A day with Vic McCristal |
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Tony
Admin Admin Joined: 09 Nov 2009 Location: Hervey Bay, QLD Status: Offline Points: 6012 |
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Posted: 15 Feb 2010 at 7:36pm |
I had the pleasure of spending a day with Vic McCristal and Barry (Captain.Cranky) at Vic's home in Cardwell during my recent visit to Cairns.
As many of you may be aware Vic McCristal (McSea) has been hands on at the forefront of sportfishing and hunting in this country for more than a few decades, and through his career as a writer in many prominent magazine publications, and as the author of 8 fantastic books on these subjects. Vic is still actively writing today, although is not interested in high tech gadgets like computers. Vic mentioned he still has (and still uses) the trusty typewriter that has stood him in good stead throughout his career. The photo at the right is one that a relative recently sent to Vic, showing Vic in the early days of his Bow Hunting. Here's another photo of Vic as a young fella - I imagine he's thinking about hunting or fishing right there! Vic is probably the foremost authority on Eric moller lures, due to Vic and Eric having been close friends and both living at Cardwell. It was a heddon Tiger Lure that Vic gave to Eric that inspired the Moller Tiger. Vic kindly had a look at some Moller lures for Barry and myself and was able to answer a few mysteries, and also looked at some interesting research we had recently conducted (more to come on that soon) After chatting for a while Vic nipped inside and asked us to hang on for a moment... A few moments later Vic emerges with a couple of tackle boxes full of lures. As you might imagine talking about the lures in the boxes kept us busy for a while and it was fascinating to listen to the wealth of knowledge Vic has accumulated over the years. There were quite a few lures that I'd never heard of let alone seen and surprisingly even a few barry hadn't seen before! We headed off for a short stroll to get lunch at a fantastic Café nearby to Vic's. Barry was quicker than me on this day and ordered and shouted lunch as I was taking a phone call from Alistair (who I sensed was turning a shade of green when I mentioned that Vic, Barry and myself were about to sit down to a lunch of local seafood delights while overlooking the Jetty at Cardwell) After a very enjoyable lunch Vic and myself head off to enjoy a cuppa and chat, while Barry heads off to visit a neighbour. Vic also kindly signed the Modern Fishing 1st Editions that Barry had bought along and a few lures, it took a while though as Vic thoroughly enjoyed having a look through the magazine and checking out the photo's and articles of his colleagues working on the magazine at that time! Here's a couple of interesting lures that were in the tackleboxes Vic showed us. (hopefully Barry might be able to help add info about a few more when he gets back from the tackle show in Japan) This one is a very nice Mark Upton Lure that Vic mentions in the article written by Vic titled "Cut Throats, Boomerangs, and Scorpions" in modern fishing September 1988. Here's a link to the article: http://www.lurelovers.com/forum/cut-throats-boomerangs-and-scorpions_topic2869.html?KW=1988 Check out this early Leads lure! Vic was doing research for an article to find out where various species hit a lure (e.g. at the head, tail, or midsection) Note the additional hook hangers Vic has attached to the lure. By changing the placement of the hooks Vic was better able to understand the feeding habits of the target species (in the case of this particular lure it was Fingermark) Another wonderfull piece of fishing history that Vic shared with us was this landing net. The handle of the net was made out of Red cedar by Eric Moller, the head of the net was bound on to the handle by Vic (Very nice workmanship I should add!) Hey Vic - where's Barry? I though he'd be back by now? Ahh here he is! As it turns out Barry has managed to visit the neighbour just as the neighbour was getting a call from a bloke who mentioned he has a bunch of lures he used to buy from a bloke in Cardwell, you guessed it - Eric Moller lures - I don't know how Barry does it but that bloke is a fair dinkum Eric Moller Lure magnet! I feel honoured to have spent this time with Vic and it was a day I will never forget. Thank you for sharing your time and knowledge Vic, I hope I have the opportunity to visit you in beautifull Cardwell again soon! |
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Cheers, Tony
For the love of Fishing Lures. |
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Chinaman
Member Joined: 04 Feb 2010 Location: QLD Status: Offline Points: 16 |
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Tony you must be absolutely stoked to have spent a day with Vic McCristal I think it would be every lure fisher or collectors dream to spend time with such a legend of the Australian fishing history. Cliff
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Tony
Admin Admin Joined: 09 Nov 2009 Location: Hervey Bay, QLD Status: Offline Points: 6012 |
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Hi Cliff, and welcome to LureLovers!
In a word yes I was absolutely stoked to have this opportunity to meet Vic It wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for my wonderfull friend Captain.Cranky (Barry), and spending a week with Barry and his lovely family in Cairns was also a fantastic experience that I will never forget. |
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Cheers, Tony
For the love of Fishing Lures. |
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puglee62
Stall Holder Fugly Lures Joined: 03 Feb 2010 Location: ipswich Status: Offline Points: 7939 |
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Abuadmiral
LureLovers.com Fanatic ABU Fanatic Joined: 09 Feb 2010 Location: Yeppoon Qld Status: Offline Points: 998 |
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Hi Guys
What a shame Vic can't communicate with us here on LL! I'm sure we could organize a computer but connection to net would be the difficult part. I must see if I can get Barry to educate Vic in using computer at the local town library. I twould open his world more as well as be good for us too. His only contact is actually meeting at his home or on the phone. I have ben fortunate enough to have Vic visit my home and see my ABU collection in Yeppoon whilst he was attending ANSA meeting. Next time I want to grab him for a bit longer for a meal and chat/learn more from him. cheers wayne You're not a Queenslander/Aussie if you're a lure fanatic and you don't have this book by Vic, that I bought 40 years ago Cutting from local rag More info on Mc Sea ,Vic McCristal , the father of modern sportfishing here |
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Tight Lines
Wayne Real |
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tooch
LureLovers.com Fanatic Twitchy Lures Joined: 02 Mar 2010 Location: windsor nsw Status: Offline Points: 3450 |
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hi guys, it's a great pleasure to rub shoulders with the legends of fishing I quite often speak with John Bethune maybe some of you know him or heard of him as Mr. Bass. I have a personally signed book of John's called Bethune on Bass something that I will treasure for the rest of my life. It's really good to have these older legends around to pass on their knowlege as well as their skills and expertise as one day we may lose the men and with them going all will be lost. Regards Pete.
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goldtrev68
Ex Member. Joined: 15 Feb 2011 Location: Cooloola Cove Status: Offline Points: 3126 |
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Another great read its great to learn about all the history on Australian luremakers & their lures,,GAry
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Nativeman
LureLovers.com Fanatic Joined: 02 Jun 2010 Location: The Switch Status: Offline Points: 1447 |
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Thanks Tony..
A great read about this fine man... Cheers |
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Haynesy
Member Joined: 20 Jun 2011 Location: Mittagong Status: Offline Points: 17 |
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Wow, what great section on this forum. I've been filming video history's with John Bethune and Dick Lewers, both contemporaries and friends of Vic's. The end results are going up on my site. I have also planned to work with John Bethune on some historical footage he has. Thanks for this report Tony. If you are still in touch with Vic you may want to show him some footage of old friends on an iPhone or laptop. link is below:
Throughout the interviews John and Dick speak fondly of Vic and of course Jack Erskine (filmed 2 weeks before he passed).
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www.inlandangler.com.au
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MadDogLures
Stall Holder Mad Dog Lures Joined: 09 Oct 2015 Location: Sunshine Coast Status: Offline Points: 2719 |
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A very good read Tony,Vic is a champion and that Mark Upton Lure is fantastic
Cheers, Dave
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Life is fishing!
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