George Dempster Visit |
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Tony
Admin Admin Joined: 09 Nov 2009 Location: Hervey Bay, QLD Status: Offline Points: 6012 |
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Posted: 13 Jul 2010 at 2:12pm |
Barry (a.k.a CaptainCranky, our Far North Queensland roving reporter and Lure Lover of the highest order) had the opportunity to visit with George Dempster during his recent trip to Townsville.
As a big fan of George Dempster's work I am extremely gratefull to Barry for having firstly tracked down George (no small feat!), and making the effort to visit George and share the story of his visit with us all - Thank you Barry Enough rambling from me - here's Barry's report on the visit! ======================================================================= I was fortunate enough to meet up with the man himself on the weekend! Here is some of the information that I obtained from George during that brief visit. George is now 79 y/o. He started making his lures in 1982 and stopped in 2004.His inspiration was from Eric Moller. George started making lures through necessity, for himself and a few local kids who were all very keen Barra fisherman. He found that good lures were expensive and sometimes not to his liking with colour and hardware. Sourcing timber was difficult and he went to a lot of trouble finding little old saw mills to help fill the bill. White Beech or good light Cedar was his first choices. He normally used twisted stainless steel eyes and tin or stainless bibs. His wires were hand twisted using a nail only. He had tin templates of his lures and cut them out with a jigsaw. A Stanley knife was then used to get the correct shape and then he sanded by hand. A hacksaw was used to cut the Bib slot. He finished them with an air brush and auto paint. They were then swim tested in the Ross River and also across the road at a neighbour's pool. His nickname of Pipeline George came from a pipe that ran across the Ross River and on the incoming big tides he used to get heaps of Barra there. George signing a few lures for me. I took my laptop and showed George some pics of his lures.He was amazed about the interest in them. |
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Cheers, Tony
For the love of Fishing Lures. |
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simon bruce
LureLovers.com Guide Joined: 29 Nov 2009 Location: Heathridge Status: Offline Points: 2951 |
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Well done Barry.
A great article and photos on what is most definitely a hand made lure.
I llike the photo and line about him being amazed by the interest in his lures though I can imagine how worried he is that this "Tony" character finds his address.....
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Alistair
LureLovers.com Guide Beta Tester Joined: 10 Nov 2009 Location: Casino Status: Offline Points: 4385 |
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Exellent info there Barry. It must of been great to catch up with another lure making icon, especially one that many thought was no longer with us.
Is that a Scorpion style lure I spy there?
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Alistair.
Comfort the disturbed - Disturb the comfortable. |
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CaptainCranky
LureLovers.com Guide Beta Tester Joined: 12 Nov 2009 Location: Cairns Status: Offline Points: 7143 |
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Yes it is Alistair and it was on my board of who knows who made it.George took one look and possitively identified it as his.It was a pleasure to meet him.
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The Journey is the Reward
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Tony
Admin Admin Joined: 09 Nov 2009 Location: Hervey Bay, QLD Status: Offline Points: 6012 |
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Hey!!! I resemble that remark Sir! |
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Cheers, Tony
For the love of Fishing Lures. |
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Craig
Senior Member Beta Tester Joined: 11 Nov 2009 Location: Gympie Status: Offline Points: 770 |
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Great stuff Barry and George. |
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Tagged and released
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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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Great story Barry, I'm glad you caught up with George it's good to see him looking so healthy for his age
and even better to see that he could Identify his lures after such a long time.......Pete.
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Powelly
Stall Holder Powell Lures Joined: 16 Feb 2010 Location: Port Macquarie Status: Offline Points: 2196 |
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Thanks Barry
I would have bought hundreds of lures, from George, in the early 90's when I was in Tenterfield. I was the 'middleman' for some mates in Armidale who loved George's 2" minnows for bass fishing.
I did wonder if the old mate was still around and still making lures. Now I know! Fantastic. He's looking pretty good, too.
Travers
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bilge
LureLovers.com Fanatic Bill Jackson Lures Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Location: Adelaide Status: Offline Points: 1136 |
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Barry can you post that photo of the group of lures on the lap top please?
billj
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The older I get the more I learn.
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Tony
Admin Admin Joined: 09 Nov 2009 Location: Hervey Bay, QLD Status: Offline Points: 6012 |
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Is this the pic you're after Bill? |
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Cheers, Tony
For the love of Fishing Lures. |
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Tony
Admin Admin Joined: 09 Nov 2009 Location: Hervey Bay, QLD Status: Offline Points: 6012 |
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Here's a few more of the pics George had a look at
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Cheers, Tony
For the love of Fishing Lures. |
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bilge
LureLovers.com Fanatic Bill Jackson Lures Joined: 16 Sep 2010 Location: Adelaide Status: Offline Points: 1136 |
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Tony
Thank you. I dont see many lures of this type here. But you fellows have wound me up an I am headed north soon with a big wheelbarrow.
Thanks Billj
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The older I get the more I learn.
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steiny
LureLovers.com Fanatic Joined: 29 Jul 2011 Location: Mackay Status: Offline Points: 5285 |
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Tony....third and fourth pic down, bottom right corner there are 4 lures, I am fairly confident they are not Dempsters. I would say they are 'FM lures' from Darwin.I have doubts about the three nilsy copies also.
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cheers steiny
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CaptainCranky
LureLovers.com Guide Beta Tester Joined: 12 Nov 2009 Location: Cairns Status: Offline Points: 7143 |
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Some of those lures were from early days of collecting and there may be a few ring ins however that is why we have this site.
To Educate all of us and I am certainly no exception to this as I have learned so much since I joined and am still learning. |
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The Journey is the Reward
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Tony
Admin Admin Joined: 09 Nov 2009 Location: Hervey Bay, QLD Status: Offline Points: 6012 |
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You have a good eye for lures Steiny Barry summed it up really well, at the time the photo's were presented to George there were no documented examples of those lures real makers that I was aware of. Barry's visit to George helped answer a lot of questions, as have the many helpful members like yourself since then - we're gradually sniffing the details out bit by bit! I still remember how proud I was of my "Dempster Mice", which later turned out to be some of Bruce Killpatricks awesome BK Lures (known also thanks to Barry) - still love them every bit as much |
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Cheers, Tony
For the love of Fishing Lures. |
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steiny
LureLovers.com Fanatic Joined: 29 Jul 2011 Location: Mackay Status: Offline Points: 5285 |
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It would be great to meet George!
Still waiting to find my first BK mouse! |
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cheers steiny
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CaptainCranky
LureLovers.com Guide Beta Tester Joined: 12 Nov 2009 Location: Cairns Status: Offline Points: 7143 |
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It was very nice to catch up to him and the meeces are a little hard to come across.
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The Journey is the Reward
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