefin on 20lb IGFA gear off the mouth of Thompson Sound in Fiordland. The fish was caught on one of the old CD18 Rapalas and the treble hooks disqualified it for a World Record claim. From 01/01/1978, IGFA changed the rules and in February 1978 I landed a 68.5 pound southern bluefin on 20 pound, and a prototype Rapala, and this weight was equalled by a friend a couple of months later. I think the NZ Record still stands. Rapala Oy were very good to me and I always looked forward to the huge parcels of their lures for testing. Time changes circumstances, and I understand that Rapala is now part of a huge marketing group. Incidentally, the early CD18s used to blow up on thresher sharks and bluefin, so I was instrumental in getting them strengthened. Cheers

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On the fly or not interested.


Posted By: Mudfish marquand
Date Posted: 04 Jul 2019 at 7:55pm
Regarding Rapala lures, there will be have to be two posts because my bloody computer froze a few minutes ago. The photo of Rapala prototypes will be in the second post. I was test fishing Rapala prototypes for Rapala Oy in the 1970s and 1980s. With the lures came survey papers requesting certain information with room for comments, ideas for improvement, success with the prototypes, and so on. An employee of Rapala Oy, Sirpa Glad-Staf told me that I was their first test fisher in Australasia. She told me that they had been considering discontinuing the CD18 model and that my successes with their lures on Fiordland changed this. The early CD18 lures used to pull the stainless steel belly wire out of the lure.  (continued)

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On the fly or not interested.


Posted By: Mudfish marquand
Date Posted: 04 Jul 2019 at 8:15pm
The wire pulling problem was solved by stapling the belly wire in front and behind the belly hook. The CD18 was the lure of preference in those days for southern bluefin tuna and were trolled only a few metres from each stern quarter. The CD18 was particularly deadly on thresher sharks, especially the fluorescent red/orange colour. If trolled really slow, the thresher would eat the lure and at a faster speed, the thresher would belt the crap out of the lure until it foul hooked itself by the tail. The four Rapala lures in the photo are typical prototypes and didn't become available to the public, obviously, they failed the test. The largest is 18cm.
 
 


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On the fly or not interested.


Posted By: spin king
Date Posted: 04 Jul 2019 at 8:56pm
man that's cool, you should mount them on the wall


Posted By: Mudfish marquand
Date Posted: 04 Jul 2019 at 9:02pm
Yeah, I have more packed  away in boxes. So much stuff, I don't really know what I've got. Thanks for your interest. Cheers

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On the fly or not interested.


Posted By: Uncle
Date Posted: 04 Jul 2019 at 9:05pm
Thanks for posting  Dick...some good historyBig smile


Posted By: John H
Date Posted: 19 Jul 2019 at 8:23pm
Nice slice of of history Dick.
New Zealand has been a test bed for other lures and innovations, local and overseas.
Early adopters some would say.
 


Posted By: Mudfish marquand
Date Posted: 19 Jul 2019 at 9:24pm
Thanks John. I found some more prototype Rapalas while sorting through boxes last weekend. Big lures that feature three double hooks. One of them shows wahoo attack scars from Niue. I'll get my boy to post a picture sometime this weekend. I'm from the school of those who are handicapped by technology. Cheers

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On the fly or not interested.


Posted By: Mudfish marquand
Date Posted: 20 Jul 2019 at 9:50pm
Here are some prototype Rapalas that I was test fishing for Rapala Oy in the early 1980s. They have a body length of 26cm, not counting the bib. The one at the bottom bears evidence of a Wahoo attack. I am unsure whether or not this model was manufactured commercially. These are for you spin king. Cheers

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On the fly or not interested.


Posted By: Keith C
Date Posted: 20 Jul 2019 at 10:02pm
Interesting MM that most, if not all, of those colours prototyped are still in production and effective today.


Posted By: Mudfish marquand
Date Posted: 20 Jul 2019 at 10:13pm
In the 1970s, I can remember the CD18s coming out in blue and silver/white, black and silver/white and fluoro orange. In Fiordland, I caught southern bluefin on all of them. The threshers preferred the fluoro orange. The two most unusual captures that I made on CD18s were a groper and on another day, a blue shark. The mackerel type patterns emerged in the late 70s / early 80s. Cheers

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On the fly or not interested.


Posted By: spin king
Date Posted: 21 Jul 2019 at 7:00am
awesome!! interesting how close the bib is to the nose, keep them coming I love seeing old lures


Posted By: Mudfish marquand
Date Posted: 21 Jul 2019 at 8:19pm
Around 1977, Rapala Oy sent me these two IGFA legal CD18 lures factory fitted with single hooks and a plastic tail. From January 1 1978, Rapala lures with treble hooks were legal under IGFA rules for trolling. What do you think of these two spin king? Cheers

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On the fly or not interested.


Posted By: spin king
Date Posted: 21 Jul 2019 at 10:19pm
wowow the plastic tails I haven't seen before on a rapala, interestingly lots of lure makers are going single hooks now.. man those are cool



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