History of the Floating Minnow Bait - Rapala Minnow and Beyond! 

Thanks for the support my friend! I’m glad I could send you down the minnow bait rabbit hole. Definitely a couple I forgot about and a couple I didn’t know about. Looking forward to getting out on the water together soon!

Bigbass podcast is THE channel for historical information on big bass lore.

The old school thunderstick Jr was an absolute beast. For some reason you reel it down 4 times and stop and repeat they absolutely ate it when they wouldn't eat anything else. ❤shallow runners

That upswept Norman tail was the 1st time I saw that feature, now look at the most popular (and costly) Megabass stickbaits, upswept tails.

A. C. Shiners are still sold today.I learned about them from a comment from KVD. I sold a Hellcat minnow on eBay that did not have a reinforced lip. Appreciate the vid.

Those old packaging redfins in the different finishes 😮

Rapala had such a tremendous influence on the fishing industry.

Very enjoyable vid, thanks. As a very long time striped bass fisherman, I can say that these will all catch stripers, but the Red Fin has some magical powers over big fish. I've thrown Rebels, Bombers and Red Fins, probably hundreds of thousands, if not millions of casts, over 50+ years, and probably 90% of my 30lb+ fish came on the RedFin. It's more than coincidence.

Awesome video. You look so different without your shades. 😎

My pops and i still crush largies and smallies in NY on the floating rapala to this day . Im 40 and hes 75. The floating minnow will never stop catching them and good ones too.

As they say often imitated never duplicated nothing beats the finish minnow and there are no excuses for missing a week

My favorite lure genre growing up. I can’t even count how many bluefish and Spanish I caught on Rebels and Red Fins. Caught a ton of sea trout on the little 3” Rapala. Even caught some honkin largies with a red fin trying for Musky up in Wisconsin. Today, the rapala is my go to when searching for bass in my local reservoir.

Great video! I always enjoy taking a walk down memory lane with these old baits. I'm a sucker for a good old-school minnow! Here's wishing Ted a quick mend and that both he and his boat are back out on the water ASAP!

Here is the link to help Ted get back on the water! www.paypal.com/pools/c/8R4trXx149

A most excellent video. This is the type of content that keeps me coming back. Prayers for Ted and hopes for the boat.

Your passion for Bass lures is infectious! Great collection of floating minnows. The Matt finish long A’s were awesome. In the late 70’s some of the bait shops , marinas around Toledo Bend offered a floating Smithwick Rogue in a fluorescent red with black back and black spotted sides ( Just like the Tiger Roan fire tiger ) but, All bright Fl. Red body w/ black back and sides. Hard to find model. The closest duplicate color minnow in that Fl. Red was a Storm Thunderstick in the 90’s. Rob

That intro is great

Rouge are my go to no matter what for walleye. Clown is the truly a great color!

Man i gotta say this one of my favorite fishing channels to watch, the retro bassin theme song is my favorite part and i love learning about all these super rad old school lures. Makes me feel a lil closer to the great man that got me into this wonderful sport.

Hello happy Saturday retro bassin I love all this luers both are beautiful I love buying a lot of cotton Cordell luers 👍 and Ozark trail luers 👍🎣 for Pier fishing

I miss the old Hump Back rebel. About 2 1/2 inches long , silver with black back. Caught so many bass when i was a kid in the 70's.

Thanks for the shout out Chris! Great video. We all definitely need to help Ted get back on the mend.

The gold sided black back floating Rapala was absolute magic on the ponds I grew up fishing in Massachusetts.. My fishing buddy and I used to call it "the Weapon". We would cast near cover, let it sit for 20 seconds, twitch it then Bam. Tons of Bass and Chain Pickerel.

Great video. I would consider the Rebel minnow the dollar store version of the floating minnow. The fit and finish is subpar compared to the Rapala/Bang O' Lure.

Well done sir! The minnow bait has to be the most iconic and copied in the sport. They’ll catch nearly any fish out there, fresh or salt. You mentioned a lot of names there and even included the AC Shiner. If I may add a little to the history of the lure type, I’d like to mention another company from Finland, Nils Master. They started in the 50’s and were official by the early 60’s. Among their offerings was the Invincible minnow bait. Although not an exact copy of the Rapala, it definitely seems to be inspired by them. They used to stamp “tank tested” on the bellies of their baits as well. There was also the Atlantic’s Rafina, another bait introduced into the US market in the early 60’s and the bait name certainly seems to be intentionally similar to Rapala. I have a couple of them, one plastic and one balsa, and the balsa bait is remarkably similar to a Rapala. Not sure if it’s similar enough but the Mann’s Stretch series of baits might fit in the same general class and fits right in with lures like the Bomber Long A. Perhaps this one’s a stretch though (sorry, bad pun). Mentioning the Rogue, it’s my favorite of the type. I’ll be pulling some out here in the coming weeks as soon as the bass start moving shallow for the pre-spawn. I did get my start with this lure class with a Rapala, of course. A jointed perch pattern floater that caught nearly anything in those ponds I’ve mentioned previously. I had it and some Kmart Mister Twister Sportfisher Rapala copies. Hope Ted has a quick recovery and can restore his boat he inherited from his dad. Thanks for the history lesson and diggin’ the Smithwick Plano box. Is that a decal or was it a promotional?

This channel is my Saturday Morning must watch.

Great for trout too if you can get your hands on them small enough.

I believe rapala started carving his baits out of pine bark. Finland has a long tradition of lurebuilding using this material, and I personally still use it to make baits today.

Just got back from 3 days of the Wisconsin sturgeon spearing season, and was so happy to see this deep, deep dive into the original Rapala and its many imitators. When I was a kid we fished Rapalas almost exclusively, compared to all of the copies on the market. Our tackle boxes were full of them and I still fish them and favor them today. This was a fantastic episode, comparing all of those various models and variations of minnow baits. I think of all of them, the Smithwick Rogue takes the prize for most attractive. Boy, that is just a beautiful bait. Great episode, Chris!

I love bass history class on Sunday mornings 🤠🤙🏻

I hope he recovers very soon 🙏

You boys are such lucky SOB'S being down south. Definitely a bucket list of mine to catch a double digit bass. Another great episode, reminds me of simple times back when i was a kid watching infisherman and the like.. Thank you, God bless.

nice collection !

I would love to see a video of your true vintage fishing clothing.

Great video and history lesson. Good luck in Florida.

Dang Retro love the old school minnow baits you put in this video. I still have some floating Rapala , and Bango lures that I used often in the late 1980s ev early 1990s Wilson lake on the TVA Tennessee River big fish baits man the best for the time also the floating Rouge is still in my arsenal to this day and always will be . Love the content man you always bring me good memories about old school lures that I still cherish.

Another great video! You always have the coolest old school lures, a lot of them being back memories from when I was a kid, and reminds me of going on my fishing adventures back then. We didn’t catch much back then, but we had fun trying!

I fish all of these baits to this day.I use the 7 inch Redfin for Musky .I am from Ohio, and our Rapala style bait the A.C.Shiner catches a lot of fish . Rapalas, Redfins,, Rogues, all awesome.

I put a Daiwa Fuego on a 5 1/2 ft m ugly stik pistol grip Best combo in my arsenal of 17 combo’s Always learn new things watching your videos Thanks Great Job

18:07 I had one of my best Bass fishing years ever fishing the Rattling Rogue in this color shown on Lake Oconee in Georgia, USA. The Bass just tore this lure up and chewed the paint off of it because I caught so many. Years later I've used this lure even in different colors and never have had as good of results as my miracle year. It's so funny how lures seem to work that way, hotter than hell one year, and then some other lure takes its place the next year. I wish I knew how that worked, although it keeps the tackle industry in the money with the big flavor changes as time moves on. I sure wish you could buy them for $2.99 each tough, the price of lures has gotten rediculously sky high in this day and age, which will almost make you cry when you lose one on a snag.

Are you coming up to the Effingham Illinois show April 22,2023? I saw your previous video in Springfield Illinois and thinking of going to Effingham since I live in Illinois as well.. Love your channel, as I am 51 years old and remember so many you find.

I’m gonna need to know more about that bass on your studio wall with Bacon on it, obviously.

That bass rogue is called Green Bass. It' was a dealers choice proven area color. One of the best paint schemes by Smithwick ever

To this day in Florida, I don't go fishing without a rapala tied on. I caught 3 of my 5 fish limit on one in my last tournament.

Hell yeah. I asked for this one nearly a year ago. Especially the Rapala Husky Jerk. Hope to see it mentioned!

Man your shows are therapeutic. Great vid.

I still have a lot of faith in the silver Rapala floater, especially the smaller F5 size. Catches lots of different species, great for wading in creeks and rivers. I also had the luck of finding a Smithwick floating in the lake last summer in the gold/black/orange pattern, I definitely plan to tie it on one of these days. Basically the whole jerkbait category is the result of these floating minnow style baits.

I was just reading an article about how the minnow lure trend led to the creation of the storm "thin fin" which is more of a shad shape and basically saved the company from going under, pretty interesting read and worth looking into if you have the time.

Somewhere I’ve got a box of the saltwater Rebel baits ! I think my dad bought them back in the 70’s !! A staple bait when we were fishing off Cape Cod when I was a kid . Got more than a few old Rappala floating minnows as well . The jointed ones were my favorite.

Been homies with tater for a while and he has recommended so many good books to me (Possible future subject for you?). His and Ken Dukes pod cast is just full or great information and stories. AC shiners makes them like the OG rapalas, even shaving the bills. What a fun video. Thank you

The Bagley's Bang O lure had a prop on the back which I pulled off. It was Black and gold stripped and I caught my first double on that lure. My favorite which now classifys as an antique from around 97 the Yozuri Twitching minnow. My all time favorite fish catching bait. It catches anything that swims including my earliest bass of the season 6 lbs 4 oz. If you can find the twitchin minnow, buy it! It pops up on Ebay.

Get well Ted, sounds like a horrible experience on numerous levels. Hopefully that boat can be saved. Great episode, love me some minnow baits of all makes. I really liked all the knock offs, the "Japan" series, Palsa minnows, ECT. So much to explore when going down the minnow bait hole, for sure could be a series all by itself. Keep the content coming, love it!

Great vid retro! The floating minnow is a lure I want to try this year after seeing a how to fish topwater video from the 80s.

I just want to catch a couple bass with Chris someday before I die. Maybe burn one too :) . Let me know if you're ever up around Watts Bar / Norris area.

They ain't forgotten to me .didn't know about the heddon cobra.the Rapala is definitely spinning only but the others I can cast on my old school 4ft 10 in eagle claw Featherlite with a pro lite bps finesse baitcaster.like your videos og like me!

i use baits like that for striper fishing

I’m curious most of the vintage baits I seen are dark or bright colors. Nothing deemed as “natural “ nowadays. So what color vintage lures would have been used in clear water typically?

Great episode as expected. Best wishes to Ted. Only one not rooting for a fast recovery is those big Florida Bass….Stay After Them

In open water a dives to can be done the same way

I do believe I have some wooden rebel minnows here somewhere. I get lure lots sometimes and flea market lots lol

What’s good RB, I noticed something the other day watching Bill Dances Dancin’ Lessons Videos. He uses a PH meter? Is that a thing that was big in the 80s-90s? I don’t remember it…

Hey, I have that one at 8 minuets 5" long with Original Rapala in black letters on the lip. Does this have any value?

Bill Norman also made the weed walker

I watch him last week catch a big bass in the back water I think it was 14 lbs I think

i have 4 -6 them

Who is he looking at to his left?

More about ac shiner.

Made an order through Texas provisions a few weeks ago and haven't heard anything let me know what to do

Is the rebel minnow same as Abu Garcia killer? They look very the same.

What happened to the Ray Ban Glasses?

What does og mean

No bomber long a ?

do live in tennessee

who two fisherman invented Rapala minnow?

No sunglasses today?

Awesome video!There is a couple more that come to mind as well like the Whopper Stopper Hellcat and the Storm thunderstick.The 1200 series floating rogue you showed us helped win a classic for KVD 20 years ago .That lip flexes and is made from a different plastic than the lip on the rattling suspending pro rogue.

RA-Paula

Love the videos!! I sent you a msg on IG about some original Bagley’s Bang-O-Lures