# "Ireland" Rapala Husky Jerks



## 6667supersport (Oct 10, 2012)

Bought some of these last week off Ebay in clown color for less than I can buy them at the corner store. Just wondering what makes these "Ireland" husky jerks different than the standard ones ??? Thinking maybe hey are made in Ireland ??? I see on the box they say "silver plated" . Have seen them on Ebay for a while, but never paid much attention to them as they always had a high price tag on them.


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## frenchriver1 (Jul 5, 2005)

6667supersport said:


> Bought some of these last week off Ebay in clown color for less than I can buy them at the corner store. Just wondering what makes these "Ireland" husky jerks different than the standard ones ??? Thinking maybe hey are made in Ireland ??? I see on the box they say "silver plated" . Have seen them on Ebay for a while, but never paid much attention to them as they always had a high price tag on them.


Not sure how much help this is, but the history of the company shows the places of manufacture as:

"Factories in Finland, France, Ireland, Estonia, and China"

Considering the quality of the lures produced, I would imagine the manufacturing equipment is the same in all those countries, except for the occasional lure that just isn't "right" for whatever reason.


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## yellowbelly80 (Aug 27, 2004)

they are a little bit older..ive caught way more fish on the finland and ireland baits than i have on the china made ones..i seek out finland baits now


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## alex-v (Mar 24, 2005)

The baits/lures are not made in China. The parts are made in "Factories in Finland, France, Ireland, Estonia, and China" as mentioned in the msg from "frenchriver1". The parts are then shipped to the place where they will all be assembled into the lure. That should be marked on the back of the box that the lure comes in. The line will read "Assembled in (name of country)".

You can do what I did and call Rapala for an explanation. They will explain that the parts are made in one place and the lure assembled in another. But, they would not tell me which part was made where, just that the many parts are made in various places all over the world.

Earlier lures were assembled in Finland and Ireland. In the case of Rapala's Original Floater, the name would appear in raised letters on the lip. Once the floater line went to Estonia for assembly the company stopped putting the name of the country on the lip.

The lures marked Ireland and/or Finland are considered to be made with better quality components. There are fewer of these lures still available on the market so they are starting to command a higher price on the collector's market.


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## METTLEFISH (Jan 31, 2009)

If Lauri were alive today, I am sure he'd be even more disgusted than I am. I now seek out replacements for any Normark product I can.


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## Swamp Monster (Jan 11, 2002)

So that begs the question....does one pull all the Finland and Ireland raps out of rotation or do you keep fishing them?


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## frenchriver1 (Jul 5, 2005)

Not sure I would agree that components are of consistently lesser quality when made in different countries, without definitive testing. I would not think a major company, allegedly the largest lure manufacture in the world, would risk assembling with inferior quality parts... How do you "cheat" with junk on a plastic lip, or hooks or hangers, bodies, paint?


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## METTLEFISH (Jan 31, 2009)

frenchriver1 said:


> Not sure I would agree that components are of consistently lesser quality when made in different countries, without definitive testing. I would not think a major company, allegedly the largest lure manufacture in the world, would risk assembling with inferior quality parts... How do you "cheat" with junk on a plastic lip, or hooks or hangers, bodies, paint?


The mere fact that they are being built there indicates lesser quality. I noticed over the last decade things not being the same with Normark products. Do the math, save two cents on 3 million F 7's and your talking some money. Now do that same process on ???how many products??? does Normark produce? Thats' why they buy up Co.'s like Storm and Luhr Jensen and decimate their product line and quality of remaining products. I avoid their products like the plague nowadays...


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## yellowbelly80 (Aug 27, 2004)

Swamp Monster said:


> So that begs the question....does one pull all the Finland and Ireland raps out of rotation or do you keep fishing them?


i try fishing with the older ones only


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## alex-v (Mar 24, 2005)

frenchriver1 said:


> .... How do you "cheat" with junk on a plastic lip, or hooks or hangers, bodies, paint?


There are differences in the split rings used on the lures. Find some unopened boxes of lures from Ireland and from Estonia and look. Also differences over the years in the hooks but those are not as noticeable.

I have seen and heard about paint jobs on some batches of lures not holding up as well as the same color pattern on the very old lures.


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## METTLEFISH (Jan 31, 2009)

They've gone to Brass rings. I guess they're cheaper than Stainless.


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## loony pier (Oct 19, 2009)

The Irish ones probably dance real good.


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## ESOX (Nov 20, 2000)

loony pier said:


> The Irish ones probably dance real good.


I don't know about their ability to riverdance, but they sure drink a lot! :corkysm55

My wife is off the boat redheaded Irish....... She says:
"So these two Irish guys walked out of a bar......................




Hey, it can happen!!!" :lol:


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## Swamp Monster (Jan 11, 2002)

yellowbelly80 said:


> i try fishing with the older ones only


They do fish better it seems. I haven't closely inspected the newer models but for years, every Rapala I ever purchased ran true right out of the box. That is certainly not the case today. The new stuff still catches fish.


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## METTLEFISH (Jan 31, 2009)

Swamp Monster said:


> They do fish better it seems. I haven't closely inspected the newer models but for years, every Rapala I ever purchased ran true right out of the box. That is certainly not the case today. The new stuff still catches fish.


Lauri Rapala insisted every bait be tank tested. Not anymore...


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