When did they stop wiring through Shadraps ?

[worcesterjohn]

One of the things I particularly like about shadraps is that they are one of the few lures that Rapala still wire through...until now ? been looking at pictures of new shadraps and they seem to have the same, poor, lip only attachment as minnow raps/ tail dancers. Have rapala now switched to lip only attachment for all Shad Raps ? When you're fishing for perch and Zander with the chance of BIG Pike, you need a wired through lure for safety. very dissapointed with Rapala if this is the case. A great lure made worse if this is the case...i guess they are trying to make an extra buck at our expense ?? Can anyone confirm If I am right ?

[jaketomberlin]

Yeah I have some shad raps that are not wired, and some that are. And it seems like most of the older ones are wired. But, I have some older #7's that are not wired.

Maybe they have determined that the lip is strong enough to not need wiring these days... I don't know. But I'm glad some of the newer ones don't have wire-through, because that means I can put a lighter to the lip and when it gets hot enough I can bend the lip to make it dive deeper.

[omigosh]

I can attest to the lip being strong in at least one case. I was trolling a taildancer for walleye and large muskie hit it. I only had 8 lb. test line so I played her for about 45 minutes. I got her boatside and was getting ready to net when she decided one more run. She went deep, straightened the rear split ring and got off. The lip held up just fine. I replaced the rear split ring and hook and continued after walleye.

[fishing_in_israel]

May 1, 2011 20:53:22 GMT -4 omigosh said:

I can attest to the lip being strong in at least one case. I was trolling a taildancer for walleye and large muskie hit it. I only had 8 lb. test line so I played her for about 45 minutes. I got her boatside and was getting ready to net when she decided one more run. She went deep, straightened the rear split ring and got off. The lip held up just fine. I replaced the rear split ring and hook and continued after walleye.

Does that mean that the split ring is weaker than 8 lb line?

[worcesterjohn]

I'm sorry but I just can't see how giving up on wiring through is a good thing. There is no way that a plastic lip glued to a balsa body is tough enough for serious toothy fish. I'm sure it's fine for bass fishing, but not for pike or musky. I simply wouldn't want to trust one to a big fish.

I guess rapala have decided that plastic lures are the way to go, which is a real shame. I wonder what Lauri Rapala would have thought if he were alive today.

I'll just have to buy up all the wired through shadraps I can find and all the floating magnums ( since they seemed to have stopped making them) that pretty much just leaves the Super Shad Rap as the last wooden lure they still make that I can use happily for Pike.

[omigosh]

Interesting question Fishin in Israel,
I am certainly no expert in physics but my guess would be that the muskie was only hooked on the back hook and the lure acted as a lever against the split ring creating more torque. I saw the fish doing some rolling during the fight so that is what I base my theory upon. The split ring on the lip showed no signs of stress or damage. Believe me when I say that I am thankful that the line held for as long as it did. I'm glad I at least got a look at her. That lure is definetly not designed for the punishment that large pike and muskie dish out.
I also noticed that one of my xraps was not wire through. Unfortunately I found out by accident. I was casting off a dock in Florida and smacked the lure right into a flag pole on the dock. Busted the lure up badly. It was an opportunity to see the internal workings. No wire through.

[diddly]

Without having a shad rap in front of me, is it easy to tell the difference between a wired/non-wired?

[90collector]

May 1, 2011 17:55:37 GMT -4 worcesterjohn said:

i guess they are trying to make an extra buck at our expense ??

Another thing I noticed is about one in 5 new rapalas that I buy has a paint blemish or a foreign object stuck in the clear coat. Rapala is really starting to slack on their quality

[worcesterjohn]

May 2, 2011 9:11:29 GMT -4 diddly said:

Without having a shad rap in front of me, is it easy to tell the difference between a wired/non-wired?

These two shad Raps are wired through...you can see the formed wire loops back on itself and enters the body of the lure.


This shad rap below is not wired through. The wire simply loops up on either side of the lip attachment, rather like a staple.

[nathanha]

Hate to see the Quality go down and the price go up. I have not had any bill issues with the shad rap. But I dont have near the experiance others do.

[jaketomberlin]

Worcesterjohn, your opinion about shad raps is VERY similar to mine. I think they should not change one single thing about them. I am also an avid collector of Old-Stock/Ireland Shad Raps, because I can see differences between the Ireland and Estonia Shad Raps. And I think one day everybody is going to start wanting the Old Shad Raps, and they're all gonna be in my Attic!! lol.

As for the wiring thing - Sure, I would rather fish a shad rap that is wired through, just in case I do hook a big bruiser fish. And I don't mean to say that the non-wired shad raps are better.... but I just like bending the lips on some of them. The Ireland Shad Raps run so good that I don't need to bend/change anything.

I agree with 90 collector about the quality thing. I'm just a young guy (22) but even I can see that there was alot more "pride" put into the Ireland/Finland lures. The boxes looked better, the lures looked better, and I like how they used to put the information papers in all the boxes.

[suspender]

Shad Raps (deep runners) actually have never been wired through.
Shallow Shad Raps have, and still are.

At the older Shad Raps (dr's) the bill wire was running into the lure's body as deep as bill was, and then it would end, together with the bill.
Belly treble and tail treble were connected with another independent piece of wire, which was attached neither to the lip, nor to the bill wire from the front side.
So, technically, some mad musky could bite of the back half of the old Shad Rap; there is no wire between the bill and two trebles to prevent that from happening.

As picture shows it, on the newer deep runners bill wire doesn't go into the lure any more, but strength wise, I don't think anything has changed, these guys are still plenty strong.

[worcesterjohn]

Jun 15, 2011 14:30:33 GMT -4 suspender said:

Shad Raps (deep runners) actually have never been wired through.
Shallow Shad Raps have, and still are.

At the older Shad Raps (dr's) the bill wire was running into the lure's body as deep as bill was, and then it would end, together with the bill.
Belly treble and tail treble were connected with another independent piece of wire, which was attached neither to the lip, nor to the bill wire from the front side.
So, technically, some mad musky could bite of the back half of the old Shad Rap; there is no wire between the bill and two trebles to prevent that from happening.

As picture shows it, on the newer deep runners bill wire doesn't go into the lure any more, but strength wise, I don't think anything has changed, these guys are still plenty strong.

well if that's true I stand corrected. I guess I will either have to take your word for it or cut one of my lovely shad raps in half

[suspender]

There is no need for that Mr. John, I have finally found this old x-ray image in my computer. This should take the mistery of the subject

[worcesterjohn]

Thanks suspender. I find it strange that they laid it out that way. Still looks stronger than the current staple method though. Strangely on the Rapala stand at EFTTEX half the shad raps on display still had the old wiring method