Innovation Spotlight - How Rapala’s Smart Injection Technology Makes Crushcity Soft Baits The Best On The Market

We’ve been getting a lot of questions about how Smart Injection Technology is used to make Rapala’s CrushCity soft baits, so this is to explain  some of the features and benefits of this innovative manufacturing process. What follows is a rundown of the many ways Smart Injection Technology contributes to the CrushCity collection being the best soft plastics for smallmouth and largemouth bass, walleye, trout, pike, panfish and more.

Smart Injection Technology is a Rapala-exclusive manufacturing process for soft plastics. This innovative technology is engineered to precisely impregnate custom combinations of salt, scent, colour and flake consistently into the two CrushCity soft plastic formulas — Super TPE and PVC/Plastisol — to produce performance-tuned soft baits delivering the perfect combination of life-like action, buoyancy, salt-content and taste fish can’t resist.

Smart Injection Technology is a game-changer because of its controlled, consistent precision during the manufacturing process. This exacting procedure sees to it that each CrushCity soft bait delivers the perfect presentation. Whether you’re grabbing a pack for the spring or the same pack for fall fishing, you know what you’re going to get and the results speak for themselves. 

Meticulously impregnating ingredients into Rapala’s Super TPE or PVC/Plastisol formulas also guarantees no additional liquids or other unwanted contents enter the mix. As a result, Smart Injection Technology guarantees the production of extremely consistent, precision-moulded soft plastics, boasting exceptional durability and irresistible actions that big fish crush over and over again.

Now that you have a better understanding of how Smart Injection Technology works and what makes it unique, let’s take a closer look how it’s responsible for many of the fish-catching features within the CrushCity collection. Below are just four ways this precision-moulding process makes the best soft plastics for bass, walleye, pike, trout and panfish.

Salt is a big deal when it comes to fishing soft plastics, and Smart Injection Technology’s ability to precisely put salt where its needed dramatically improves the performance of CrushCity soft baits.

Take The Jerk, for instance, which is precision-moulded to have all of its salt distributed in the belly, which acts as a keel. This is critical for giving this jerk-shad style bait its enticing swimming action. Meticulous salt distribution within the undersides of The Mayor, Heavy Hitter and The Suspect  is also essential for giving these swimbaits their spellbinding belly-roll and alluring actions. Precise salt placement is also critical for the Bronco Bug to have its one-of-a-kind, leg-rocking action bass can’t resist.

Another part of the Smart Injection Technology story is how it prevents salt from ending up where it’s not wanted, such as the back of The Jerk . Benefits to a saltless back are improved strength, durability and longevity of the bait. 

Another reason Smart Injection Technology is revolutionary is because it allows for ultimate control of every component impregnated into each soft plastic. It’s not only about salt. Scent, colour and fleck are equally important, and Smart Injection Technology allows Rapala to place these exactly where they’re needed and, as a result, maximize the enticing qualities of CrushCity soft baits for the specific techniques they were designed to excel at.

At first, from distance, you may think these are your usual soft plastics designs, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. What separates CrushCity from the rest are the small details. An outcome of the above strengths is Smart Injection Technology allows Rapala to produce highly detailed baits loaded with attraction and strike-triggering features. Examples of this are the reverse, secondary appendages on the sides of the Bronco Bug and Cleanup Craw, as well as along the Creeper’s belly. These tiny legs quiver with the slightest bit of current or angler manipulation, and help turn lookers into biters.

The Freeloader’s tail rings and the Ned BLT’s tapered, ribbed tail are two more examples of soft-plastic precision. Each of these detailed features boost the subtle, attraction and  scent dissipation qualities of these baits. Equally impressive are the scales, eyes, gills and other lifelike baitfish details seen on The Jerk, The Mayor, Heavy Hitter and The Suspect. 

The raised ribs on the top and the bottom of the Bronco Bug also exemplify this Smart Injection Technology feature. In addition to enhancing mouthfeel and scent dispersion, the ribs conceal the hook point — and when one side of the Bronco Bug starts to show wear, the hook can be flipped without compromising any action, thereby increasing durability and efficiency.

Similar things can also be said about how Smart Injection Technology’s control enables the enticing, tight kicking action of the Cleanup Craw’s claws. Again, there is much more to these baits than what meets the eye. Have trust in the people behind the development, their experience in bite-triggering actions and know that each feature of the bait has a purpose-driven design foundation.

Intertwined with the above benefits is another strong point of Smart Injection Technology — the ability to produce extremely consistent soft plastics, which guarantees the CrushCity winning formula remains unchanged with each and every soft bait. This consistency is easily seen in the way baits from a package appear as clones both in and out of the water. Just as beneficial is the unique features and performance attributes of every CrushCity model stay consistent across all available colour patterns.

The above only scratches the surface of Smart Injection Technology’s strengths and advantages. Another upshot of this innovative tech is it has enabled Rapala to bring nine remarkable multi-species CrushCity soft plastics to the Canadian market — so, regardless of whether you’re fishing for smallmouth and largemouth bass, walleye, trout, northern pike or panfish, the comprehensive CrushCity soft bait collection has got you covered and is only going to grow in the coming years.