Balsa. The Naked Truth.
Never has the old saying “It’s what’s inside that counts” rung more true than with Rapala fishing lures. Because what’s inside a lot of Rapalas is balsa, the magical wood that has had fish and fishermen alike completely hooked for over 70 years. It all started with a simple Finnish fisherman named Lauri Rapala. It all began out of crisis. He desperately needed to feed his family. He needed a better way to fish. To make a long story short, that crisis gave birth to the legendary Original Rapala. The lure with the twitch, quiver and wobble so lifelike, so effective, that tackle shops rented the few they could actually get their hands on for $25.00 a day. In searching for the perfect lure-making material, Lauri first tried cedar. For a while he tried pine bark. But soon he learned only lures made of
balsa allowed for the subtle, delicate movement he was looking for. Why balsa? It’s extremely light, yet regarded as the strongest wood for its weight. With any other wood, the lure would be at least three times heavier. The lighter balsa makes the lure action more natural. Move your rod tip just a little bit. The lure makes an immediate movement because it’s so sensitive. Since balsa wood is not the simplest, or cheapest material to work with, only Rapala, out of all the other lure manufacturers, took the time to design one-of-a-kind custom equipment required to make perfect balsa lures everytime. But it’s worth it. As millions of sore lipped lunkers now know. Last, but not least, every Rapala with a swimming lip is hand-tuned and tank- tested so it’s ready to fish right out of the box.
55 | rapala 2014