Rapala Original Floating

[crypt]

5 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

The Rapala floating minnow is one of the greatest bass baits of all time.  There is literally no way to fish them wrong.  These baits need to be fished on light line.  Fishing them on anything heavier than 8-10 pound mono kills the action.  Tie the line directly to the lure using a loop knot.  Never use a snap, swivel or hardware of any kind.   They work best in calm water with no wind.   You don't need to change the hooks, just fish them as they come.  Both silver and gold minnows work well.  Some days the bass prefer one color over the other.  I use two sizes, 4" and 6".  Twitching the lure on top is the standard retrieve.  Snapping them under the water like a jerk bait can be deadly as well. If you can't catch bass with this lure, you might consider taking up golf.  ?

this is how you fish this bait, hands down. One of the greatest lures ever........top 5 in my book. always have one tied on.

[Log Catcher]

Fished with them when I was a kid growing up. It was always cast and crank. We never knew about fishing it like a jerk bait. I was fishing with spincast gear since I couldn't afford a baitcaster yet. I'm sure I caught fish with them but I seemed to have better luck with the Countdown Rapala. Maybe I need to try them again.

[CrankFate]

When I started out fishing I couldn’t afford Rapala, it was too expensive.

[desmobob]

30 minutes ago, CrankFate said:

When I started out fishing I couldn’t afford Rapala, it was too expensive.

I can't remember the prices, but I seem to remember they were more than twice the price of the Heddon lures for sale next to them.  

 

But other lures were questionable performers; the Rapala Floating Minnow was as close to a sure thing as you could hope for in fishing.  

 

Even as kids, we had heard from all the trusted sources that they were really, really good; even better than a DareDevle spoon! (...which was also one of our much-coveted lures.)  

[Hammer 4]

Can't tell you how many different species of fish I've caught on the rapala. Salt water. Mackerel, spotted bay bass, sand bass, calico bass, and Bonita.   

Fresh water, bluegill, crappie, trout, 1 catfish, and LMB. This was a shad pattern bait.

[MGF]

I've used it a lot in the river for smallmouth. I just let it drift with the current and give it an occasional slight twitch. I do sometimes get bit when reeling it in. I've lost a lot of them to pike too.

[Captain Phil]

13 hours ago, soflabasser said:

Sounds like a bunch of people where envious of his success and could not stand being beat by someone who was a better fisherman. Good thing he won the Miami Herald fishing contest since he earned it. 

 

There is more to this story.  This issue arose because many local anglers, including me, didn't believe anyone could catch that many bass a day for months on end.  The numbers claimed were staggering and it was on the honor system.  The newspaper sent a reporter out with the angler to see if his claims were true. 

 

The contest was for the greatest number of bass released.   What we didn't take into account was there was no size limit on the bass caught.  This guy was using a 2" Rapala in the Everglades canals with a second angler clicking the hand counter.  When the water is low in these canals, it is nothing to catch hundreds of bass a day.   Most of them are less that 12".   When the details were known, the contest category was discontinued.  It's really hard to imagine how crazy the bass fishing is in the Everglades during low water.  I have had days where a bass would grab a plug, jump and throw it only to have another bass grab the lure before it hits the water.   It's literally shooting fish in a barrel. 

[soflabasser]

I am well aware how amazing the fishing can be in the Everglades since I have had many +100 fish days. One thing I have learned is that bass fishermen can be very envious if they are beaten in a fishing competition, especially if it is by a big margin. It seems competition brings out the worst in some people and those people seem to forget that the #1 reason anyone should be fishing is for fun, everything else should be second at best. The Miami Herald rules simply stated the winner is the man who catches the most bass so that man who caught thousands of bass in the Everglades is the winner regardless how much whining the other competitors do.

 

You still need to know what you are doing in the Everglades, I know people that have fished the exact places I fish and not do as good as I do. Some of these fishermen complained to me that I did not give them a good spot even though I gave them spots that I have caught hundreds of fish. Goes to show you that you can fish the best spots with the best lures, but it does not mean much if you do not know what you are doing. With that said I am not surprised he did so well with Rapalas since they are one of the best lures in the history of fishing. I have a large collection of Rapalas, many of them are several decades old and still catch fish today just like they did back then.

[the reel ess]

13 hours ago, CrankFate said:

When I started out fishing I couldn’t afford Rapala, it was too expensive.

Same. I had to go with Rebels. Now it seems a mid-range priced bait. How things have changed!

 

[the reel ess]

I have a Rebel jointed minnow that I used once with success, then forgot about. I'm going to pull it out of retirement and fish it tomorrow morning.

[scaleface]

I have several original  Rapala Floating Minnows maybe a dozen ,in the garage . I dont even carry one anymore . Not that they dont work . I'm just not equipped to throw them . My rod priorities are for heavier lures and there is no since cluttering up my tackle bag with lures that wont get used . 

[TnRiver46]

12 hours ago, CrankFate said:

When I started out fishing I couldn’t afford Rapala, it was too expensive.

That’s why I bought in bulk the other day (1)

[MarkG52]

My PB came on an Original Rapala Floating Minnow. Early 80's, Lake DeGray. 

[Log Catcher]

@Mobasser got my curiosity up. I got out one of my old tackle boxes full of long forgotten lures. I found three of the Rapala Qriginal Floating Minnows in it. Two size 9 and one size 11. One was a lot newer than the other two and in good shape. I put new split rings and hooks on the two oldest ones. They are probably at least fifty years old but they are ready to go fishing. I tried to post a pic but I can't get it to resize right.

[Mike L]

10 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

That’s why I bought in bulk the other day (1)

The best color of them all 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[TnRiver46]

31 minutes ago, Mike L said:

The best color of them all 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

The ole boy that taught me refers to that color as “search and destroy”

[waymont]

F7, F9, F11 are excellent baits. I fish the smaller two on a light power rod- 6lb line, and the F11 on a med light power rod (Tatula 7'1" ML is my favorite) on 8lb line.

I have caught so many 17"-19" smallmouth on the F7 in streams.

 

[Deleted account]

Original #9 rapala (silver blue back) was one of my first lures. I found it in a tree. I'm pretty sure I can fill my bathtub and catch a couple with it. It shines on calm days in clear water with light line, I usually go with 6-8 lb XL. The trick is not to over work it. The older ones are better in my opinion, but some of the first Irish ones were not great. That being said, there are times when a larger, heavier more aggressive minnow is the way to go.

[Log Catcher]

22 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

The ole boy that taught me refers to that color as “search and destroy”

Guess I need to go buy some more. All of mine are silver and black back.

[BrianMDTX]

On 8/12/2021 at 6:33 PM, Log Catcher said:

Fished with them when I was a kid growing up. It was always cast and crank. We never knew about fishing it like a jerk bait.

That’s something that’s been nagging at me for a while. When I was young and fishing in the 70s and early 80s, they were floating plugs. You cast and cranked. Sometimes straight back and sometimes with pauses, but that was it. Got away from fishing for decades and started back last year. Heard terms I never heard before. Ned rig, wacky rig, jerkbait, etc. Some I understand  as they either weren’t around when I stopped fishing, but when did a floating or suspending lure suddenly become a jerkbait? 
 

And does anyone still cast and retrieve them? I do, about 50%-50%, and catch bass both ways. It’s not simple jerking when sitting about 12” above the water lol. 

[CrankFate]

On 8/12/2021 at 9:56 PM, desmobob said:

I can't remember the prices, but I seem to remember they were more than twice the price of the Heddon lures for sale next to them.  

 

But other lures were questionable performers; the Rapala Floating Minnow was as close to a sure thing as you could hope for in fishing.  

 

Even as kids, we had heard from all the trusted sources that they were really, really good; even better than a DareDevle spoon! (...which was also one of our much-coveted lures.)  

I have a bootleg rap all floating minnow from way back that’s still in the package.

On 8/13/2021 at 9:40 AM, the reel ess said:

Same. I had to go with Rebels. Now it seems a mid-range priced bait. How things have changed!

 

Yeah, I went with rebels, too.

[TnRiver46]

23 hours ago, Log Catcher said:

Guess I need to go buy some more. All of mine are silver and black back.

He calls the silver and black “vampira “ and is his second favorite haha

[Log Catcher]

8 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

That’s something that’s been nagging at me for a while. When I was young and fishing in the 70s and early 80s, they were floating plugs. You cast and cranked. Sometimes straight back and sometimes with pauses, but that was it. Got away from fishing for decades and started back last year. Heard terms I never heard before. Ned rig, wacky rig, jerkbait, etc. Some I understand  as they either weren’t around when I stopped fishing, but when did a floating or suspending lure suddenly become a jerkbait? 
 

And does anyone still cast and retrieve them? I do, about 50%-50%, and catch bass both ways. It’s not simple jerking when sitting about 12” above the water lol. 

Mine were all still in the original boxes when I found them. The paperwork Rapala included with them had info about twitching them on the surface and fishing similar to a jerkbait. I guess I didn't read this or just forgot about it. They are at least 50 years old.

[Deephaven]

The F9 Rapala was the reason that sent me into the world of custom rods.  Throw mine on a 6'3" SC XF blank kicked out to 6'9" with a Japanese Shimano BC'er.  I HATE throwing floating Rapalas on a spinning rod.  So much easier and more fun to work on a casting reel. 

[Captain Phil]

On 8/15/2021 at 11:14 AM, BrianMDTX said:

And does anyone still cast and retrieve them? I do, about 50%-50%, and catch bass both ways. It’s not simple jerking when sitting about 12” above the water lol. 

 

The original Rapala minnow is one of the best bass lures of all time.  I dare you to throw one all day without a strike, unless you are fishing in your bathtub or backyard swimming pool.   I have been fishing them since they came out in the sixties.  Most anglers fish this lure with the traditional stop and twitch retrieve.  What many don't know is it's an excellent jerk bait.  When you fish it that way, you frequently don't feel the strike.  The rod just loads up. These baits are killers on schooling fish.   I only use two colors, silver with a black back and gold with a black back.  Sometimes, adding a little white paint to the belly is beneficial.  Always fish this lure on light mono.  I use 8 pound mono and it works well. Anything heavier and you will kill the action.