Relax is one of the biggest and most respected soft lure companies in Europe. It started from Poland in the mid 90′s and extended gradually, soon to be reaching the United States. Every year their bait range increases with new items being added to the product family.

Relax Kopyto is one of their first model and maybe the lure they are most proud of. They call it a legend, a lure which has written history in predator fishing. A star lure, with an incredible action and fish catching abilities.

We taught that’s a pretty bold statement for any soft fishing lure and decided to put its name to the test.

When it comes to colors and sizes, Kopyto lures are all about diversity. They come in 7 different sizes, starting from 1 inch (2.5cm) all the way up to 6 inch (15cm). This size range offers versatility in terms of target species and techniques.

Relax Kopyto offers a huge range of over 200 colors, making sure even the most pretentious anglers find their desired patterns. It’s such a big color range that you can easily get lost and confused trying to browse all of it.

Softness & Material
We can agree that one of the biggest secrets of any soft bait is the material composition. It’s one of the key elements in the lure’s action equation. It has to be resistant, yet allow for a natural and appealing swim. The Relax team took this thing very seriously, when manufacturing their lures, and Kopyto is no exception.

It has a pretty tough body, yet the tail portion bends easily on each side.
There’s a simple test you can use with any shad shaped soft lure, that will give you a good clue about whether or not it has a consistent tail action. You only need to hold the lure in a vertical position, with the tail facing up. If the tail bends close to the lure’s body and the paddle is at a good angle, there’s a big chance that the tail will emit good vibrations even at the smallest traction.

This is exactly the case for Relax Kopyto. The tail construction and paddle positioning make this lure a really aggressive softie.

Kopyto initials covering the lure's body.

Durability
Kopyto has a really good material composition, which makes it resistant to predators teeth.
What may happen is that you loose the tail from time to time. The tail portion is pretty thin and because the paddle emits powerful vibrations, predators tend to attack and hold to this area, so it gets ripped off.
It happened to me on several occasions, when fishing for perch or zander (wallaye), to remain without the tail. This is really not such a big deal, as it mainly happens with small fish, not able to swallow the entire lure. Overall Kopyto has a good ratio between softness and durability.

Engineering and Design
Being born out of the European fishing market, Relax Kopyto was meant to address freshwater fishing using the classical jigging technique. Unlike the Japan market, revolving around bass fishing, this soft lure has nothing spectacular regarding packaging, details and finish. It doesn’t posses salt nor scent impregnation. Relax kept it simple, focusing only on action and material.

But if there’s one thing to give credit for, it’s the Kopyto original shape. Let’s be honest, this lure started a new design trend. Because it was so efficient it was copied by a lot of competing companies all over the continent. I think I’ve seen more than ten copycats out there and most of them are really far from the original, mostly due to the material used.

Application
Kopyto works its magic when fished on a jig. Jigging gets the most out of this bait. I caught pretty much all freshwater predators using this soft lure. Species like pike, perch, bass, catfish and zander simply nailed this lure, when properly presented.

If you improvise a little, you can really stretch its application range. I’ve also fished Relax Kopyto on weedless jigs, and the smaller models (2.5” and 3”) work excellent armed with an offset hook. This lets you easily cover techniques like Carolina or Texas with this lure.

Light jigs do pay off!

My favorite presentation with Kopyto is to fish it slowly, using minimum jig weight.
Even though it’s all-year lure, Kopyto really kills it in the spring, before spawning. Big females are protecting their nest, males are highly aggressive and Kopyto is the perfect solution to take advantage of their territoriality.

Big perch love skirt jigs

Action
The lure’s perfect proportions contribute to an amazing action. It’s not just the tail that emits underwater vibrations. Due to the perfect link between body and tail, the hole body moves and emits strong signals. Just pull it through the water and you’ll quickly notice the body movement. No wonder predators can’t resist it.

Kopyto's flexible tail and large paddle are "quilty" for its agressive action

Conclusion
I think the fact that you can find this lure in my personal Top 10 Walleye Baits pretty much sums it up.
Relax Kopyto is an efficient lure and over time has helped me catch more fish. If you improvise a little, it can be fished in multiple manners, using weedless jigs or offset techniques. The size and color range on this model is huge, much bigger than on any other soft baits I’ve used before. Oh, and yes, I think this comes pretty close to a legend.

About Adrian

Professional angler, web enthusiast and tackle fanatic. Always in search for new things that can improve his fishing.

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