There are numerous manufacturers of fishing equipment, and they produce everything you can think of 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. 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 were first produced in Finland. 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. In 1936 Lauri Rapala finally created a carved rough-looking lure which would produce an off-center and entice wobbling action. 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. From this moment, exports started, first toNorway and Sweden and then to the USA. 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. 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. 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.

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