The Reidy's Anaconda.

Hi there,

I had seen online that the fishing and sports goods shop called Anaconda, in Darwin was going to stock some Reidy's lures in a colour made especially for them, with the Anaconda marking on them.
I wanted one to go in my little collection of advertising fishing lures.
Two of my mates work in that shop, so I asked both of them to let me know when they would be on the shelf.
When the message that they finally had them in the shop arrived, I went there in the same week.

And once there, I got a very good and nice surprise.
One of my mates was there and he laughed as soon as he saw me walk in. Saying that he knew that I was going to come and look for these lures.
He then introduced me to Gavin, the store manager.
And Gavin, made me a very nice present.

But first thing first, what does the colour look like?
Here have a look:

The Anaconda Colour.

On this first image is the Reidy's B52 in the Anaconda Colour.

The B52, is by itself an iconic Barramundi fishing lure, I myself caught my first ever Barra on a lure with the help of a B52. It was on a Gold with Black back (H-GB is the colour's name) and I still have it, as a memento of my fishing in the Northern Territory. Yes, it is part of my nerdy side, one can't help it.

Now back to the lure on the above photograph, it is the only one of the lot that I got on the day, that I paid for. Yes you read that right, the others came free.
And I got a nice little lot, with a very special one thrown in.
Here are the lures I got:

Three sizes of B52.

Here are three sizes from the B52 line's.

The B52, the Big Ass B52, and the Big Ass 200.

Yes, the Big B52 is missing from the line up, but wait and you will see...

Here you can see the Anaconda Marking on the lures:

Branding on the back.

Yes, with the branding on their back, these lures will never swim. Instead they will rejoin my other advertising lures. The family is getting bigger.

And now, here comes the piece de resistance...

The lure that was used as a colour prototype...

The Anaconda Colour prototype.

This one is without hooks or split rings, because it was just made as a prototype for the colour, and brought from the Reidy's factory to the shop. For The shop people to see if they would be happy with it. 

They must have been happy, as the ones on the shelf are very close colour wise to this one. The prototype is just a bit clearer, not as dark as the final product, but still very close to it.

So there you are, this one will go in the box of the rare ones...

And here view from above:

View from the top.

Thank you Gavin and the guys at Anaconda, this in my books, is a very nice present.

So yes it is a very nice set of lures and none of them will ever swim.

I know that some people would find it sad and say that fishing lures are made to be used and fished...

But hey, It could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

My First Richo Lures.

Hi there,

One day Ronj, a member of the FFF forum contacted me and said that he had a Richo Lures for me, with the advertising for a fishing competition on its back.
Ronj knew that I love fishing lure with advertising on them.

Not long after that I received in the mail a fishing lure from a brand that I was yet to have in my little collection, a Richo Lures.
Richo Lures are handmade in Queensland (Australia), by a man going by the name of Ken Richardson.

Here is what it looks like:

My first Richo Lures.

A nice long profile, made of white beech this model is named The Extractor. Presented here in the colour number 10 in the Richo range and called Fluro Yellow.

With some advertising on the back.

The Rocky Barra Bounty is a fishing competition taking place on the Fitzroy River, you have guessed it, in Queensland. It is a catch and release competition.

The belly of the lure.

The lure is very well finished, and seems robust enough to target some angry Barramundy. A pin under the chin is used to secure the bib, a nice touch on a bib towed lure.

If I had to, I would have now problem to fish this lure with confidence. Yet I have to be honest, it will stay dry and in the collection, no way I am going to take any risk with this one.

And knowing my liking of fishing lures with advertising,  Ronj also sent me two Classic Barra with the same advertising on them.

Two Classic Barra.

These two Classic Barra are in the Guns 'n' Roses colour, one of the most popular in the Top End.

So I really appreciate the present, as many fishing aficionados would have kept any lures in this colours.

Thank you Ronj, as most Aussie would understand: These are going straight to the pool room!

And if you like fishing lure, don't forget to leave a comment on my lure giveaway, for a chance at winning a nice one.

Ok, now I will have to find a place to display these lures...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

Halco Birthday

Hi there,

Ok, the birthday happened two years ago, but it was nonetheless an important milestone for the Australian lure company Halco, as they turned sixty...
Yes they have been making fishing lures for sixty years.
And why do I write about it only now you may ask...
Well because in my great wisdom, I learned about it only two weeks ago. When I was very generously offered by nobody else than the great fishing photographer and writer, Peter Zeroni himself, a commemorative lure of this anniversary.
Thank you Peter.

The lure is a Halco Twisty 40g Chrome.
I had what was my best Mackerel session so far on a Twisty 40g, so this is a lure that I already liked a lot.

Let me introduce you to the birthday lure:

In the box.

The back of the box.

The back of the box reads:

" TWISTY 40g Chrome (LIMITED EDITION)

Halco's Twisty was one of the first lures produced when Halco started operation 60 years ago in Fremantle, Australia. Over the years, modern manufacturing techniques have made the Twisty stronger, smoother and shinier. Now Halco produces Australia's greatest range of hard plastic, timber and metal lures as well as a large range of terminal tackle.

This limited edition lure celebrates Halco's 60th year. "

I know, I could have put the back of the box last, but I just wanted to tease you a bit...

And it also gives you a bit of background information about this very lure.

So here finally comes the lure:

Halco Twisty 40g Chrome.

Close-up of the engraving.

Isn't it beautiful?

Even if the Twisty is one of my favourite metal lure, this one is sure to never ever get near any piece of water. I will keep it safely among the few other who form my little collection.

The more I look at it, and the more I think, that it has been a very long time since I went fishing...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

Fishing in the local culture

Hi there,

Fishing is an important and integral part of the culture of Darwin. A city situated in the Top End of the Northern Territory of Australia. So much that many of the local businesses prefer to advertise on fishing lures than on stress balls, or baseball caps.
As an example here are three little fishing lures to support the argument.

First a lure with some advertising for the local casino, and no I do not support gambling, even if fishing might look a bit like gambling to the uninitiated (this lure is a Mad Mullet from Lively Lures).

A lure with the Skycity logo.

Then a lure with the logo from one of the most recognised insurer in Darwin, TIO (this lure is a Taipan from Reidy's).

TIO advertising fishing lure.

So far we have the gambling and the insurance industries represented.

Nice match some of you might say...

And now comes the education industry with a lure produced by a high school to celebrate the 21st birthday of the school (this lure is a Little Lucifer from Reidy's).

From Dripstone High School.

In Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.

Ho how much I would have loved that my own high school was producing some cool fishing lures instead of just the T-shirts of the school's sport team...

The array of industries represented here on fishing lures, I believe demonstrate the importance of fishing in a place like Darwin.

Fishing is part of its local culture, like cowboys are part of Texas and the Eiffel Tower is part of Paris.

Now the question is what some archeologist will say about that in the future? Are we going to see one day some budding young archeologists like Ms. Dig look at the subject with interest and write about it in their blogs?

Personally I hope so.

Some people will argue that in the western world today, recreational fishing is nothing more than a hobby. But isn't a very popular hobby part of the cultural background of a society? 

Yes here are some of the questions I ask myself when I spend a full weekend without fishing...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

The Coca Cola fishing lure, final chapter.

Hi there,

Here comes what should be the final chapter of the Coca Cola fishing lure saga, that you may have followed on this very blog. We are talking here about the Coca Cola fishing lures made by Reidy's in Australia,

The story started with a lure given to me as a present by Geoff Corry, and you can read all about it just there.
Then I got some more information about the lure, and wrote it in this post.
Everything seemed to be settled by then but something happened...
And this to me resounded like the end of the Coca Cola fishing lure epic.

Then out of nowhere a member of the FFF forum (http://fishingterritory.com/) pointed to me an auction on Ebay where someone was selling the same lure, in all the different depths it had been made.
Well you guess it, I was quick to check it out.
And yes I got them...
This was the first time and probably the last time that I was trying to buy something on Ebay. And I was very lucky as I got them at a very good price, very close to the retail price of these lures when sold in their catalogue's colours.

Enough reading lets look at the images:

The Taipan in 2m.

The Taipan in 3,5m.

The Goulburn Jack in 5m.

And out of the boxes just for a few quick photos:

In the same order from top to bottom.

And from above to look at the bibs.

You may notice that the Goulburn Jack has a slightly different pattern than the Taipan. The bubbles on the back of the lure are not exactly the same.

I went form not having a single one of them anymore, to finally have the full set.

The boxes are not in as good a condition as my previous one was, but they are still ok.

And yes these ones will stay at the office, and not swim for as long as they are mine.

They did arrive to me in a different way than my usual secondhand shop find, and cost nearly the same as regular retail price for this type of lure. So I guess that we could say that I went one more step in the fishing lures collection mania, and some could see it as a dangerous path...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

The Carlton MID fishing lure

Hi there,

So a few days ago, I arrived at work in the morning, and asked for my keys at the security door, and the guy who gave me my keys, said: "Hey, there is a fishing lure for you with your keys".

It took me a few days to learn who gave me this lure, as all the security guys all said with a smile: "No clues as to where it comes from..."
But any way when arriving at work in the morning, it was a very good surprise.
It really made my day.
Thanks again mate. 

So the lure in question is a Classic Barra, 120+15, and the colour is...
Carlton MID, and it is still in the box in perfect condition!

Still in the box!

And view from above.

I know that a lot of people around Darwin have already seen or even fished with this lure.
But for me who don't drink, the chance to get one still in the box was rather slim.
(Carlton MID is an Australian beer).


So yes it took me a few days to thank my benefactor for the unexpected present.

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

The Advertising fishing lures

Hi there,

Here are some of my Advertising  fishing lures.
I sometimes fish with some of them. Albeit not the ones presented in this post, and even if I don't really believe that fishes can read, fishing lures with advertising on their sides do catch fishes.
The reason I do not fish with the ones presented here, is because all these ones are either old ones that are not produced anymore, or brand new in perfect condition still in the boxes.
The ones I use are either some that I found pre-used at the second hand shop, or some that I was able to obtain in double. So one can stay safe in the collection while the other go for a swim.
But if I find just one in it's box, it will stay in the box...

So without further ado, here they are, all from the brand Reidy's:

First the Reidy's AquaRat made for Incitec.

Side view.

View from the top, with the old Reidy's logo.

This AquaRat was made for Smorgon Steel.

Two side views at different angles.

A Taipan made for Top End Fishing Supplies, what a better present from a tackle shop.

View from the belly.

With the old logo from above.

These were the old ones for which production has stopped.

Now come the boxed ones.

A Little Lucifer for Travel NT. NT stand for Northern Territory, and it is a great place in Australia. 

A colour that would pleased the Dutch.

The Judge, made for Komat'su.

I am sure that fishes would love this colour.

The Judge made for AFANT, The Amateur Fishermen's Association of the Northern Territory. (Australia)

Green is a very good colour for our rivers.

A B52's for RCR

The B52's is one of my favourite Barra lure.

And now as a special bonus another lure that I found at a second hand shop, but for which I do not have any clues as to what it is...

There is absolutely no branding on it, so I do not know who made it.

If by any chance you know, you are more than welcome to tell me about it.

Nice orange on the back.

And shiny on the sides.

So do you know what it is?

And just so you know, I am not spending all my hard earned cash on my lures, to give you a concrete example for all the lure presented in this post it costed me a grand total of around AU$17...

Not bad hey... 

Still I have to confess that it is true that I spend a reasonable amount of time looking at or playing with them... Which might be why some people are starting to know me as the guy's who likes fishing lures...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.