03-18-2004, 03:29 PM
I've had Rapala's in my tackle box since I was knee high to a June Bug. It just doesn't seem like my box is complete without a half dozen or so in there. I've not only caught trout, but bass, small mouth, catfish, perch, crappie and a slew of other species on them. My lure of choice is a broken-back Rapala in trout colors. Fishing deep with a diving plane has provided me with many fond memories, and a few broken lines. Damn, those huge lake trout hit hard in a hundred feet of ice-cold, crystal-clear, sky-blue water.
Of course it's a new adventure on new water when I break out the Rapala's and let go with a mind-numbing cast of 75-ft or so.
I remember reading in a fishing magazine a long, long, long, long, long time ago about how the Rapala got started here in the good, old US of A. A tester came over from Sweden and was fishing Flaming Gorge (Utah side) in the dead of winter (blizzard conditions, driving snow, sub-zero temps). He would cast behind a moving fishing boat, and of course everybody thought he was crazy. But he had the fish to prove the Rapala could catch fish. Lunkers over 30 pounds, all catch and release. The rest is history.
My best memory is salmon fishing out of Monterey, California with a 8" broken-back Rapala with a bunch of guys from work. Everyone else trolled with anchovie, the "normal" and accepted method back then. For every fish the rest of them snagged, I caught, and released except for one, five. Before the trip was over, the Captain was inspecting my lures and writing down names. I especially loved one trip because most of the other fishermen thought it was tradition to stay up all night drinking and show up at the pier in a drunken state. For breakfast -- cold pizza and beer. Before the boat hit the break water, they were chumming over the side. One guy didn't release his vice-grip hold on a stanchion from the time we left till the time we tied up again. I guess my Navy experience in riding out typhoons in the South China Sea finally paid off. I had a ball.
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Of course it's a new adventure on new water when I break out the Rapala's and let go with a mind-numbing cast of 75-ft or so.
I remember reading in a fishing magazine a long, long, long, long, long time ago about how the Rapala got started here in the good, old US of A. A tester came over from Sweden and was fishing Flaming Gorge (Utah side) in the dead of winter (blizzard conditions, driving snow, sub-zero temps). He would cast behind a moving fishing boat, and of course everybody thought he was crazy. But he had the fish to prove the Rapala could catch fish. Lunkers over 30 pounds, all catch and release. The rest is history.
My best memory is salmon fishing out of Monterey, California with a 8" broken-back Rapala with a bunch of guys from work. Everyone else trolled with anchovie, the "normal" and accepted method back then. For every fish the rest of them snagged, I caught, and released except for one, five. Before the trip was over, the Captain was inspecting my lures and writing down names. I especially loved one trip because most of the other fishermen thought it was tradition to stay up all night drinking and show up at the pier in a drunken state. For breakfast -- cold pizza and beer. Before the boat hit the break water, they were chumming over the side. One guy didn't release his vice-grip hold on a stanchion from the time we left till the time we tied up again. I guess my Navy experience in riding out typhoons in the South China Sea finally paid off. I had a ball.
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