The King Codder Fishing Lures.

Hi there,

When a lure maker calls to tell you that he has two vintage fishing lures for you, you know that you are in for a treat. So when Tony the maker of the Barra Guru lures called me, I was rather excited and faster than a fleeing baitfish, I found myself at his place.

The present came to me in the form of two King Codder.

Two King Codder fishing lures.

In an old newspaper from down south (The Age), dated from the 30 November 1962, I found an advertisement and some information about them.

They are Australian fishing lures that were made by DK Union Tackle Co. in Melbourne.

At the time Union Tackle had up to a dozen metal lures, but the King Codder were made of timber. Certainly with some big Murray Cod in mind. So how did these two ended up in Darwin is any one guess. Albeit seeing how robust and well built they are, they would have been very good lures in the pursuit of our local champion, the mighty Barramundi.

King Codder came in only two sizes and two colours. Red fin and Trout or if you prefer, Gold and Silver.

By offering me the gold ones in the two available sizes, Tony had given me half of the full set. What a great way to start collecting a lure that I had never heard of.

The colour pattern of the gold ones would certainly have been of great efficiency on the Barramundi. As this is a colour scheme still very popular on today’s modern lures.

The large one.

The small one.

Detail of the small one.

Little treasures can be as varied as the different people who own them.

To my these four small pieces of wood, have become part of my precious…

And now, I would love to find the two silver ones.

And it might take a very long time...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

One New BarraGuru.

Hi there,

Yes I have been very lucky, I was offered one more BarraGuru fishing lure.
And once again, it is a very beautiful timber one.

How come I got this lure?
Well it is very simple, I was having a little chat with Tony B. the maker of the BarraGuru lures, and of course it is very easy to guess what we were discussing...
You are right, fishing lures, yes...
And as I was showing him one of his lures in a display, I told him that I really liked the colour and shape of this one, as for some obscure reasons it made me think of an old cafe racer. It was a yellow lure with a black head.
I don't know what chord it strung with Tony, but he smiled at me and said: "I will make you one like that".
This was music to my hears, and I thought that if I was lucky, in a few weeks, maybe months, I would be the happy recipient of a new great hand made fishing lure.
Well, bite me, but in the same week, (talk of a spoilt kid) Tony got this great lure delivered to me.
Thank you Tony.

Here it comes:

My second BarraGuru.

This one to me, will be the cafe racer of my little collection.

Don't ask why, but it remind me of these old motorbikes from the 1960's.

From above.

To me the head and bib look a bit like an ace of spades. And every time that I see an ace of spades, this old song from when I was a tad younger, came back in the back of my head... The song of course is called Ace of Spades by the band Motörhead... 

A tune that I really liked as a kid, which has stuck to some recess of my memory.

Signed under the tail.

Yes 2012 seems to be a very good vintage for the BarraGuru production.

The face.

This is a very well finished wooden fishing lure.

This one too, is made from the Red Cedar that had been stocked by Eric Moller, under his house for his own production. And was later given to Tony by Eric Moller grandson.

The wood this very lure is made from, was stocked in far North Queensland before being moved to Darwin in the Northern Territory, to finally being transform in a beautiful fishing lure.

The origin of the wood, combined with the great work from Tony, make this a very special object in itself.

Now, with this lure, I have decided to do a thing that I normally would never do with any of the lures from my collection...

I will actually try to catch a fish with it.

I would love to be able to give Tony a photograph of a fish caught with one of his lure.

It would be just one fish, and back to the display case.

I know that the lure, might be scratched, and may loose a bit of its original paintwork...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

My First BarraGuru.

Hi there,

I got very lucky and I was offered a beautiful wooden fishing lure, a BarraGuru.
BarraGuru are hand made timber lures, produced in Darwin, by Tony B.
These as the name suggest, are fishing lures to be used in the pursuit of the mighty Barramundi.
I had seen a few of them, but never had the chance to own one before, it is then easy to imagine my joy at getting one.

And yes, you need to see it, so, here it is:

A 2012 BarraGuru.

The lure is 9.5cm long (about 3.7 inches).

I really like this shape, colour and pattern. It has a retro feel about it, that makes me think of an old English car. In the flurry of multicoloured plastic lure that we can find in almost any fishing tackle shop, it is a bit like finding back an old classic.

I really enjoy that, it has to me, a calming effect. 

Signed under the belly.

Yes, it is signed and dated under the belly. This is the sure proof of a small but passionately hand crafted production. Not just a token of pride, but more the sign that the maker stands behind his creation. 

Head and shoulder.

With a view of the aluminium bib on which the body pattern is repeated, another nice touch in a world of hurried and good enough attitude.

The red throat.

The red throat reminds me of an Erithacus rubella, more commonly known as the European Robin. 

How does a fishing lure makes me think of a bird? Well, I am just pretty confident that there are many anglers out there who are closet bird watchers. 

Simply for the fact, that water birds are often a good pointer as to where the fish are...

And on a very slow fishing day, looking at the birds is a good way to occupy one's mind for a few short moments,  away from the hard work of catching some elusive fishes.

Now, how did this great little lure landed in my open hands?

Well it is really straightforward, I received one phone call of Tony B. himself, who said that I was welcome to come to his place to show him some of my lures, which needed identification, that he could help me with that.

And that he would give me a lure from his own production at the same time...

(Yes, I was very fast in getting to his place).

Thank you Tony, this is a very nice present.

He doesn't really sells his lures, he is more in the swapping for other lures or gift of his lures, to some of his mates or to some charities, than in the selling business.

Which is why they are not that easy to come across.

And now for the real lures collectors out there...

Here is a little thing about this lure, that makes it very special, on top of every things that you have been reading so far...

Yes it is a wooden lure, but could you guess what kind of timber it is made of, and where does it come from?

Are you seated?

The timber is Australian Red Cedar, and it comes from under the house of the famous lure maker Eric Moller in Cardwell, in the far North Queensland...

Yes the very timber this lure is made of, had first been stoked by Eric Moller himself, as stock for his own lure production.

It had never been used, and Tony B. got it from Eric Moller grandson.

Now if this is not special, I don't know what is...

To me this is quite simply another superb piece of Australiana fishing.

When Tony B. gave me the lure, he asked me if I was going to fish with it, saying that this one had a very nice action in the water...

Of course, I replied that there is no way that I would use it to fish!

That I was too afraid to scratch it!

Or even worse, loose it to a big fish or a snag.

Tony laughed, and said that I should use it.

But no, this is another perfect little swimmer that will never touch any water again... 

Some would say that this is a wast of a good fishing lure...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.