The Original Floater is a wobbler type of

fishing lure A fishing lure is any of a broad category of inedible, artificial fishing baits designed to be " fake food" that mimic the appearances of prey and thus attract the attention of predatory fish when angling. Lures come in many shapes and designs t ...

, manufactured by

Rapala Rapala ( ) is a fishing product manufacturing company based in Finland. It was founded in 1936 by Lauri Rapala, who is credited for creating Original Floater, the world's first floating minnow lure carved from cork with a shoemaker's knife, c ...

. It is modeled after the first lure created by founder

Lauri Rapala Lauri Rapala (1905–1974) was a Finnish fisherman, inventor and the founder of Rapala-Normark Group, the world's largest fishing lure and tackle producer. He died in 1974 at the age of 69. During the course of his life, he married once and fat ...

, in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in 1936. That prototype was made of

cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

wrapped in

tinfoil Tin foil, also spelled tinfoil, is a thin foil (metal), foil made of tin. Tin foil was superseded after World War II by cheaper and more durable aluminium foil, which is still referred to as "tin foil" in many regions (an example of a misnomer). ...

and covered in melted

film negative In photography, a negative is an image, usually on a strip or sheet of transparent plastic film, in which the lightest areas of the photographed subject appear darkest and the darkest areas appear lightest. This reversed order occurs because th ...

s as a cheap alternative to

lacquer Lacquer is a type of hard and usually shiny coating or finish applied to materials such as wood or metal. It is most often made from resin extracted from trees and waxes and has been in use since antiquity. Asian lacquerware, which may be c ...

. Today, the original floater is made in seven different sizes and fourteen different colors. It can be found in many anglers' tackle boxes, and is the best-selling lure Rapala makes, and possibly best-selling in the world. The lure, when retrieved, swims with an action that mimics that of a wounded

baitfish 300px, Feeder Goldfish are common baitfish. Bait fish (or baitfish) are small-sized fish caught and used by anglers as bait to attract larger predatory fish, particularly game fish. Baitfish species are typically those that are common and bre ...

. It was designed this way by Lauri Rapala, because of his observations as a boy and young man of the behaviors of

minnow Minnow is the common name for a number of species of small freshwater fish, belonging to several genus, genera of the family Cyprinidae and in particular the subfamily Leuciscinae. They are also known in Ireland as wikt:pinkeen, pinkeens. While ...

s and fish in lakes near his home in Finland, where he noticed that in a school of minnows, an injured minnow swimming with an odd wobble made it the target of a larger fish looking for a meal. After seeing this, he crafted this lure, with the help of some of his friends, originally to help him catch more fish without having to constantly re

bait Bait may refer to: General * Bait (luring substance), bait as a luring substance ** Fishing bait, bait used for fishing Film * ''Bait'' (1950 film), a British crime film by Frank Richardson * ''Bait'' (1954 film), an American noir film by Hugo ...

the thousands of

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

s he had used to catch

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

and

perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

. But his lures, being quite good at catching fish compared to conventional methods of the time, made its way around the world, increasing in popularity, so that the whole Rapala family had to help with creating these lures. Lauri's sons learned to make the lures, and became so skilled that one of his sons, Ensio, won a national craftsmanship award for his lure. The same son also invented a machine to help mass production of this lure.

References

Rapala Company History

Rapala - Products - Original Floater
Fishing equipment Finnish inventions {{fishing-stub