A Lure With No Name

Hi there,

Today I am going to tell you the tale , not of a horse with no name, but of a lure with no name...

A few months ago, I was gifted a beautiful timber lure.

One that I believed to be a Killalure, yet something was not right. I had never seen one looking like this. The eyes, the tow point and the hooks hangers were right, but something about the shape was unusual…

Was it just a copy, or a very rare one?

It looks like a baby Barramundi.

I asked here and there if anyone had already seen a similar lure. But to no avail, the mystery grew deeper and deeper.

With a lot of people giving their opinion. Some of the answer I received, were closer to science fiction than reality.

Then one evening trolling an online lure forum, I struck gold!

I found someone who obviously had a very good knowledge of the Killalure brand (And you are soon to know why). 

I sent him a message, he replied and the enigma was no more.

The lure is indeed a Killalure, from the mid 80’s. It is in fact a 4” Killalure cut down. While making them, the good people at Killaure had a problem with a run of blank that had been over sanded. So the man making them, cut the tail off, and put on them some aluminum bib that he had laying around.

About one hundred of them were made. The run was so short; that the lure didn’t even received a name!

The Killalure with no name.

The lures were painted with Dulux Base Coat.

The colour is originally a Nils Master one, but in the Killalure range this is the colour number 70. The hooks might be 777 #2 Eagle Claws. 

A few different bibs were used for this lure model; on this one it was the 3” Barra Bait bib.

The 3" Barrra Bait bib

Who is the man who generously gave me all this information?

It is no one else than the man behind the Killalure saga: the legendary Dave Killalea.

Thanks to the Dave who gave me this lure, and thanks to the Dave who give me the information about this lure.

Two different Dave, but two top bloke.

So with about only one hundred of them ever made, I doubt that I will ever have a full colour set of this very lure...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

Another Wedding Lure.

Hi there,

This is only the second wedding fishing lure to come into my possession, and it is once again a very special one to have.
This one being a Reidy's B52, a local production, makes it even more special.

So who are the lucky couple?
Colleen and Nathan, they married in 2012, and I have had this lure for nearly a year in my collection, but life and other things got in the way of it and this very blog, sorry about that.

One morning last year Nathan gave me a lift to a fishing competition and in the car, told me that he had a present for me.
And what a present it was, a very limited edition fishing lure, that he had asked Reidy's to produce for his wedding to his sweetheart Colleen.
And here it is:

The Wedding Lure.

Yes, it is still in the box.

But lucky you, for the purpose of this blog post, I have taken it out of the box. Where it went straight back once the photo session was done.

This lure is marked on three sides, and you are going to see them all.

The happy couple names.

The importante date on the back.

And on the last side, a motto that should be followed by many people:

What it is all about.

I sometimes think that it would be nice to show them a photo of a nice sized Barramundi hooked to their wedding lure. And make no mistake the B52 is a very good Barramundi lure, one of my favourite in fact. As my first ever Barramundi on lure was caught using a B52, on the South Alligator River about seven years ago.

But there is no way in the world that this is going to happen. This lure is back in its box, and not getting out of it, not even for a courtesy swim.

Thank you Nathan, and Colleen to have given me this lure from your special day, this is much appreciated.

Yes there are other wedding lures out there, and I really would love to have in my small fishing lure collection, a section specialised in wedding lures. But so far I have only two of them…

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

The Darwin Dart.

Hi there,

The Darwin Dart is a lure close to the heart of many Territorians. Yet it was made in Narooma, NSW. So, why so much love in the North?

To start you have the name: Darwin Dart, clever marketing …

And then came its fish catching ability.

A quality due to the passion for fishing from its maker: Mick Elliot.

Mr. Elliot started to make his own lure as a teenager in Queensland. After his family had moved to NSW. With the help of his father and brother, Mick started to produce his lures for the commercial market, in 1983. First carved by hand from White Beech wood, the success and demand for the Darwin Dart quickly become too much for the trio. They had to use a copy lathe to respond to the popularity of their product. The ever-growing success of the timber lure prompted the Elliot family to finally decide to change the whole process and start to make plastic molded lures. The metal bib was replaced by a plastic one, and become integral part of the lure. A rattle was added in the belly of the lure. The success continued.

The Darwin Dart. 

The production has stopped a few years ago. The word on the street is that the molds have all been destroyed when the production ceased.

Portait of a Darwin Dart.

This was a popular lure for Barramundi, Mangrove Jack and other Top End scaly critters. 

An old timer, once even told me that he loved to troll them at speed for Mackerels. Saying that the lures would then flip over and come skipping on the surface, this was how he caught some of his best Macks. Until one bigger than usual, who swam in the sunset with it, took away his last Darwin Dart.

Memories.

This timber Darwin Dart, might not be in perfect condition, but I will sure take care of it, and it won't swim no more.

Yes they are missed in many fishing tackle boxes.

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

Jason's Leads

Hi there,

There are many good reasons to add a fishing lure to one’s collection.

It can be because the lure is rare, because it is a really good fishing lure, because it has a story attached to it or because it is a present from a good mate.

Well this lure is ticking the right case in about all of the above…

The lure is a Leads Lures, handmade in Queensland, Australia, by Terry Leadbeater. And yes it is made of timber. People, who love fishing lures, know both, how good these are at catching fish, and how hard it is to find them in the Territory. Despite still being produced today.

My first Leads Lures.

This lure has a story too.

Jason bought the lure around 1997, just north of Cairns.

Then went fishing land based from the rocks, when on his second cast…

Hooked and landed, his first ever meter plus Barramundi on this very lure!

The metery catcher.

Many keen anglers would keep the lure that caught them their first Barra over a meter long as a precious relic.  Some would even send it straight to the poolroom. But no, not him, who one day gave me a call saying: I am cleaning the shed, come around with a plastic bag, I have a few lures for you… And there I got my first two Leads (among many other lures); this was one of them.

For someone like me, still dreaming of catching my first metery. It made me wonder what I would do with the lure that will on day, help me to do it…

But more importantly you might have now guessed it, this was a present from a good friend, and this, makes the lure even more special to me.

Thanks mate.

I wanted to add a Leads Lures to my collection for so long.

Look at how beautiful it is:

Lure portrait.

Yes, I know, this lure never again will swim...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

A Request From The Museum.

Hi there,

I just received a request from the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.
They asked me if I could relay on my blog their need for some very specific catfish...
So here is the email that I just got from them:

Hi Rambling Expat,

The Museum is keen to get some genetic samples of eel-tail catfish (Plotosids) from around Darwin in Salt Water (have plenty from freshwater rivers). They are an interesting group and occur from muddy estuaries to reef habitats including rock pools. If anyone should come across any we would be grateful if they could pop it in the esky then freezer  and bring it in – I would happily provide a behind the scenes tour at the same time and perhaps a special edition lure J (or can arrange to pick them up).

Here’s some pictures borrowed from the net of some of the different species, they vary in size from 10cm to about 30cm, and would be grateful if you could mention this on your blog.

Cheers

Michael

So here are the links to some of these great little fish:

Fish Number One

Fish Number Two

Fish Number Three

Fish Number Four

All these links (blue text) redirect to the images of a great Australian web site called Anima, wich is a great destination of fish imagery. A great place to ID a fish, or order a hand signed print.

So if you are fishing in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, this is for you.

And as I am sure many of you would have said or heard in the past: This is all in the name of science!

And this is why, they also would love to get as much information as possible in regards to where the fish were caught, dates and times, in what kind of depth, with lure or bait. Even GPS marks would be welcome.

Also did you catch it land based or from a boat?

If you catch one and bring it to the museum in good condition, that would be great, thank you. 

Your name would then be kept for posterity as a donor to the museum collection.

Think, at how much bragging right that would give you to face the grand kids...

Yes I know, this is a post without any nice fishing photos...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

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.

My First Pflueger.

Hi there, 

This is the short story of how I got my first Pflueger fishing lure.

Some people collect postal stamps, motorbikes or airplanes…

I collect fishing lures. And sometimes in the world of lure collecting, a random act of kindness happens. I promise not to laugh anymore when I see a bumper sticker about it.

One day out of the blue I received a message from Damian (whom I had never met), a member of the FFF forum offering me my first Pflueger lure. On one condition: that I would keep it, and not resell it. To which I replied that this was actually part of my problem: I don’t sell any of my lures, I keep them all and room is starting to be scarce… So you guessed it, I said “Yes Please!” (Thank you Damian).

The lure is a Heavy Duty Mustang Minnow made in Akron, Ohio, U.S.A, circa 1939 by Pflueger. A company that started to make fishing lures in the late 1800s. Later on Pflueger was taken over by Shakespeare and made a lot of different fishing reels. From bait caster to spinning with some fly-fishing reel thrown in the mix.

Anyway back to the lure… this 5 inch long lure was designed for saltwater use and it features metal plates on the back and belly, like a bulletproof vest. The colour of the lure is #9540 also known as Sunfish Scale Finish and is in very good condition. It’s a real beauty.

And here it is:

Yes it came in the box.

Just teasing, ready or not, here it really comes:

Open box.

My first Pflueger.

Yes the eyes are pressed in the wooden body.

Armor plate on the belly.

From above.

With a view of the armour plate on the top of the lure.

Catalogue in the box.

Yes it even came with the Pflueger catalogue:

Front of the catalogue.

On the front you can see that the colour of this lure was made after the printing of the catalogue, so they had to get it on top.

Back of the catalogue.

How nice is that?

The whole shebang is there: box, lure and catalogue. All in very good condition considering the age of this lure.

And you can't appreciate it, but I can tell you that even the smell of it, when you open the box, is very pleasant. I was telling it to one of my work colleague when I was showing her the lure, and she said: "Ho my god, it reminds me of my grandpa!"...

Yes I do feel a bit privileged to now have this lure as part of what I affectionately call my little collection.

After doing a bit of research on this beautiful timber fishing lure I stood there contemplating it, when it hit me: This lure is older than my dad! 

I am not really sure that I will ever have another lure, as old as this one very soon...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.