2026 Support your local Artisan

As we look ahead to 2026, plenty of people will be planning and contemplating a New Year’s resolution. Here’s one worth considering, support your local artisan.

Whether it’s fishing-related or not, back the little guys and girls. The makers, builders, and creators having a crack and putting themselves out there.

What started out looking like this (first lure made and mates purchased them)

Quickly became these below 

Thinking back to when I started making lures some 30 odd years ago, it was close mates who first jumped on board and bought lures. Without that early support, I most definitely wouldn’t still be in the handmade lure game today. And it wasn’t about the money, it was the feedback, encouragement, and ideas.

“Have you tried this?”

“Have you thought about that?”

Blast from the past. These were sold through a local tackle store 

That kind of support is what carried me through the early days, and honestly, not much has changed since.

Last year on Instagram there was a post by Jewfish that encouraged people to list their favourite makers, or simply name the garage builders they knew. Something like that is a great starting point if you’re interested in finding and supporting local artisans.

Link attached 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C-5C3VXyKTI/?igsh=eHExbTJpemptZWY0

So if a mate is starting something, support them, encourage them, and help drive them to keep at it and get better.

It matters more than you think.

Up the Creek With a Paddle

 With the busiest time of the year upon us, the Christmas / New Year period, it was still a genuine surprise to find a small piece of solitude tucked away up the creek. I’ve been fishing this tight water for close to 30 years now, usually slipping in three or four times a year when the opportunity presents itself.

Over the past three days I’ve been pushing right up into the tight, narrow sections and snag-choked water, and haven’t seen another soul (other then my son who tagged along on one of the days) It’s a good reminder that there are still quiet creeks and backwater systems out there if you’re willing to paddle a little further.

What this place lacks in size, it more than makes up for in numbers. Each session produced between 10 to 20 bream landed in a short 1to 2hr session, and that’s after actively pulling the lure away from the smaller fish. Around most snags, small packs of bream could be seen tracking and following the lure right to the SUP

We did lose a couple of better fish after parting ways, and yes, three lures were sacrificed to these little brutes. That’s creek fishing. Tight quarters, sharp structure, and the price you pay for fishing properly in close.

All signs point to one thing, it’s time to produce more of these slim, jerkbait-style lures, purpose-built for creek bream fishing, tight water, and close-quarters casting.

Some places are still yours, if you’re willing to go looking.

The New Gold Standard

Midway through the year I started playing around with some gold leaf flake finishes on a few handmade timber lures. At the time, I wasn’t overly convinced. They looked good on the bench, but I wasn’t sure how they’d translate in the water.

Today changed that.

Oh my.

The conditions must have lined up,  moon, sun, stars, and whatever else controls these things, because the result was outstanding. The water carried just a touch of colour but was still clear, and the gold flash from the lure could be seen from a surprising distance. Exactly the kind of visual presence you want from a custom lure.

The number of fish definitely outweighed the size of the fish, but even then, oh my once again. The response was instant and consistent, proving this gold flake colour has serious potential in real world fishing conditions.

This finish has well and truly set a new benchmark. I’ll definitely be looking at producing more timber lures in this gold leaf colour combination moving forward.

#GoldLeaf

#TimberLures

#HandmadeLures

#CustomLures

#Swimbait

#SurfaceFishing

#AustralianFishing

#LureTesting

#OnTheWater

Tis the Season

It is the season.

I was a little slow on the uptake this year, with only two Christmas-themed lures heading out to a couple of good bass fishing mates. These were simple, festive takes on my usual handmade timber bass lures, built more for fun than fanfare.

Thinking about it now, it’s been many years since I last made Christmas-themed fishing lures. Those early attempts were a visual fail, questionable colour runs, but they were a clear winner in action. The fish didn’t care, and that’s always been the point.

Cracking EP by Cleaver

Seasonal lures are a reminder that lure design doesn’t always need to be serious. Sometimes it’s just about sharing a laugh, testing an idea, and putting a working custom lure in the hands of good people.

Maybe next year I’ll get myself sorted and start early, but then again, that’s part of the tradition too.

By the way. 

Merry Christmas 

Scratches Tell the Story

 After what’s been a pretty rough week in Australian history, and that’s all I’m saying, not getting into politics here. It was genuinely good to receive a warm and fuzzy message that reminded me why I do this.

Zac sent through an image with a short message along the lines of “All scratched up… another story to tell.” The photo showed the handmade timber lure still hanging from the Murray Cod’s mouth, battle scars and all.

My reply was simple: “Scratches are my love language.”

Not long after, another image came through, Zac cradling a true river monster, a proper wild Australian native fish, taken on a custom swimbait that had clearly done its job.

Those scratches, teeth marks, and worn timber are exactly what these lures are built for. Each mark tells a story of a cast made, a swimbait rolling through the water column and a cod that committed.

These moments, real fish, real rivers, real stories, were exactly what I needed this week.

Super size, Up scale

Why not?

When a cut-back, minimalist bass size wakebait starts to really excite you, the next logical step is to up scale the design for Murray Cod. Same fundamentals. Same clean lines. Just more timber, more presence, and more authority in the water.

This up sized cod wakebait keeps everything that worked in the smaller version, but adds a serious dose of attitude with the Thump Tail. The result is a lure that thumps hard, pushes water, and announces itself long before it reaches the strike zone,  exactly what a big surface cod lure should do.

Rigged with a single 3/0 hook on a double split ring, sits low in the water, right where a hook needs to be. In theory, it’s positioned perfectly to maintain a clean wake, solid roll, and consistent surface presence at slow speeds.

Now it’s time to take it off the bench and into the real world. A couple more need to be built so they can be properly tested,  cast, cranked, bumped, and fished the way a handmade timber cod lure should be.

Simple ideas. Scaled up.

Now for the real-world test.

Keeping it rolling

Once you start something, it’s usually best to keep the momentum going. After yesterday’s “simple not so simple” wakebait post, I jumped straight back into the shed this afternoon and kept the ideas flowing.

Today saw three different wakebait designs hit the bench:

• One Murray Cod-sized wakebait, a 2-piece timber lure
• Two Bass-sized wakebaits, both 1-piece designs

These cut-back, back-to-basics lures have really got me thinking. Stripping away the bulk and focusing purely on action, balance, and profile forces you to look at lure fundamentals in a new light. It’s the full-circle moment I didn’t realise I needed, returning to the core principles that make a wakebait swim true.

The deeper I go into this minimalist approach to handmade fishing lures, the more potential I see. Cod bait or bass bait, big or small, the concept is proving itself across sizes.

As they say… watch this space. More testing, more tweaking, more pared-back designs to come.

Keeping It Simple… Not So Simple

Funny how the simplest lure designs can sit right in front of you for years before they finally click. This week I found myself circling back to a concept that has been staring me down for far too long, a minimalist wakebait idea that I could never quite justify cutting back to. Not until now.

After spending countless hours working on bigger baits, refining profiles, testing bib angles, balancing weights, and chasing the perfect action, I finally understand what those long nights were teaching me. The fundamentals. The backbone. The non-negotiables of a lure’s behaviour.

Only by going big for so long was I able to confidently go small.

Now, with a much deeper understanding of what truly drives action, I’ve been able to strip this lure back to the bare minimum, no unnecessary bulk, no wasted movement, while still keeping that subtle, true wakebait swim I was chasing. A clean, tight, honest action.

A reminder that “simple” is rarely simple at all.

I’m looking forward to seeing where this cut-back concept leads me next.

Sometimes the best ideas aren’t new, they’re just waiting for you to finally understand them.

Simple. Not so simple. Wake.

Last BIG baits for 2025

 

Big Baits Are Back — A Week of Lure Auctions and Tweaks

This week saw the return of lure auctions, and what a way to bring them back. On the surface the two 300mm timber lures up for grabs almost looked like twins, but put them in the water and they reveal two very different personalities. Designed for anglers who love to fine-tune their gear, these big baits have been a highlight to work on and release.

300mm Wakebait,  With Options to Match the Bite

The first lure was our 300mm Wakebait, but with a twist. This big lure now comes with three tail options,  bucktail, rats tail, and the new Thump Tail. Each one changes the action, feel and presence in the water, letting you tweak the presentation to suit the day’s conditions, fish mood, or structure you’re working.

To top it off, this Wakebait features our new black carbon-look bib. This bib material offers just a touch of flex,  a huge advantage when those wayward casts find rock instead of water. A small detail, but one with a big benefit for anyone who throws big baits around hard structure at night.

300mm CrankDown,  Similar Shape, Different Behaviour

The second auctioned lure might look similar, but it’s actually our 300mm CrankDown model. The bib angle is changed to give it a different job underwater. On a slow roll it will still wake across the surface, but add a little crank and it will dive to around a foot, rolling and flashing just below the surface with that seductive crankbait sway. A perfect crankdown lure for when fish want something sitting a touch deeper.

Wakebait up top. CrankDown underneath. Same size. Two different tools.

These will be our last big bait builds for 2025, so if you’re a collector, a musky-style big bait angler, a Murray Cod hunter, or someone who simply loves handcrafted timber lures, keep your eyes on future drops. More custom lure releases will roll out through the year,  just not in the 300mm class.