Here comes my first Bad Rash Lures.
A lure made by Daniel, with some beer lids, recycling at its finest if you asked me.
First a few photos, then a text sent to me by Daniel.
In the packaging.
Yes, they do come in a nice little plastic bag, with a picture of a Mangrove Jack fished on a Bad Rash Lures. And I got lucky, the one on the pic is made with the same lids that the one I got.
Out of the bag.
Yes, made with the lids of the very well known XXXX Gold, a beer made in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, since a very long time. In fact it is the most popular beer in nearly all of Queensland.
Bad Rash Lures.
And now the text sent to me by Daniel, which explain how Bad Rash Lures came to be:
"The idea of using beer lids to catch fish is nothing new, the concept has been around for quite some time. I have been making lures for as long as I can remember. I first started making lead slug type lures out of barrel sinker to cast at schools of Mackerel and Tuna in Moreton Bay about 25 years ago. Next came some timber lures for catching anything from Bass and bream through to Mangrove Jacks and Barra some of which I still use today. I had quite a spell from making lures and the bug came back about 3 years ago.
I started to produce some lures that were quick and easy to make and started producing beer lid poppers. They consist of a beer lid glued to a tapered cork, wire and a hook and do not take too long to make, and are quite effective. I have not used them consistently but have caught some noteworthy fish on them including Trevally, Barra and Mangrove Jack.
The idea of beer lid lures was always in the back of my mind but I never bothered until October this year. Why I started making beer lid lures now I do not have a clue, I think I just wanted to prove to my mate Pete that I could out fish him with all of his fancy gear.
I first started making them just as single lid lure by punching two hole at either end of the lid adding two size 4 split rings and then a size 4, 3X strong VMC treble and a few rocks for weight.The first time I used them I managed to hook six and land two Saratoga from a small creek standing on the bank.
Next came a solo trip to a local billabong where I managed to catch 21 fish in just over 3 hours. The bulk of them were Saratoga, a total of 17 for the morning, a personal best. These were all caught on a Coopers Pale Ale jointed beer lid lure. Two beer lids were joined via a split ring with a second treble attached in the middle.
I then had a good trip up to Sandy Creek to test them out on some saltwater species. The most noteworthy fish was a Queenfish around the 9kg mark that I had hooked on a jointed Coopers Pale Ale. The fish was caught casting and retrieving the lure across that surface at speed and was hooked for a good ten minutes when we went for a tail grab and it swam off with the rear part of the lure.
To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. What I found had happened and it happen again on a good Trevally was that the split ring was working its way along the crimped edge of the beer lid until it completely undid. Design fault.
I thought about how I could get rid of the split rings altogether and make the lures stronger from a wear perspective. The holes are only punched in the edges of the beer lids.
I still had some 80lb Mason Downunder stainless steel wire that I was using to make the beer lid poppers. I started to make the current lures that I have now and found that they are performing well so far.
To date I have caught a total of 149 fish on the beer lid lure with the following species and numbers being my most recent tally:
Saratoga - 54
Archerfish - 4
Barra - 9
Tarpon - 24
Fork tail Catfish - 10
Brassy Trevally - 10
Big Eye Trevally - 1
Golden Trevally - 1
Queenfish - 14
Blue Bone - 4
Cod - 2
Bar Tailed Grunter - 1
Spaniards - 2
Mangrove Jack - 1
Sooty Grunter -
8 Spangled Perch - 1
Long Tom - 1
Bass - 2"
And that is it for Daniel text.
Impressive no?
Now, do you want to know about another impressive thing?
Well let me tell you how I got this lure…
Last December, the local newspaper, ran a story about a few of the lures that I have in my small collection.
Daniel saw the article, and just happened to be in town on the day it was published.
He called the paper and asked for my contact, saying that he would have a new lure for me.
A few phone call later, and he dropped by my place and gave me this very lure, saying Happy Christmas !
I call that pure Territory goodness!
Thank you Daniel, I will not swim it, but I will take care of it, be sure of that.
I know that some of my readers will say that a lure is made for fishing and that I should use it…
But hey, it could be worse.
Have a good day,
Me.
