Sorry about that!!

[dengle74]

After locating this site and realizing just how much these Rapalas are held in such high regard, I felt the need to confess. In my earlier days of using deep diving shad raps I got in the practice of whip slapping the lure on the surface of the water to remove weeds and debris that accumulated on the trebles. Yes, I did this . (We refered to this practice as a bitch slap) After breaking several plastic diving lips off , I more or less figured this was a stupid practice. I now realize how much of a sacrilege this is. Please forgive me. I will never do it again. Phueeww... that made me feel better.

[Bodeen]

I have never done anything that blatant, but I have busted my fair share of lips casting into culverts. I am not regulated to using Mepps and Beetle Spins in these culverts

[nathenpd]

My father does the same thing when he gets weeds on the Rapalas i "lend" him, it gets me really mad!

[RapalaGuru]

You want "sorry bout that stories"
Well I got one that my Fiss'n buddies wont even let me forget......

Was out fishin one late spring...water was start'in to warm up. I was in my buddies boat.
3 of us out fishing, having a great time bustin the weed edges for largemouths.
I was doing so-so, got a couple of good bass, nothing to large (for these parts),
They on the hand, had less hits, but better quailty fish..
So I (in my great wisdom) figure, it's got to be the size of the lure...
I was using a smaller Rapala (can't remember the size)
Needless to say, I quickly change over to a larger #13 Floater.
Make a couple of casts, lure looks good, everything going fine...
We hit anoher weed patch (both surface & submerged)
I cast into a small pocket of the weeds, wait, wait, start twitchin'
Bringing the lure slowly out of the pocket, then slightly off the edge of the surface weeds..
nothin, keep twitchin, nothin. Now about 3 feet off the weeds..
All of a sudden, I can see the wake, somethings comin out of the submerged weeds,
one last twitch, ~smack~ lure's gone, wait, set the hook and there's some weight to it.
Play the fish a little, and damn, it's a tooty crittter (northern pike for you southerns)
Well I play it for a couple, it's a nice fish....Oh S*&#
I'm Bass Fishing....I don't have a leader on...
Well now I've got to really play this fish, I can't lose a RAPALA..
A few minutes later and I figure I got this thing whipped..
One last walk down the boat and my net-man will have em'

Somewhere in there, I forgot where I was..
That last step was a cold one...(you can guess here)
My net-man was laughing so hard he had tears running down his face.
I still had ahold of the cold (WASN"T in the best attitude at that point)

Back at the lodge that evening, It 'Cost' me a lot...
After a nice warm shower & a cop -o joe.
I found myself laughing as well...
My only response was.
I didn't lose that Rapala did I....

Ahh, the life of a fishermen, buddies, familys and times spent together
Steve "Rapala-Guru"

[dengle74]

Steve , Great story!! The funnier times seem to be the best remembered. There is nothing like spending quality time with family doing the things you enjoy the most.

As much time as I've spent out on the boat, I havent fallen out yet (Knock wood) But I have come close. Like the time I was working two rods. On one I had a rubber Lizzard trolling it out the back of the boat . The other rod I was Working a Shad Rap. I wasnt paying much attention to my trolling rod and before you knew it I saw it fall out the back of the boat. I threw the rod I was holding down and leaped toward the sinking rod. I had as much body hanging out the back as I possibly could without falling in. I barely grabbed the end of the rod handle and pulled it back in. my whole upper body was soaked, but fortunately it wasnt as cold a day as you experienced. Talk about a rush. The plus side was there was a bass on the line. Dave