My First Two Deep River Lures.

Hi there,

I just received two very beautiful Deep River Lures.

• They are Handmade from timber.
• The two are very different from each other.
• I won them on the FFF.
• I intend to use them to fish.

Look at what I received:

Two Deep River Lures.

So, how and why?

Well, it is pretty simple in fact.

If you post on the great fishing forum FFF, and at the end of your post use the #DeepRiver, your post could be chosen as the lucky one for the month. And you would be sent one or two lures, directly from the man who makes them himself, Mr Barney.

And boy oh boy, they are nice.

So now that you had a preview of the lures, and know how I got them, lets look at them a bit closer.

First is the Slim.

A very beautiful fishing lure, that I will use mainly in the pursuit of Barramundi.

The Deep River Lures Slim 100.

To me, this lure has Barramundi written all over it.

From the shape, the colour, the fins and the shallow bib, just like I love them.

Here is a portrait of it:

Portrait of the Deep River Lures Slim 100.

This one is the shallow version. Which to me is great, as I mainly fish shallow waters.

And now comes the Mugil:

The Deep River Lures Mugil 70.

Now if this is not a really good looking little lure, I don't know what this is...

It is well finished, with an interesting shape. I think that it would be a great lure to target the Mangrove Jack. I can't wait to see it's action in the water.

And talking about the finish, look at the bib:

Pinned bib for extra strength.

This is one of the reason I personally would feel confident to target Mangrove Jack with this lure. The bib seems solid and well attached to the lure body.

Deep River Lures are handmade in Queensland, Australia, by Barney.

There is a great selection of body shapes and colours have a look at their range. (The link is at the top of this very post, in blue)

Thank you to Barney and the FFF for organising this friendly competition, and sending me these two beautiful lures.

Here comes one last photo, for the road:

Little lure for big fish.

Now it is true that when I receive such beautiful lures I usually keep them for the collection.

But this time I will actually fish with them.

Even it they will certainly end up with a few scratch from the carnivorous fish that swim around in Darwin's waters...

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

Two Nuddies From Moz.

Hi there,

I was lucky enough to received just before Christmas, a present from Moz: two of his own handmade  fishing lures. He even asked me if I would prefer them as nuddies or painted.
I said nuddies.
(Nuddy or Nuddies, are the lures left without paint, on which we can appreciate the colours of the wood that the lure is made of)

In this post you are going to read about:

• Two timber fishing lures.
• Both nuddy. 
• One I will use to fish, the other will stay dry in the collection.

Yes Moz is the maker of the now well regarded Stick With Eyes, a timber lure that has earned its strips on the Darwin Harbour mud flats. With a great amount of Barramundi already caught by this little lure.

Why a name like the Stick With Eye? Well maybe because that is what it simply look like.

Look for yourself:

The Stick With Eyes.

I am sure that now you understand why...

At first glance it does look like a stick with eyes. 

But if you look at it closely, you start to see that it is shaped for swimming.

Hydrodynamic of the Stick with Eyes.

I can tell you that this very lure will be swimming, and hopefully bring me back a Barramundi.

This is what dream are made of...

And yes, it is signed under the chin, like a hipster tattoo:

Signed under the chin.

That to me is a fishing lure, who own its beauty in great part to it simplicity.

The rightly named Stick With Eyes.

At 9 cm long (3.5433071 inch), it is small, but has already proved it efficiency, it is power in a small package at its finest.

Now the second lure, called the Fall Out, is a lure that I have never fished, but this one will stay dry and safe, in my little collection.

It has already proved itself a good fish catcher too. After all, Moz caught a Barramundi that was over the metre mark on it in 2014. What other proof does one need?

And it is a rather beautiful one too:

The Fall Out.

Yes this one is a nuddy too. The more it goes the more I start to love my fishing lures to be "Au Naturel". I am yet to decide if they have the same fishing capacity as the painted ones, but on pure look, they have won my heart.

The Fall Out is a fishing lure of small size too: only 8 cm (3.1496063 inch).

Like the Stick with Eyes, it is rigged with double hooks instead of the more traditional trebles found on many hard body lures.

In fact I have myself equipped some of my Reidy's B52s with this type of hooks.

I then use them mostly when fishing land based, in very rocky places. This help to avoid getting snagged on the first rock or oysters that your lure bump into.

But I have to say that I didn't invent the system myself, no, in fact I had seen a post about it on the great blog: Secret Barramundi, written by Hiro, a legend of land based Barramundi fishing in Darwin.

Portait of the Fall Out.

When it is looking at you, you know that he means business.

From a profile point of view, the double hook, actually look like the fins.

Side view of the Fall Out.

This look like a small lure that would have a great action, destined to go snags bashing and extract fishes from the most unholy places.

The bib is made of aluminium.

Here is one last image, for the road as they say...

Dreaming of catching big fishes.

Both were made by hand, in Darwin, Australia.

We are pretty lucky in Darwin as it seems to be a revival of the cottage lure industry. It is very nice to see so many people making artisanal timber fishing lures; so close to home.

This is two lures that I really like and am very happy to now have in my possession.

Thank you Moz, that was a great Christmas present.

Now, it might be a few months before I will be able to show you a fish caught on the Stick with Eyes, so please be patient, and indulgent.

But hey, it cold be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

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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.

My First Chilton Lure.

Hi there,

Last year I got a crazy coloured fishing lure.
A lure made by Blair Chilton from Karalee in Queensland, Australia.
Due to some unsuspected circumstance, it took me a long time to do a post about it. Also because I wanted to make some photographs that would give it the credit that it deserves.
It has already been too long, so in the end, here it comes.

But first things first: a bit about the story of this very lure.
I first saw a similar one on the internet, and contacted Blair, asking him if I could buy it.
His reply was that he had only made a single one lure in this shape and colour, and that it was a gift for his daughter.
Yet, he offered to make a second one for me, telling me that it would be the second and last one of these...
So I said yes!
He got to work on it, and I got to wait. But not for long, the lure arrived earlier than I had expected. And it was looking even better than I had hoped for.
Without further delay, here it is, my first Chilton lure:

Left side.

Right side.

View from above.

For a handmade, hand-painted lure, this is a rather uncommon shape and colour. Even the bib is unusual.

This is a lure, that I really don't want to scratch.

Signed and dated on the belly.

To think that there is only two of this one.The first one was for his daughter, and then he accepted to make the second one for me, a guy that he had and has so far never meet. It is hard to express how happy I am to have this lure.

Who is Blair Chilton you may ask... 

Well, he is a young lure maker from Queensland, the birthplace of so many great fishing lures. I first saw his lure, all crafted like little art pieces, on Instagram. This is where I saw the sibling of my lure, and made contact with him. Since then, he as opened his own FaceBook page, on which you can see more of his lures.

Close up of the paint work.

The paint job is so good, that I have to show you a last one for the road. How beautiful is that?

when you have the lure in your hand, it look like it is made of fine china, and not timber.

I know, I know, three post in a row about fishing lures, and not much in the form of fishing in the past few weeks... 

But hey, it could be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.

Barra Trooper Galore.

Hi there,

Not long ago, I had the chance to meet Dave, the maker of the fishing lures Barra Trooper.
He was extremely generous, and gave me some very nice  fishing lures.
Here comes the story of them.

First is the original Barra Trooper, but in a new colour, soon to be introduced on the market. The colour is called X RAY and you will, with no doubt understand why:

Barra Trooper X RAY.

Now, this is not just any lure in the new colour, no...

This is the very first one that was made for production. It is signed on both sides of the body of the lure, on the bib, and with a hand written note on the back of the card.

Here comes a close up of it's face:

Mean looking skeleton.

You can see the signature on the cheek of the lure. And yes, as you can read on the card, it is of course, a hand made timber lure, like all the Barra Trooper.

The evening I got this lure, I could not help, but send a photo of it with my phone to another fishing lure collector in Darwin, just to show it to him, even before doing a post on the blog.

After that came a Barra Trooper in a colour that he normally do only for himself.

The special colour.

I might be wrong, and that would not be the first or last time... But I think that this would be a great colour to target Mangrove Jacks. A fish that till today has managed to elude me. Classy in burgundy and gold, with black strips, this one makes me think of an old fashioned Chicago gangster. 

Then come a smaller lure, with a different shape that than the traditional ones made by Dave.

And it is a real little beauty:

Black and yellow like a hornet.

I have already said in the past, that one of my favourite colour for timber lures, is black and yellow.

For a reason that I don't really understand, this combination of colours remind me of a cafe racer motorcycle, and I really like that. It has to me a retro feel, that I don't get with other colours.

The finish on it, is just great:

Beautiful finish.

As an icing on the cake, this lure came to me, with a very special top up.

Three wooden pieces, that show how it was crafted:

Three steps to a good lure.

This is actually the first time that I have the wooden shapes, of a lure at different stages. This to me, is a very interesting piece added to my little collection. One could say that it has an educative purpose.

Finally, Dave gave me a prototype of a lure that he had been working on.

The overall shape resemble the traditional Barra Trooper, but is a bit shorter, a tad fatter and the tail is slimmer.

Have a look at it:

New prototype of Barra Trooper.

The photograph, don't really shows the depth of the paint job. It has a brown back, with a brass belly covered in gold spots. It is a beautiful and subtle paint work.

Portrait of a fishing lure.

And of course, like all the other ones, it is signed on the belly:

Signed on the belly.

Here they are, my precious little Barra Trooper lures, a very appreciated addition to the stable.

Thank you Dave, these will never see the water, but they will still be taken care of with great attention. 

I know that fishing lures are made to swim, and that most lure makers craft them in the hope that they will catch the fish of a life time... But those four compagñeros will definitively stay dry.

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.

The Archerfish From BarraGuru.

Hi there,

I have been very lucky and have been offered another great handmade lure.
Carved from timber the lure was produced by BarraGuru, and this one is fashioned to look like an Archerfish.
A common prey of the Barramundi, in the top end of Australia.
And the lure do look like an Archerfish:

The BarraGuru Archerfish.

At first sight, it could be mistaken for a rattle spot or some kind of vibe lure. But the bib and tow point on the nose, are sure hints of a different type of beast.

Weighted in the belly, the lure stand upright in the water, even when not moving.

Thus it will enable these very slow, twitch and pause kind of retrieve, so effective when fishing for Barramundi. It was clearly created with one fish in mind.

The paint job, is very subtle, and the colours change in a dramatic ways, depending of the incidence of light on the lure. His large sides will send some nice flash underwater.

And should be very efficient in some of our dark and murky rivers, along some mangrove edges.

View of the belly.

It is signed under the belly, and you can see how the colours change with a different angle of view, compared with the first image.

From another angle.

I just like how the colour can change, and the overall finish of this lure.

Just imagine it shivering above a snag habited by an old, hungry mama Barramundi...

Ready for action.

This is a lure that I am very happy to have, thank you Tony.

Once again Tony, the maker of the BarraGuru lures, has worked hard to make a beautiful lure. A lure that could easily stand in a collector display, with no shame.

Yet, I think that I will have to swim this one, and give it a chance to catch me a nice fish.

I know and I fear it: it might come back full of scratch, with some very damaged colours...

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.

Three New Scurvy Dog.

Hi there,

Today I was very lucky and was offered three more Scurvy Dog fishing lures.
By whom you may ask...
Well by no one else than Balls himself, the man who makes the Scurvy Dog lures.
How good is that?
Yes, very good I know...

So lets start with the one called Four eyes, because it has two eyes on each side of its body:

The Four Eyes.

Now comes the information about it, and then some more photos.

The colour of the Four Eyes presented here is called “The Baggy Cap”. Proudly representing the Aussies Green and Gold.

It is made of Poplar Pine. 

1.5mm Polycarbonate for the bib, it dives to a depth of 3-4metres. 

Double rattle chamber, each rattle chamber located behind the eyes, both rattles are different diameter stainless ball bearing to produce noise variation under water (different sized bearings travel at a different rate with the lures side ways action).

.09mm stainless eyelets front and two middle hangers, 1.2mm stainless rear hanger. 

Sealed then painted with a white automotive acrylic base coat, epoxy coated, then silver glitter applied to entire blank, dried and the Gold Candy Tone, then Green Candy Tone paint, cosmetics with Pink throat and lime underbelly. 

Automotive two pack clear to seal the Candy Tone. 

Finished with 3 separate individual coats of Mega Epoxy rotated on a drying machine, slow process but looks good with a tough finish to protect the amount of work involved and to lift the bling.

Green and Gold.

The underbelly.

Bib, mouth, one eye and first treble.

This is a very beautiful lure, with a great finish. In fact for a fishing lure made of timber, it has more bling factor than most plastic or metal lures.

In these colours with such a name, this lure truly is part of fishing Australiana.

One can only wonder what Don Bradman would have thought of it?

Then comes a jigging lure for pelagic fishes:

Side view.

Underbelly and hooks.

The jig is poured with a lead and tin composite.

1.2mm, 316 stainless wire in a single harness. 

The jig is covered in adhesive aluminium duct tape, Candy Tone paint, automotive two pack clear to seal the Candy Tone & finished with 3 separate individual coats of Mega Epoxy rotated on a drying machine. 

Balls make the epoxy eyes, these were made from Coke or Melbourne Bitter cans. 

This jig is great for jigging Macks, GT’’s and similar species, especially if you have a bit of water depth to work.

And the last one of the trio is a skirt:

Full length.

Green and Gold again.

This skirted lure is primarily used to target Sailfish and Marlin, but Spanish Mackerel love them too. Unfortunately they either chew the skirts to bits or bite the lure off on the strike, as they are usually rigged with Jenkaii leader & not wire. 

The head is made of a clear resin, from a hand made mould.

The diversity of these lures, all hand made, for a vast range of targets, one for Barramundi, one for pelagic fishes and one for billfish, is a testament to Balls's talent and workmanship in lure making.

This is a man who only fish with his own lures, and who last weekend was nailing some Barramundi in Darwin harbour.

Thanks again Balls, I feel very privileged to have received such a present.

Great care will be taken of them, they are now a precious part of my small collection of fishing lures.

No need to ask me when I am going to test them...

These will stay at the office, and will never swim...

But hey, it cold be worse.

Have a good day,

Me.