TURUS UKKO: High quality lures with Finnish roots made in Germany

The meanwhile deceased
inventor of the
legendary Turus Ukko lures,
Jorma Turunen, had grown up with
predatory freshwater fishing since his
childhood. Like most children in Finland, he went
fishing with his father almost every day. One reason for sure was to enrich the menu with freshly caught fish.Jorma Turunen continued to refine the
lure shape by trial and error until
final versions were found, which are
still made in this way. The legendary
success of
TURUS UKKO wobblers spoke quickly in the Scandinavian area and it didn’t take long before the
TURUS UKKO wobblers had their
firm place in every fishing box of
Finnish trolling and spin fishing anglers. Of course, it was also used in the Finnish
Saimaa Lake area, one of the
top areas for
trolling on landlocked salmon and
lake trout, and of course for
pike and in the meantime also for
pike perch (European Walleye). There was a need for smaller lure sizes: the
TURUS UKKO wobblers in
9 cm, 12 cm, 16 cm and
20 cm were born. They embarked on a unique triumphal march in the world of predatory fishing, which lasted
for decades and
consistently gave the
predator angler fantastic catch results.Jorma Turunen presented the in
small series produced TURUS UKKO wobblers at
international trade fairs. From then on, demand increased rapidly and
worldwide interest grew and grew. In order to meet this increasing demand, the lure series with higher quantities were made of
African Abachi wood. This was the right choice. Abachi is
beautifully light, has a
high buoyancy, is
considerably harder than the balsa wood preferred in lure making and it is much
better suited for the
stability of larger lures.
To this day,
Abachi wood is
still used for the
TURUS UKKO wobblers.

The production of the
TURUS UKKO wobblers takes place – then as now – in elaborate
manual labour. The
wooden bodies are milled,
smoothed by hand and for the bigger sizes a
metal weight is placed in the head area to ensure that the lure runs horizontally (to compensate for the uneven buoyancy between the head and tail area). An
extremely resilient hook-in eyelet in the head area and of course
stainless steel eyelets for the
treble hooks are a matter of course with this premium wobbler. The
TURUS UKKO lures have multiple coatings.Firstly, they are
primed in an immersion bath with
special layers, which provides
protection against bite marks hurting the outer skin of the lure and thus against
water penetrating into the inside of the
TURUS UKKO. This ensures the
unique running characteristics even after years of hard use.

The crowning touch are the enticing and
finely crafted colour patterns, also applied by hand, with a
final layer of clear varnish that provides
additional protection against damage. More than 25 years ago then came the shock for all predatory fishermen. Jorma Turunen took over the business with the
TURUS UKKO and
sold his „Turus Ukko Oy“ to an American company. This company tried to market the Turus Ukko in a cheaply manufactured version, probably from the Far East. The word quickly spread, with the result that
TURUS UKKO has
disappeared from the scene since 1995. The remaining Turus Ukko models, which were still handcrafted in Finland, became precious treasures and sought-after
collector’s items.
In 2006, Jarmo Rapala (the grandson of Lauri Rapala) brought the TURUS UKKO back to Finland, and since then he has placed great importance on the fact that the TURUS UKKO lures are handcrafted as it used to be and catches as successfully as when Jorma Turunen was still responsible for the production. Jarmo Rapala has been able to improve the quality even further thanks to his extensive know-how and do-how and his excellent worldwide relationships in lure making.
He hired Veli-Pekka Sahinoja, who already made the TURUS UKKO for Jorma Turunen, so that the wobblers have the same shape and design as before.In August 2021 Guido Behle (founder of www.luckylures.eu) founded the German TURUS UKKO GmbH, to which the TURUS UKKO brand was transferred and which takes over the production of the TURUS UKKO lures. The lures are handmade in exactly the same way in their as they have been made for decades and the lures continue the high standards of quality and catchability in keeping with old traditions. Special thanks to Jarmo Rapala, who accompanies and supports us so great.