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History of Damper Diver Lures

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Tony View Drop Down
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    Posted: 08 Dec 2009 at 12:12pm
Thanks to Ron Cockbain and LureLovers.com member Barry (Captain.Cranky) I am very pleased to be able to share this history of Ron Cockbain and his Damper Diver Lures with our members
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Ron Cockbain - The early days
Ron Cockbain was born in Coff's Harbour in 1946 and grew up there. On leaving school Ron went to Sydney to start an electrical apprenticeship. He fished all around Sydney while completing his trade. After completing his apprenticeship Ron moved back to Coff's Harbour.

Ron's first lures
Ron started making lures at a young age and as time went on he worked on a lure derived from a Storm Hot N Tot. This and all of his lures were made from white beech.

This lure proved to be very successful on Bass and Cod all around the Far North Coast, where Ron was one of the first people in the region to pioneer this fishery.

Before 1983 all of Ron's luremaking was in Coff's Harbour. These lures were the evolution of the prototype Damper Diver. A very robust well thought out lure.





Birth of the Damper Diver
In 1983 Ron moved to Cardwell to further his luremaking skills. Because there was not a lot of work there at the time Ron had plenty of free time for practical experience in the field.


This is where the Damper Diver came to be and got it's name. There is a small creek just south of Cardwell called Damper Creek and Ron started to perfect his creation in this creek. What started as a stretched Hot N Tot with a big wobble and tow point on the bib turned into the lure seen from 1984 till 1999.



Damper Diver Construction stagesA few tweaks
The tow point was changed to the front of the lure (rather than connected to the bib as Ron did previously) which was much easier to manufacture. The shape was changed to a flatter sardine style and the wobble became tighter. The belly was carved to a thin point rather than rounded. An air brush was used to paint the lures and they were finished with a 2 pac clear coat. Ron advised that this new design was certainly influenced by Eric Moller and Vic McCristal.









On the road again!
Due to various reasons Ron and his wife Maree moved back to Coff's after 6 months in Cardwell. Ron then had a go at making lures full time with all his new found knowledge from practical experience.

After a short time back home an opportunity arose for a new business in Innisfail working a banana farm. Ron and Maree packed their bags once again and moved there in 1984 and have been there ever since.

Ron gave the bananas away after a while and went back to his trade where in a cyclone ravaged area there was plenty of work. Ron kept on making lures till 1999 and since then has just made enough lures for family and friends as well as for himself.

Ron still has all the jigs and equipment that he devised years before to make the unique and original shape of the Damper Diver.
 



Cheers, Tony

For the love of Fishing Lures.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tony Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Dec 2009 at 12:12pm
A couple of Rons Topwater Damper Diver Lures
Ron Cockbain Damper Diver Topwater Lure
Ron Cockbain Damper Diver Topwater Lure 2

One of Ron's earlier lures with the towpoint on the bib




A later version with the towpoint on the nose (I love all of these lures Heart although I reckon this one is stunning!)




An early lure styled after the Heddon Punkinseed



An assortment of Ron's lures


Polycarb bib with towpoint on bib




Interesting early lure



And a few more of these great Lures!
Smile















Cheers, Tony

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Craig Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Dec 2009 at 12:32pm
Great to see a picture of Ron himself. We should encourage all lure makers to do the same.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tony Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Dec 2009 at 1:25pm
Originally posted by Craig Craig wrote:

Great to see a picture of Ron himself. We should encourage all lure makers to do the same.


Gday Craig

I agree that seeing the faces behind the lures we love, and getting to learn some accurate history of Lure makers and their creations is great  Clap There's several other detailed lure maker histories available on the site now, although with the help of members I'd love to see many more!

It's a fair effort to put these histories up (and we couldn't do it without the help of Lure Makers such as Ron, along with friends and family of those no longer with us) so the more help the merrier! (maybe you could have a chat with some lure makers you know and help us get some more up?) Thumbs Up

I have learnt so much about Ron's lures thanks to Ron and Barry's efforts in getting this info together, and there's more eye candy to come with more pictures of Ron's lures as soon as I get the chance to finish resizing the images etc. Tongue
Cheers, Tony

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote CaptainCranky Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Dec 2009 at 4:01pm
Sorry about the size Tony .I have absolutely no idea how the pics got so big,It's only an itty bitty camera.he he he he he he.I only turn the steering wheel,I do not put the worms on the hooks.
The Journey is the Reward


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tony Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 08 Dec 2009 at 4:10pm
Originally posted by fish69blue fish69blue wrote:

Sorry about the size Tony .I have absolutely no idea how the pics got so big,It's only an itty bitty camera.he he he he he he.I only turn the steering wheel,I do not put the worms on the hooks.


You did a great job with the pics Barry! Thumbs Up I just did a little cropping to make the lures fill the picture (I have to do that with my own pics too so it's not a biggy, the trick was finding time with kids home from school, visitors dropping in, and trying to get a little work done to keep the boss happy!) LOL
Cheers, Tony

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote DamperDivers Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Dec 2009 at 11:06am

 

Having grown up using them i can vouch for their durability and catchability [though i did spend a lot of my early life in the front of a canoe in places like the herbert river casting to far and landing the lure about ten rows back in the scrub!]
 
They were just about the only lure that i used growing up.
 
Great to see fellow fishermen appreciating Rons lures.
 
Brent Cockbain
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote DamperDivers Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Dec 2009 at 11:07am
Forgot to mention... great site.
Keep up the good work
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CaptainCranky Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Dec 2009 at 11:39am
Nice to hear from you Brent,Regards Barry
The Journey is the Reward


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bassnbob Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2015 at 10:12pm
GREAT read great luresTongueTongueTongueTongueregards bob
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fysshe Salmon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2015 at 11:42pm
Certainly are great lures, even nicer to get one for your collection! Wink I like his take on the "Luxon" style tow clip.
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fysshe Salmon Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Apr 2015 at 11:48pm
There's one on Ebay at the moment but it's not cheap!! Shocked
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bassnbob Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Apr 2015 at 12:13am
IAN i had a white&pink one caught some nice yellas on her a chaffey dam lost her in the sticks at stclair great luresClapClapClapBig smileBig smileregards bob
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote steiny Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Apr 2015 at 12:14am
Really cool lures and great to have the history and all of those pics for future reference.
cheers steiny
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MadDogLures Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24 Nov 2016 at 7:47pm
Fantastic looking luresClap

Cheers,
Dave
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