Rapala voted #1 by the Pros.

[steider1]

In November 2008 Bass Master mag. on page 26. Rapala was voted the most popular name brand for hard baits by the Pros. Zoom was chosen as the preferred soft bait. Strike King for spinnerbait. Gamakatsu for hooks and Berkley as the most popular line.

[blastsniper]

I totally agree with them, Rapala really has the nicest hardlures, you really cant beat them in the price/quality ratio.
Gamakatsu indeed makes very nice hooks and trebles, they have a huge assortiment.
I like Berkley's fireline, but i do think there are better braided lines out there (Strike pro). But fireline isnt pure braid is it?

[muskiehunter]

I would also agree on that one.Rapala does have a great selection of hardbaits to choose from.From Panfish to Muskie there are sizes for everything.

And their prices are very fisherman friendly a big plus!!!

[muskiehunter]

Forgot to mention: I am not 100% sure but I would guess its probably the most collected lure as well

[shadrap712]

I would have to say that bagley's lures are just as collected. Some of these guys are nuts about them.

[Jason]

Yah I have seen one of those guys pay over $ 1500 for one Bagley .
But in all truth , Id say the vintage lure collectors have us beat by a mile . Those guys are hardcore .

[Bodeen]

Talk collectible, look at the old Heddons. The punkinseeds are high priced, highly sought after, and no where near the highest on the list of old Heddons.

I can not vote Rapala as the number 1 hard bait. Perhaps as far as most cranks in my boat I would have to say yes, but I could never do Rapala only. Lets compare baits that Rapala has vs other lures.

Where do you classify Mepps? I know I would never ever go fishing without having a comet minnow in the boat or tackle box. They will catch anything that swims.

What about K O Wobbler spoons for trout and salmon? Mepps Syclop spoons. Michigan Stinger spoons? Those three I will bet (every lure Jason owns) has caught more salmon and trout than Rapala spoons.

I give the wally diver the nod over the tail dancer. The wally diver has more colors and more versions as well as more sizes (I think).

Since the fat raps and rattlin fat raps aren't really produced any more, can we really give them the nod over the wiggle warts and wiggle O's? Perhaps the DT fats and flats cover that.

Slender baits and jointed slender baits I give to Rapala.

Shad raps I give to Rapala.

Muskie baits, I don't think you can give to Rapala.

Inline spinners have to go to Mepps.

Jigging baits? Does Rapala produce enough sizes and styles of these to win?

Topwater cranks. This is tough for me to call. Growing up is was mainly Rebel Pop Rs. Are we fishing the skitter pops, or just collecting them? Hard to fish a size 9 hot clown when they were selling so high this summer.

Sounds like we need a poll.

[Bodeen]

Well, I put a poll out on a very active forum of anglers. I started them off with topwater plugs. Lets see how Rapala fairs.

[Bodeen]

This is just within 24 hours.

[muskiehunter]

I would have to agree with Bodeen on his post.
Although Rapala is a GREAT lure to fish with there are other lures that they can't touch.

The Mepps lures are tops for inline spinners.Also Bucher bucktail spinners are muskie and pike killers.

Topwater baits I would have say go to Heddon,Arbogast,and Rebel.The Pop R's.Torpedeos,Spooks,and Jitterbugs,Hula poppers beat the skitter pops.

The Minnow baits and Shad Raps definatly goto Rapala though.I would pick a Fat Rap over other cranks anyday.

In a nutshell everybody has their favorite lures for fish and if they work well for them thats all that matters.

[Bodeen]

I agree on the fat raps too. I don't think I will ever go fishing without a RFR 4 or a MFR3. They work so well on the silvers. They also do a number on the walleyes. The reason I don't think they would get the vote is because they aren't made any more.

[shadrap712]

I feel that a fisherperson should never just get locked into one brand or one shape of lure. They all bring something different to the table. I think people fish to many memories and do not explore new and maybe better ways to catch fish. Rapala is one of my top producers but I also use brands like reef runner, cotton cordell, storm, any a few other in different size and shape.

[Bodeen]

I understand what you are saying. Everyone has a go to lure and it is a go to lure for the simple fact it catches fish. Perhaps it catches fish because the angler has confidence in the lure and will leave it in the water longer than another lure. A new lure you haven't thrown before won't get the benefit of the doubt like "old reliable".

With that said, it is easy to get hooked on a new lure. As a kid I fished Rebel Baitfish series lures. They don't make em anymore so I was searching ebay for them. I found a lot of 20 some lures that had the lure I wanted in it. The seller didn't list the type of lures so I was able to pick it all up for like 25 bucks, including shipping.

I get it and decide to sell a big portion of the "crap" lures to recoup some of my money. They went for something like 10-15 bucks. I then list this old Heddon Sonic that was colored a lot like the Rapala SBB. It went for 80 bucks.

Then I was left with the lure I wanted and this other walleye catching looking lure that I thought was a wally diver. It was. I was sitting on the shore of this river looking to catch some early season walleyes. Didn't know what the bottom was like so I thought I would throw the wally diver until I lost it. 6 walleyes and a smallmouth later I finally lost the lure but was hooked on wally divers.

I now have way too many wally divers and still catch most of my eyes on live bait lol.

[shadrap712]

I understand the old go to lures as I have them myself. I travel all over the upper midwest fishing walleyes and tournaments. I catch 85% of my walleyes trolling crankbaits. With putting out multiple line, I have experimented with a lot of different styles and most of the time the old stand by catches fish but usally a different company/style/ or size works better. It is all in finding what the fish want not what the fisherperson wants to fish with. I had a old boy tell me one time "I would fish with a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich if that was what the fish wanted". So my point being is I think rapalas are great but there is a lot of other great lures out there that maybe fit the system that is being fished better than the old stand by.

[muskiehunter]

You can compare fishing to a jigsaw puzzle.To catch a lot of fish one needs to put the pieces together.So it helps to have as many different lures to figure that out.I've had days where the fish just hammer a lure and after that day the lure never catches fish again.Odd but true.Like shadrap712 mentioned you must find out what the fish want that day.

[Bodeen]

Balony!!! I troll a huge gill net. They want what I tell them they want lol

[shadrap712]

The old MA BELL CRANKBAIT is the best!!

[muskiehunter]

I just read a poll put out by Walleye Central and 54% of anglers said Rapala is their favorite crankbait.

[Bodeen]

That is total and complete horse crap. They don't even have cotton cordell lures listed. Wally divers don't deserve a slot themselves? I can not believe that those numbers are correct in any way shape or form.

[Bodeen]

Now I am not saying that Rapala might not win the poll, I am just saying I don't believe those numbers.

[shadrap712]

I would have to agree to walleye central as Rapala being name as the #1 crankbait, but I agree with bodeen on if you break it down by shape or design a lot of other lures would be listed higher than Rapala. For example the walleye diver is the best banana bait out right now.

[blastsniper]

What about jerkbaits?