Rapala is one of the worlds most long-lasting companies in the industry, since the first lure carved by Lauri Rapala in the 1930′s till this day when it continues to grow, holding over 300 world record catches it manufactures lures for more than 80 years now. Lures that brought smiles on many fisherman’s faces. Even I remember that amongst my first lures in my small tackle box, almost 20 years ago, Rapala were the most acclaimed for. But that’s another story, as this review we’ll discuss some other type of Rapala product: Rapala Pro Wear X-ProTect Chest Waders to be exact.

I’ve had them for 2 years now, and wore them occasionally, at least until the last trip I had in the Kiruna area, Sweden. It’s probably the harshest terrain they will ever encounter.

Since I’m not a fly-fisherman I decided not to spent a whole lot of money on a pair of waders. Which is somehow understandable as I don’t wade a lot. I probably use waders 2-3 times a year, even though I really like this type of fishing, especially in cold water trout infested rivers and streams. There’s no better way of catching this wary fish than to walk upstream and take them by surprise.

Presentation:  Their description convinced me this would be the best choice for the. I didn’t want to go spent over 100-140$ for a pair of waders at that time. They feature a 3 layer breathable construction, all over, with no reinforced knees or any additional features. 3mm neoprene socks, articulated knees, and internal zipped pocket for electronic devices filled up the spec list. Looks, and feels perfect to me. Checked them, and double checked them when I finally got my hands around them, and they seemed perfect, even though I didn’t really fell for the color… seemed too out of place, no matter what the surrounding environment was.  They were armed with a repair kit in case anything should happen. Never bothered to read the instructions… really.

Out into the wild test: First time out with them, and was overwhelmed with the good decision I had made. Everything seemed to fit in perfectly at first glance. After getting to use them for a while I started detecting all sort of things. The suspenders were loosening every time I went fishing with them. Sometimes this was uncomfortable, especially during summer days when I had nothing than a t-shirt on. The suspenders kept loosening every hour. It’s probably from the way I walk ). If I was well dressed, meaning some type of clothing over the suspenders, or a backpack, then the loosening was happening a tad slower, and wasn’t that noticeable or uncomfortable.

Nice to be dry for a few relaxing moments

The belt was well designed, and I’d say better designed than other brand waders of the more expensive sort. I liked the fact it had straps for the belt from back to front. It keeps the belt in place.

Now lets get wet and sweaty, and see how their waterproofness and breathability goes. On my first fishing trip I’d have to say I didn’t notice a thing, but that’s probably because I was fishing in not more than 1.3m deep water, and wasn’t fishing for more than 1-2 hours. Honestly I’ve fished them on rare occasions, probably 3-4 times/year, and didn’t quite got the feel of them until this year, when we were fishing in Northern Sweden, Kiruna area. Where all we did for 7 days was trout fishing in our waders.

On the first day of expedition I’ve found out they weren’t that waterproof after all and this only in about 1-2 hours of fishing. They seemed to be letting in water in the  knee area, and in the pelvic area, bot front and back. The areas that were most prone to stress and tear. This is probably why higher quality, and more expensive waders had reinforced these parts of the wading suit. It wasn’t water pouring in, but you could see my “insulating” trousers were damp in these areas, and didn’t really make me feel good, considering I’d be doing this for the next 7 days at least 8 hours a day.

First day dinner - grayling

Which the passing of each day I was getting to know my waders better and better, but not in a good way. The 3mm neoprene socks weren’t that waterproof either, as everyday my socks were humid inside, and not from perspiration. I doubt that I could get that humid from sweating, considering the temperatures outside. Their breathable qualities probably were there, but I couldn’t feel them working for me. All the sweat was trapped inside, when having to hike from a fishing spot to another. Stefan didn’t seem to be that bothered with his waders, at least not in this matter (he was using a more expensive pair of waders). This was a problem, because sweat that was trapped inside my waders made the cold water feel even “better”. This and the “waterproof” abilities of my waders.

Waders had to withstand a lot of battering amongst the rocky underwater terrain

You remember I told you that my waders were equipped with a repair kit? Well they do come with a repair kit, and couldn’t be bothered that I tarred my waders, when my left knee hit a boulder after slipping on it… I probably happens very often, especially in this area. In the same day a treble punctures Stefan’s waders as well, and told him: “Don’t worry… I have a repair kit”. What I didn’t know was that the repair kit was meant to be used at home, with an IRON. I couldn’t believe what my eyes were reading. You can only tare, or puncture your waders when fishing. Consider you are (as we were) in a remote area, where you can only be picked up by helicopter, with no electricity or phone signal. How the f…. can you use the repair kit. We finally came up with a solution. We’ll use the kerosene tent warmer. The top is hot enough. Again SURPRISE… the unopened , sealed glue was as hard as a rock (dried out). No chance of using it. Luckily there was just enough vulcanization strip to use on my knee. You could iron this on without the additional glue. Just my luck I’d say, because after the repair the water leak was stopped, and could at least fish the rest of the trip.

Moving from one spot to the other we encountered swampy areas

Moving from one spot to the other we encountered rocky and shruby areas

If the kit wasn’t meant to be used easily without electrical appliance I’d rather not get it with the waders, at least like that I’d know I needed something in that matter, just in case something happened, and needed repair on the spot.

Water pressure on my waders

I didn’t check other waders repair kits. Stefan’s waders only had vulcanization inseams and a few material patches for repair. No glue, no instructions. Maybe it’s just me, but it just doesn’t feel right to not be able to do anything about your broken waders on the water. I can repair an Inflatable boat on the spot if ever faced with the challenge, but you have to iron a lousy patch to repair a pair of waders. This seems close to BS to me.

Waist deep water all day long

Waist deep water all day long - if you wanted to get where the fish were

Other than that …. the waders did their job. Not terrific but did their job, for the last time I believe. I’ll definitely get  better ones before planning another wading trip far away from home.

Save up for more expensive/durable waders - it'll be worth it....

Conclusion: What you pay is what you get is a wise saying. You will never be able to buy quality stuff cheap. This has been proven time and time again. In case anyone wonders. The waders have never been washed, only lightly cleaned, so they should’ve been as new. The waterproof-breathable material isn’t so waterproof or breathable after all, but it gets the job done, if that’s the only thing you want. The material isn’t the most durable, but I didn’t expect that from a 100$ pare of “breathable” waders. The 3mm neoprene socks aren’t waterproof either. Everyday on the trip when back to base camp they were damp inside. If asked if I would ever buy these waders again… I probably would if I had the same budget, but I’d recommend saving more money for a better quality waders than these. I like the fact that they come with a bag, for easy transportation, in which they can dry out pretty well if you leave them in a well vented area.

About Andrei

Professional angler, rodbuilder, lurebuilder, if it's about fishing you name it, he does it. He hates "relaxing", and takes each day as a challange. Whenever he's got a spare moment he's either fishing, cycling, hiking or training his ass at the gym. He's fishing for more than 20 years now. Strictly on artifficial baits from the age of 7, he's always on the look out for the newest stuff and techniques out there.

View all posts by Andrei →

It all started when we got back from Knin, a beautiful town in Croatia, where the Trout World Championship from shore took place. Me and Andrei, were the captains of the Romanian Spinning Team.

The best thing about a World Championship is that you get to compete, watch and learn from the best. So, after returning home, all we had in mind was trout, and trying all the new techniques we’ve learned in Croatia. We only had one problem. Rain had been poring all over the country for about two weeks, and made all rivers and lakes nearby muddy.

We needed a backup plan, and we needed it fast. Andrei suggested we went trout fishing on a lake, near a famous natural park. Boat fishing was a must, as the water level was about 40 meters higher than usual, which made shore fishing near to absolute impossible.

I’d rather not say how we arrived around 12pm, or that we almost drove into the lake because the road was engulfed by the water, or that pitching the tent was a bit tricky without a flashlight or the fact that we had only 3 sleep hours left till dawn, but that’s what really happened.

But, who cares about these details when you wake up in the morning, take a deep breath of fresh mountain air and in front of your eyes lies a beautiful lake surrounded by forest that’s filled with wild trout? We had a quick breakfast and jumped into the boat.

For me, lake trout fishing was a new challenge. I only did river trout fishing so far, and lakes need a totally different approach. This is because of the huge water volume, which makes locating fish more difficult. Even when you located the depth where the trout is, they can be very selective when it comes to artificial baits and their underwater presentation. Also, the weather conditions can change all the variables in no time. So if you take all these into account, you quickly realize it’s impossible not to fall in love with this type of fishing, which pushes your fishing skills to the edge.

We started fishing with different lures, and while I was fishing a spoon Andrei was fishing crankbaits and jerkbaits. We needed to explore different water depths and lure vibrations, in order to see where the trout are feeding. This seems a pretty simple and efficient strategy in theory, but practice doesn’t always agree. We had strikes at a water depth of 15 meters, and also just below the surface at 0.5-1 meter. The problem was that few of this strikes were decisive, allowing us to actually set the hook. The first day we managed to catch between 10 to 15 trouts, mainly between 1-2 lbs, but these weren’t the ones we were after. Besides, I really wanted to wrestle a big one.

What I noticed was that the water surface was full of insects, and trout preferred them instead of our small fish imitation lures. So I switched to a small Salmo wobbler, Tiny model, which perfectly imitates a bug. I used this model before, but mainly when fishing chub. Now, I needed something that would make little noise when it falls on the water, and can wake trouts interest. Something very similar to an insect.

After a few casts, we got to a great shadowed spot, with overhanging pine right over a cliff. It seemed like the perfect place for opportunistic trout that were just waiting for bugs to fall into the water. The Salmo Tiny fell near the cliff, and started its belly dance very close to the surface.
In no time the Tiny lure was rammed by a big one, spectacularly jumping at least 4 feet out of the water. The strike was incredible, and the trout huge. It was show time!

Because I was fishing a Light St. Croix 6’6” rod, with 2 lbs monofilament, it was very important no to rush and tire the fish using my rods action and the reel brake. Any fast movement could scare the fish and make him snap the 2lbs fishing line. Also, when you notice that the fish intends to jump, it’s important to keep the rod tip in the water, trying to force him to stay under. During these spectacular jumps, hook-offs are much more likely to happen.

If you keep your calm, (yeah I know, pretty difficult when dealing with a potential personal record) and put constant pressure on the fish, you have a big chance of winning the battle.

So, after an awesome fight, with some runoffs near the boat and the first half of my rod down underwater, I managed to bring the fish to the net for some great pictures.

It was a beautiful 7lbs lake trout, which may not seem much, but for me it is a personal record and a big addition to my future lake trout fishing career.

Soon after the catch, the weather quickly changed with a big storm approaching, so we had to stop fishing and start packing. But don’t worry, we’ll return soon, because now I have a new record to break!

About Adrian

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

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As a second captain and media representative of the Romanian Team at the Trout World Championship from Shore in Croatia in 2010 I just couldn’t be passive and not notice the lure that brought Alexey Shanin to the podium. It took me a while to find the exact lure, but with persistence I managed.

From the look of it I knew it was 100% Japan Domestic Market stuff, so I narrowed my search a lil’ bit. I had to go through whatever Japanese tackle manufacturers i could find. After searching for a few hours  I remembered one in particular, from my 2008 visit at EFTTEX in Rome. It’s SMITH lures we’re talking about. They probably have the most complete set of trout lures amongst all lure manufacturers not only in Japan, but probably in the entire world.

The actual winner lure is SMITH Luna(R), a 47mm suspending jerkbait, that creates a lot of flash when twiched in the water.  I supposed it was suspending, as i didn’t see it fall when stopped. I watched Alexey closely in the last 2 rounds of the competition.

I really have to say Smith lures are among the rarest lures ever. I’ve already been searching for a few years for some exact models, that even today i wasn’t able to find, so this was definitely not the easiest search to buy one exact model. I couldn’t believe my luck when I stumbled upon 2 of these lures, after 3-4 days of searching. Even these were stated as used.  Just my luck! I couldn’t take a chance and ordered them instantly. Payed 34$ for 2 lures, transport included. Not the priciest so far, but certainly the rarest.

After a 2 week wait I finally got them. They were the most exquisite small jerkbaits i’ve ever seen. What I loved about them was their size. A tad smaller than the 48SP Pointers, and less bulkier, and felt much much smaller than Yo-Zuri’s 50mm Pin’s Magnet. Two more lures I couldn’t leave home without.

First impressions. There’s not much to say about the packaging of the lures, as they had none. They were stated as used. Very well finished, not  even the slightest scratch on the paint job, so I don’t really get what “used” was supposed to mean in this case. These are plastic jerkbaits. You will definitely not get trout wooden jerkbaits at this price. For realism they all have holographic 3D eyes, but this aspect is more for the fisherman than for the fish.  They are equipped with high quality components as far as I can tel. One of them has Owner Cultiva barbless trebles, while the other has regular trebles (barbed). I can’t really tell who their manufacturer is, but they seem the same as on the 48SP Lucky Craft Pointers. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Application. I intend to use it especially in rivers for both chub and trout. I prefer trout, but chub is what I got closer by. I especially like to throw these type of lures in the shade, under tree branches, and start with short twiches, reeling in very slowly (mainly to get the slack of the line). It gives the fish more time to notice the flashes of my lure.

When fishing on fast flowing trout streams I may use a steady retrieve with short twiches from time to time when casting directly down stream, and when casting upstream or sideways I do a lot of twiching to make sure my lure gets noticed from a distance.

We’re eager to get them tested, but the weather is against us this weekend. We’ll have to see what happens when the waters clear.

About Andrei

Professional angler, rodbuilder, lurebuilder, if it's about fishing you name it, he does it. He hates "relaxing", and takes each day as a challange. Whenever he's got a spare moment he's either fishing, cycling, hiking or training his ass at the gym. He's fishing for more than 20 years now. Strictly on artifficial baits from the age of 7, he's always on the look out for the newest stuff and techniques out there.

View all posts by Andrei →

I don’t know how many of you go stream trout fishing, but you must definitely know that trout are among the spookiest fish out there. If the water is crystal clear and if they just get a glimpse of you, then, you might not be able to catch those trout.

I consider trout fishing the ultimate frontier, either stream trout or lake trout, both satisfy me the same . You’re out there battling the elements, walking upstream, downstream, boating on an empty lake. It’s perfect! Especially if you consider that trout are pretty finiky at times it makes it even more challenging.

Stream fishing for trout is very demanding, both on your ability to focus, on your eyes, and on your ability to stay upright on those slippery rocks, and of course precise casts near boulders or other larger or smaller structures.

If you truly want to catch good sized trout you’ll need to be all over the place, with dead accurate casts, and most likely you’ll want to be camouflaged as best as you can. I’m not saying you dress up like a marine. Keep it simple!

There are 2 types of trout streams: the murkier type and the crystal clear water type. The second one is where you need to be hiding all the time. When streams are murkier, I’ve had trout come up to my ankles after spinners or cranks. I think that never happened in very clear water streams, where sometimes I wondered why I wasn’t catching any in spots that most definitely held trout.

Most of the times I go spinner fishing upstream rather than downstream just because it helps me blend in better and catch more trout. I forgot to mention that almost all trout are oriented upstream, meaning you will always be behind them, where they have a narrower field of view.

Camouflage tips:

1. Use the boulders in your advantage. Consider they are there for a reason: for you to hide behind them. You can stick your head above them, but as soon as you show your entire body you will most likely spook those trout, diminishing your chance of catching any fish in that area. This is available for every other structure there is in the water, like fallen trees for example.

2. Use small water falls in your advantage. I’d better say level differences in the stream bed. You can stay hidden behind them, and trout won’t be that spooked even if you get closer, because the angle you are visible from (for trout) is too sharp, so they will see less of you.

3. Stick close to the shore, trying to have bush or something the same color as your clothes behind you. In this manner you will mix with the background. This is the best way to approach small ponds that form along these trout streams. I will always take the shallower side of the river, knowing that larger trout prefer deeper water and are always on the move. This way you can definitely catch more trout than if you’d go through the center of the stream (small pond), and you’ll always have both sides approachable.

4. Use man made structures to your advantage. For example hide behind bridge legs/pylons, and cast under them bridges. When you approach a bridge, you definitely know it has deeper water under it. In these cases I prefer to step outside of the water and walk to the bridge on shore. I can get behind those legs/pylons without trout even noticing me.

Keep these in mind and they won’t know what hit them.

About Andrei

Professional angler, rodbuilder, lurebuilder, if it's about fishing you name it, he does it. He hates "relaxing", and takes each day as a challange. Whenever he's got a spare moment he's either fishing, cycling, hiking or training his ass at the gym. He's fishing for more than 20 years now. Strictly on artifficial baits from the age of 7, he's always on the look out for the newest stuff and techniques out there.

View all posts by Andrei →