The Natural Look
“Other trends are longer-lived, like the increasing popularity of ultranatural baits. Japanese products inspired this trend, as their lure makers have for long carefully imitated nature. Now, realistic scale patterns, natural-looking eyes, and even body contours are seen on many American brands.”
In the US market, manufacturers have sought to mass-produce natural-looking lures instead of the painstaking hand etching that makes Japanese baits so realistic, but pricey. Companies have turned to holographic tapes to imitate the iridescent scale patterns of baitfish. PRADCO has produced a 3-D look with a silvery insert called FlashBrite that shines through a SparkGel outer shell on Excalibur baits.
“We’re trying to make a bait that looks natural to a predator fish underwater,” says lure designer Jim Gowing who helped produce this new look. “Small baitfish have a translucent appearance that can’t be duplicated with traditional hardbait colors. Our new laser paper insert maintains that almost invisible appearance of a small minnow or shad. These materials also reflect various wavelengths of light as the bait moves through the water.”
“The large demand for holographic baits led us to introduce several such patterns in our most popular crankbait lines,” says Suzanne Newsome, spokesperson for Mann’s Baits. “We’ve added holographic models in the 15+, 20+, 1-Minus, and Loudmouth Series, in addition to the new Disco Dawg. They’ve been hot sellers so far.”
Dave Nichols of Nichols Lures confirms that holographic hues have taken over his lines of baits such as the Rattle Shad rattlebait and Pop-U-Lure topwater lure. “In our earliest attempts to use holograms, we removed the material from baseball cards and gel coated it onto some baits,” he reports. “The new heat seal process has made the lures more durable.”
But while fine color patterns certainly attract anglers, they’ll be one-time purchases if they don’t catch fish. That wouldn’t work for giant corporations like Rapala.
Research and Development
Jarmo Rapala, grandson of company founder Lauri Rapala, has been involved in the R & D portion of the company for almost two decades. “Before we consider adding a new lure type or color to the Rapala line, it must undergo extensive testing,” Rapala notes. “We have a staff of about 100 avid anglers in 14 countries who specialize in many types of fishing and provide input on all prototypes. Only those that catch lots of fish will reach the market. We must keep in mind our loyal consumer fishermen in 140 countries and provide lures to help them catch fish.
“Today, I see a constant emphasis on new products. Some in the industry equate ‘new’ with ‘better.’ That’s wrong. Some successful new colors, like our RapFlash holographic finishes, complement the original silver foil pattern but can never replace it.”
According to Tom Mackin, vice president of marketing at Rapala, the company annually sells about 20 million hardbaits, with another 3 million baits by Storm Lures, an associate brand. “I see a philosophy toward lure color that encompasses three categories of color,” Mackin says. “First, there are naturalistic colors that match the hatch. Second, striking colors like firetiger or fluorescent orange trigger instinctive bites by catching the fish’s eye or irritating it. The third category is the fluke of nature, colors that stand out like an albino animal, looking more vulnerable without protective coloration.
“Over the years, the creation of colors has been enhanced by breakthroughs in technology,” Mackin says. “In the early 1980s, the pad printing process enabled the new lifelike look on our Shad Rap SD. Now, advances in production of holographic tapes have allowed the boom in those colors.
