Silver & Gold

Ask anyone about their first Rapala experience, and almost every single time, you'll either hear the words 'silver' or 'gold'.

Ah yes, Silver and Gold, Silver and Gold....each time I see those words together, I always think of the Burl Ives snowman in 'Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reinger...'....but anyway -

Its seems that as of late, it seems like Gold is getting the short end of the stick from Rapala (but not the stock market, thats for sure)

There used to be a time when everything Rapala made always came in Silver & Gold, without fail. I've basically judged the 'compleness' of my tackle box by taking one look at it and thinking to myself, "Ok, do I have one in that size of silver? Yes. Do I have one in Gold? Check & mate."

Nowadays, its not that simple. I'm not just talking about the endless myriad of new lures and exicting patterns, but I'm just taking about the basics. There are plenty of models, particularly those still made of balsa, where you can always bet on it being available in good old fashined 'S' for Silver. But whatever happened to 'G'?

Let's look at some lures as an example, shall we? The Tail Dancer - the original "Limited Edition" ones...Silver, no Gold..same goes for another 'Limited', the LongCast...silver, no gold. Although I must note, that if you are a fisherman in other countries, say Europe or Asia, you can get the original TDs in Gold. Even the newer Tail Dancers come with the new Bleeding Patterns. But still no Gold as a staple. Hmph.

Here's some others that never came in a Gold pattern: Skitter Pop, Skitter Prop, Skitter Walk, Sliver, Glidin Rap, Twitchin Rap (sort of), Jointed Shad Raps, and most notably absent - the Minnow Rap.

And here's a tangent while I'm at it - on the new DT Fat & Flat series (whichj I do love, btw), you can only get them in Gold if you pay (extra) for the Sure Set model. Come to think of it, why does Rapala already take a complex series of patterns, and make them even more complicated by only offering their better colors on Sure Set models?

Come on folks, we all know you have gallons of gold paint in stock. Just slather some on some of those other patterns and there is no way they can lose money.

At least I would certainly buy some.

Rapala Trophy Dealers...where are they?

Ok, in my Rapala circles I have heard whispers of some tackle retailers and dealers that are 'Rapala Trophy Dealers' - the definition for a dealer of this type is as follows:

".... proud to be a Rapala Trophy dealer, which means you'll find a thorough selection of genuine Rapala lures plus special lure colors and patterns available only through Rapala Trophy Dealers..."

The thing I don't understand is, if it is such a prestigious honor to be a Rapala Trophy Dealer, then how come no one ever advertises it? High volume sellers like Cabelas, Bass Pro Shops, and more have to be Trophy Dealers, right?

Ehhh...I don't really know.

A Google search of 'Rapala Trophy dealer' yeiled like a zillion Rapala Wii fishing trohies, and I could only fine ONE listed...I gave up after a few hundred pages after that.

Why is this so important? Why should anyone care?

Well, as a Rapala fanatic as myself, typically these dealers DO HAVE hard to find Rapala lures, limited editions, and lure colors and patterns only previously available in European markets.

I don't think there were too many people in the USA were aware that Rapala 'secretly' re-released the Rapala Husky H-13 recently. Being marketed as (hopefully new) "Classics', Rapala brought back the big ole chunky floater for a limited time it seems. I was lucky enough to stumble across a few of them. But of course, the site never did tout themselves as a 'Trophy Dealer".

If you do run across one, be sure to skim through every Rapala they have. You might just find something you've never seen before.

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