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TackleTour Autopsy: Cracking
Open the Rapala Clackin Crank
| Date: |
3/18/12 |
| Tackle type: |
Lures |
| Manufacturer: |
Rapala |
| Reviewer: |
Zander |
Introduction: With the rainy weather upon us Cal and I decided to
forgo fishing and headed into the lab for a full day of tackle measurements and
autopsies. By the end of the day the lab was filled with the fumes from burning
plastic and discarded hardware from sacrificed lures littered the workbench.
Suffice to say it was a tackle massacre. The first victim to go under the knife
was a lure that we wanted to take a closer look at since it was very first
introduced, the Rapala Clackin' Crank.
What is that metal circle on the
side of the Rapala Clackin' Crank? Its the Clackin' Cadence Rattle.
The Rapala Clackin' Crank feature's the company's immediately
identifiable Clackin' Cadence Rattle System which exposes the ends of the solid
rattle on both sides of the bait. On each end are metal discs so that vibration
from the enclosed chamber immediately transfers into the water each time the
single steel ball bearing clicks side to side as the lure is retrieved.
The bait comes armed with a VMC
SureSet hook in the back
The lure features a angled diving lip to drive the
lure down between 3 to 5 feet depending on model. The square lipped design also
helps the bait more easily deflect off structure. For our autopsy we volunteered
a Clackin' Crank 74 which is the longest bait in the lineup at 2 3/4". The lure
weighed in at 5/8oz. with most of that weight coming from the rattle chamber.
In the water the bait is slightly
angled forward to aid in deflection
The lure comes armed with a VMC black nickel belly
hook and a VMC SureSet tail hook which features one extra long wide gapped point
for improved hookups. In the test tank the lure exhibits a slow rise to the
surface and is slightly front weighted so that the bait has a nose-down posture
to further aid in deflection.
The squarebill makes bouncing off
structure easy
The Clackin' Crank has a semi translucent finish and textured body
design, but once the lure is moved it seems to flash aggressively. The flash
comes not from the bait's exterior but from inside the bait where there appeared
to be a holographic film. It was time to take a closer look and crack this lure
open.
It's cutting time!
Trapped between the jaws of our vise the Clackin'
Crank was easy enough to cut from end to end but actually separating the two
sides proved to be an entirely different matter.
A through and through and we still
can't crack this bait open
Even though I could now peer into the bait the Clackin' Crank was still
held firmly together by the Cadence Rattle System. No matter how I maneuvered
the blade or pried at the lure with a screwdriver it simply did not want to
separate. I then realized that the rattle system is housed completely within a
plastic cylinder and fused end to end so the water can never leak through the
edges of the system.
No matter how much I sliced and
pried the lure just would not separate
Next Section: Why can't I crack this lure open?! |
