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 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 came from Finland, originally. Fishing and farming was the occupation of the man, Lauri Rapala, who founded the company in his native country Finland. The creation of improved lures came from the practical necessity of improving productivity. 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.

The international episode in the Rapala fishing lures story started after the Olympic Games of Helsinkin, 1952, when foreign visitors took some of the products abroad with them. Exports began soon afterwards, initially toNorway and Sweden and then to the US. In 1957 the business got formalized and the Rapala and Sons / Rapala-Uistin company was established. Further business exposure was achieved with the publication of a complex article in the pages of Life Magazine in 1962. It was perhaps because the same magazine issue wrote about Marlyn Monroe’s death that Rapala fishing lures increased their popularity in America, even if the quality of the products contributed most to the market impression.

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.