Those We Honor

You’ll find more than just fishing celebrities in this list. One can make a significant impact
on the lives of many without ever being well known. It is important to honor all of
those who had a great influence on the great sport of fishing, whether famous or not.
Corporate advances tend to be much more visible to us. For it’s their products that
shape the evolution of the sport of fishing.

Rapala

Rapala

Inducted 2012

It all started with a lightweight lure that no one knew how to use, with a name no one knew how to pronounce. The back room of a south Minneapolis bait-and-tackle shop. A beat-up metal desk, and lots of enthusiasm. What began as a simple dream in 1959 has evolved into one of the fishing tackle industry’s most influential organizations.

 

With USA offices in Minnetonka, Minnesota, group companies in 36 countries and distribution in more than 137 countries, the Rapala/VMC Group is the world’s largest fishing lure company, as well as one of the world’s largest premium fishing tackle distributors. Fishing tackle companies have come and some have all but disappeared since 1959, but the Rapala/VMC Group endures.

 

The Normark story, technically speaking, begins in Finland during the 1930s, with Lauri Rapala. It was a period of widespread economic depression, and Rapala pieced together a living for his family by working as a lumberjack in the winter and a farm hand or commercial fisherman in the summer.

 

In hope of boosting his fishing income and cutting down on the time and effort spent rebaiting hooks, Lauri began thinking about his idea of an artificial lure. After studying schools of baitfish that swam beneath his boat as he slowly rowed on Finland’s Lake Paijanne as he checked his nets, he discovered that in those schools of minnows the wounded ones, those which wobbled when they swam, were the most likely targets of larger fish. After much trial and error he was able to duplicate the motion in an artificial minnow. His hard work began to pay off.

 

The Rapala family lures made their way to North America by various means during the 1950s. Athletes participating in the 1952 Helsinki Summer Olympic games picked up lures from a shopkeeper who had begun stocking them following a vacation to Lake Paijanne. Finns who immigrated to or visited the United States also helped to create a Rapala lure pipeline.

 

Ron Weber, a Minneapolis-based fishing tackle sales representative, had heard rumors of a prolific “Finlander plug” and, as an avid angler, was eager to try one. During a frustrating Canadian fishing trip in the summer of 1959, Weber’s fishing partner pulled out an unfamiliar lure and tied it on his line. “Suddenly, where there were no fish, there were fish galore.”

 

On his way back to Minneapolis, Weber stopped in Duluth, which was both his home town and home to numerous Finnish immigrants. The Finnish owner of an outdoor clothing store had some Rapalas behind his counter and sold Weber a few. After trying them out for himself, Weber tracked down and wrote to Lauri Rapala and asked for 500 of his lures. Rapala first had to have the letter translated. Next, he sought help from Helsinki’s Foreign Trade Department on how to proceed. In early 1960, Weber received his order.

 

As the Rapalas tended to matters on their end, Weber convinced his friend and sporting goods storeowner Ray Ostrom to help distribute the lure. Initially named the Rapala Company, the part-time business operated out of Ostrom’s store. The men renamed the company Nordic Enterprises before settling on Normark, or “north land,” in 1965.

 

Weber and Ostrom first test-marketed the lure in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Sales were initially slow; the $1.95 price induced sticker shock in retailers accustomed to selling lures for less than a buck.

 

During the 1960s, Ostrom cultivated relationships with local and national sports and outdoor reporters. The company would also finance fishing films targeting sportsmen’s shows and fishing clubs. The company’s greatest exposure, however, was generated by a 1962 Life magazine article.

 

A Life reporter, in the Twin Cities to cover the newly formed Minnesota Vikings, met Ostrom at a dinner party given by the outdoor editor for the Minneapolis Tribune. Ostrom, who just happened to have a couple lures in tow, sparked the reporter’s interest in Lauri Rapala’s story. “A Lure the Fish Can’t Pass Up,” hit the news stands in an issue adorned by Marilyn Monroe, shortly after her death. Millions bought the magazine and orders barraged Normark.

 

The company’s sales climbed steadily. In 1965 the national trade magazine Sporting Goods Dealer named Normark Importer of the Year. The hot-selling Rapala lure was tops in pulling in contest winning fish as well, according to Field & Stream magazine.

 

By 1991 Normark had sold more than 150 million Rapala brand lures in the United States, and the offerings continued to grow during the first half of the decade. The Wall Street Journal took note of its widespread success.

 

Since then Rapala has continued to sell hundreds of millions of lures worldwide making it the “World’s Favorite Fishing Lure.”

 

In addition to racking up impressive sales over the years, Rapala lures continue to bring in world record fish – as many as 903 International Game Fish Association world records as of today. That’s more than seven times more than the closest competitor.

 

Continued commitment to quality and innovation, Rapala has built on it’s success, today offering a complete selection of fishing lures, tools and accessories for both soft and hardwater anglers.