Wednesday, November 23, 2011

My First Ever Blinky Lure.

Hi there,

Today I am going to introduce you to my first ever Blinky Lure.
This timber fishing lure is over 30 year old, hand made, of Western Redcedar.
To say that I am happy to have come across this lure, would be an extremely modest statement.
I had been looking for a Blinky for a long time now, alway keeping and eye out for them, at the op shop or at the garage sales.
Blinky, the maker of this lure has now stopped to make them as a business, and only do a couple of them once in a while, for himself.
This one was made a long time ago, as never seen the water, and will never see it!

So how did this lure came to be mine?
Well it did not fall from the sky directly in my open hands, but nearly...
I had started a thread on the FFF forum about some other lures of mine, when Blinky himself made a reply in which he put two photographs of this very lure and asked if I wanted it?
Golly! If I wanted it? Of course yes!
So I take a bit of time to send him a reply, so I would not look like an impatient spoilt brat, and asked him if he wanted money or another lure for it?
And believe it or not, he said that he didn't want anything for it, that this was just a present...
I had some trouble to understand where this was coming from, but was so happy that I felt like jumping on the spot.
Thanks you Blinky.


Here comes seven images of it:

The Blinky.

And from above.

This is an interesting colour, which has since then be seen on the Spearhead from Nils Master.

The belly, nice and slim.

Eye and tow point.

Wire going through. 

Yes, it is hand signed.

Painted from head to tail.

As you can see this is a robust lure, with a tow point made from a double wire going back in the lure's belly. And a great attention to finish, painted from one extremity to the other.
I particularly like this detail, as I often feel cheated with modern lure. When the tail is not painted and I can clearly see the colour of the plastic it is made of,  as the extremity of the lure is left blank. This is a little thing that I enjoy on wooden lures.
The bib is made of Lexan.

Yes, I am happy...
Thanks again Blinky, this is only the second time that I have a lure given to me directly by its maker, the first time it was a Classic Barra given to me by Rob Gaden.
I have never met Rob Gaden, but it was great to meet Blinky, even if that was a very short encounter during a lunch break, and to have the lure handed to me by the man himself.

Here is a very recent little anecdote about these lures...
I showed the lure to a  work colleague who is a keen fisherman, and he said: "Ho! I had two of these ones, but with some red on them. They were deadly on Barra, but I lost the two of them to some big fish. And I haven't been able to find any of them again"
Well I can tell you that is not getting this one...



This is a lure that I will take great care of, it will definitively stay at the office. As I believe that this is an authentic piece of Fishing Australiana.

So yes, this is another little lure that will never learn how to swim...

But hey, it could be worse.
Have a good day,
Me.

5 comments:

Frank Simón said...

Hello Rambling Expat.

First let me introduce myself. Well you know my name and I’m a bit of an Expat myself, sort of. I call myself “El Guiri Gallego” or “The English Dago” because of being between cultures.

I found you through a comment you left in “Sargoanderz’s” blog.

First congratulations on finding the Blinky, I myself have a few handmade quid jigs made over thirty years ago so I can imagine what it must mean to you.

I’m now a follower of the blog and shall put you in my blog roll to keep tabs.

Thanks. Frank.

Frank Simón said...

It should say "Squid Jigs" above and I should read before pressing keys!

Frank.

Rambling Expat said...

Hola Frank,

I just had a look at your blog and like the posts about how to make good fishing knots.
This is an area where I still have a lot of progress to make...
So I will now follow your blog, and hopefully learn a bit about it.

And yes being an expat is often about sitting between two culture and having a hard time to know to which we belong.
And it has it's very good side too.

Have a good day,
Me.

Benno said...

Nice little lure the blinky, I have one very similar but a bit smaller. Same square sides, and the tow point looks very similar. I will post it up on the blog soon with some other unknowns and see of anyone knows what they are

Rambling Expat said...

Hi Benno,

I am quite impatient to see your Blinky.
It took me a long time to get one, and I am based in Darwin.
You did very well to score on in Queensland.

Let us know once it is on your blog.

Have a good day,
Me.