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The Powell Lures Story

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    Posted: 10 May 2010 at 12:57pm
Here's a history on Powell Lures and the bloke who makes them - Travers Powell.

Travers - Thank you for taking the time to write this and share the history with LureLovers  Thumbs Up

========================================================================

POWELL LURES – From the beginning


Born and bred at Harden, NSW, on a property called “Beggan Beggan”, the only fishing interests that I had, as a kid, was a frozen prawn on a hook while on holidays.  In 1972, the old man sold the farm and bought a motel in Merimbula.  I was at Uni, at the time, and fishing hadn’t entered the equation, even though I now lived on the coast.

It wasn’t until the late 70’s, when I met a bloke who worked at Bluewater Sports Store, in Merimbula, that I got hooked on fishing.  Michael McMaster was a mad keen sports fisherman and we spent many weekends flogging the Monaro trout streams, using Rapala and Rebel minnows on ‘spiderline’.  We also fished the saltwater, but trout were our main target.

 
Mike made my first ‘real’ rod – a Bushy (Kaj Busch) designed, pistol grip baitcaster.  First runner was on the side and the others underneath. Bushy and Mike also inspired me to start fly fishing.


The use of 1kg and 2 kg line resulted in a lot of lost lures, which created an interest in making my own.  At that stage, I had no idea about making lures and tried whittling lures, with a pocket knife, out of solid pieces of pine.  It was a hopeless task and no lures were created.

In 1983, I went back to New England University, Armidale, to do a Diploma in Education.  I found a fishing mate, who also was doing his Dip Ed, and we spent a lot of time fishing the New England trout streams.  Chris Barker was from Parkes and was keen to make some trout lures.  This is the time that I made my first lures that actually worked.  They were basic, but some of them actually worked.

 
My first teaching position, in 1984, was Dunedoo Central School, as Agriculture teacher.  It didn’t take long to discover the great trout fishing streams, only 30 minutes away, at Coolah.  Within no time I was active in the Coolah Anglers Club, which was affiliated with the New England Trout Acclimatisation Society.  In the Coolah Creek, 3lb Rainbows were common, 5lb Rainbows weren’t uncommon and my largest Rainbow was 7lb.  I lost a lot of Rapalas and Rebels on 2 & 4 lb line, so there was a necessity to make a few lures.  The woodwork room, at school, had a bandsaw and belt sander and I had read up on making lures, from magazine articles (Peter Newell’s article in Sept 1983 Modern Fishing) and books (Vic McCrystal’s ‘Practical Fishing with Lures).  My home made trout lures actually looked like lures and caught lots of trout.

Photo: 4 trout lures that I made sometime between 1983 and 1988


In 1989, I moved to Tenterfield.  I bought a house and went to the Royal Hotel to have a few celebratory beers with the agents, when I noticed Peter Newell propping up the bar.  I introduced myself and we had a great chat about lures and fishing.  Peter’s wife, Kathy, worked at the school, so it wasn’t long before I was in Peter’s workshop being shown his lures and how he made them.  That was the start of a great friendship.  Peter taught me how to make lures, using his method of carving lines and back-to-back blanks, in sizes that made my trout lures look microscopic. 

 
I spent a lot of time in Peter’s workshop.  He not only showed me how to make the lures but he also made me lures as part of the training process.  I still have a few of those original lures.  Carving the lures from timber was not too difficult, but it took me a lot of time to master spraying them with acrylic lacquer.  Many of my early lures were painted by Peter, because I was having problems with the spray painting process.  When I was declared capable of painting my own lures, I bought a spray painting outfit.


Peter was very generous with his time and resources.  He gave me the templates to a number of his lures, including the Guppy, Kadaitcha and a lure that he called a Grunt.  So these were the first lures that I made in Tenterfield.  Peter also gave me a couple of boxes of Scorpion blanks, that ranged from untouched blanks through to fully carved and sanded blanks.

Photo:  2 Guppys that Peter made for me.



Photo: One of my first batches of lures that I made in Tenterfield.


 

The lures that I made were solely for my own use and I had no intention of selling the lures.  I was happy to lose lures on drowned trees in Glenlyon Dam, or snags in the rivers, then make replacements.  That was until I bought a small tinnie, from Peter’s next door neighbour, and decided that I needed a depth sounder.  The basic Humminbird sounder was about $400, which was a heap of dough in 1991.  A mate bought the Deepwater Pub and asked me if he could sell my lures at the pub.  That was when I thought that I’d sell a few and buy the Humminbird..  By this stage, I was making my own designed lures – the Guppy lure had been transformed into the shape of the current Digger range.



Photo:  Some old Diggers, a Little Digger and a Tiny Digger


 
I later added new designs, but none of them had names.  Harry Watson was selling heaps of my lures around Beaudesert, and demanded that I give them names to make it easier for him to take orders – the lures were named Digger, Little Digger, Tiny Digger, Trout, Moogerah Minnow and Macleay Minnow.  Harry asked me to make him a lure to catch Mackerel off the Gold Coast and along came the Mack Attack.  Bushy asked me to send him a couple of Mack Attacks for a Rex Hunt fishing trip to far north Qld – he gave me rave reviews on the lure.  The Mack Attack has established a great reputation as a Barra lure, thanks to Bushy and my brother-in-law, who lived at Nhulunbuy for 5 years.






Photo:  Top is a modern Mack Attack. Below are 2 original Mack Attacks.
 

 
At Tenterfield High School, I ran “Fishing Clinic” classes, teaching students how to make lures.  The 7cm Minnow Lure Making Kit is based on the lure that I taught the students to make.



Photo:  7cm Minnow Lure Making Kit with a range of lures.



Photo:  Unnamed lure and below is the ‘Cod’.
 
In my last couple of years at Tenterfield, I started making two new lures. One was called Cod, because of it’s Cod-shaped profile and the other I hadn’t named.  The ‘Cod’ lure caught my biggest yellowbelly (15lb) and proved to be an excellent river lure for cod and yellowbelly.  I sold a fair few ‘Cod’ lures but stopped making them when I moved to Maitland in 1997.

The un-named lure, was a yabby imitation, in the vane of the Mudbug/BigDig style of lure.  It was still in the testing phase when I left Tenterfield, but was very effective on Cod and Yellowbelly.

In 1997, I moved to East Maitland, to take up the Agronomy Lecturer’s position at Tocal Agricultural College.  Now I had to think about saltwater lures.  My minnow-type lures were easily adapted to saltwater with a colour.  The only new lure that I have developed, since moving to East Maitland, is the Micro Digger.  It’s development came about because of the need for a deep diving Bream lure.  Since moving to Maitland, I have also put together a second lure making kit, based on the Guppy that Peter Newell first taught me to make.

The lure making process

Australian Red Cedar has been the timber used in most of my lures.  The cedar has come from various sources, but most of it came from 2 huge cedar doors that I bought when the original Tenterfield School buildings were renovated and from a renovation job that my father-in-law did on the Railway Hotel, in Armidale, about 30 years ago.  The original Tenterfield School was built in 1887 and the Railway Hotel was built in 1878, so the cedar used in my lures is very old and has a little bit of history attached to it.  I use white beech and brown beech, when I can get it.  I use meranti in the lure making kits, because the soft, white meranti is like balsa to carve – easy for new lure carvers to manage.
The process:
•    Use templates to draw lure pattern onto timber. Most are ‘back-to-back’.
•    Cut lure blanks out, using a bandsaw. Critical that bib slots must be cut ‘square’ to the lure blank.
•    Draw centreline and carving lines on the lure blank.
•    Mark eyelet holes and drill.  Use Stanley knife to mark centre of lure at the bib slot.
•    Carve the lures, first between the carving lines, then the tail and finally trim the edges.
•    Sand the lures, first, using 120 grit on a sanding block, then finishing with 180 and 240 grit.
•    Draw aluminium bib, using templates, drill holes, cut out, flatten and file.
•    Make eyelets, twisting the wire for extra strength.
•    Glue lures, using Super Strength Araldite, injected into the holes. Clean up excess glue.
•    After glue has dried, sand lures with 180, 240  and 320 grit sand paper.
•    Undercoating.  Lures are dipped in acrylic Primer Filler undercoat, once a day for 5 days.
•    Lures are tank tested and tuned
•    Lures sanded back with 400 grit &/or 600 grit wet and dry sandpaper.
•    Lures painted, using acrylic lacquer then given several coats of acrylic lacquer clear. Eyes dotted.
•    Random selection of lures tank tested. If any are not running properly, the lot are tested & tuned.
•    Tow points attached and soldered on bib-towed lures.  Hooks attached.
 

My biggest selling lure is the Macleay Minnow, for bass fishing.  Heaps of them have been sold to fisherman in Armidale and Walcha as well as local and, more recently, Western Sydney.  They are deadly on bass, with anglers ordering up to 30 lures at a time.

      

Photo: 2 Macleay Minnow orders for Western Sydney bass fisherman


Without doubt, my favourite lure to fish with is the Little Digger.  It casts well and has a strong action, giving great feedback through the rod tip.  It’s a proven cod & yellowbelly lure.

 
Photo:  Little Diggers

 
I have chosen to remain a small time, “cottage industry”, lure maker (I make about 150-250 lures each year) because I don’t have the spare time to make large quantities of lures.  Also, Peter Newell advised me to remain small and to avoid the dramas that he had with customers and other lure makers.  I have never marketed my lures, preferring to sell them from home, through friends and relatives and from a stall that I have at the Maitland Caravan, Camping, 4WD, Fish and Boat Show (May).  In recent times, I have tried selling lures on ebay.


All of my lures are hand carved, mostly from very old Australian Red Cedar, using the methods that Peter Newell showed me in 1989.  Peter has passed on, so I would like to maintain his traditional lure carving methods, to preserve the craft and as a sign of respect for his help and friendship.  To help continue the craft of hand carving lures, the “Peter Newell” way, I have put together two lure making kits.  One is the 7cm Minnow and the other is the Guppy.  Hopefully, these will help to start a new generation of lure carvers. 
 


My lures are now being sent to all parts of Australia.  Some people approached me to make them Kadaitchas, which, at first, I was hesitant to do.  Peter was always happy for me to make Kadaitchas, and I only made them for my own use.  When people asked to buy them from me, I would explain that they weren’t my lure to sell – Peter found this amusing and said that he had no problems with me selling them.  Prior to 2009, I had only sold about 20 Kaditchas in the 20 years since Peter gave me the templates and showed me how to make them.  I explained to those enquiring that I had too much respect for Peter to exploit his passing, but agreed to make the Kaditcha in very limited numbers.  In 2009, I made 10 sets of 2” and 3” Kaditchas and sold 8. In 2010, I made 15 sets and sold 13, keeping the first 2 sets, in both years, for family members.  The Kaditchas will only be made in very limited numbers each year.

Innovation and new designs?  Most lure makers seek to develop a unique design.  I’m no different, but I am content to continue making lures that are proven fish catchers.  Sometimes, it’s little things that matter. For example, in the early 90’s lure makers were trying to put lumps and bumps into their lures to prevent the trebles linking together.  I fixed the problem by turning the rear eyelet (hook hanger) 90 degrees, so it was horizontal rather than vertical – problem solved.  The small top eyelet on my bib tows, I turned 90 degrees, in the belief that it would help the Tackleback attach to the lure better.  Lack of time is a major factor that prevents me experimenting with new designs, so the Little Digger, Micro Digger, Mack Attack, Moogerah Minnow, Macleay Minnow and Trout, plus the 2 Lure Kits, is where I’m at in 2010.

I’m in the process of making some of the old lures that I used to make in Tenterfield – a kind of retro-collection – which may be of interest to anglers. 

So that’s it – a fairly simple story.  Started making lures to replace lures lost to fish and snags.  Ran into a bloke called Peter Newell and started making really good quality lures, still to replace those lures lost to fish and snags.   An opportunity came to sell a few lures in the early 90’s and, 17-18 years later, I’m still making them in relatively small quantities -  so there should be about 3000-4000 Powell Lures hanging off drowned trees/snags and in the bottom of tackle boxes, somewhere.


Cheers
 

Travers Powell
3/4/2010


 
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: 10 May 2010 at 1:02pm
Lure photos

1.    Range of lures made while in Tenterfield (about 1989 – 1995)

 

2.    Some Scorpions & Kadaitchas – from Peter Newell
 
     

 

3.    Making the lures  -  slow, but rewarding!

          

          

4.    Some of the 2010 Kaditchas

          

5.    7lb trout at Coolah, winning yellowbelly at Maroon Dam comp & cod fishing near Tenterfield
 
          
 
6.    Fishing Clinic classes at Dunedoo Central School (1984 – 1988) were based on fly fishing and fly tying

 

7.    Photo from 1994.  The “Trout” lure hadn’t been designed at this stage.  For trout fishing, I was making a smaller version of the Mack Attack.  It’s interesting to see how little the lure prices have changed in 16 years.

 
 
POWELL LURES - 2010
Hand carved from red cedar and brown beech.
VMC extra strength Perma-Steel  or Barbarian treble hooks

Little Digger:  deep diving lure for Cod, Yellowbelly and Bass. Body length 6cm

 
Mack Attack:  Lure for small pelagic fish and barramundi.  Body length 9.5cm

 
Macleay Minnow:  Brilliant lure on Bass. Body length 6cm

 
Micro Digger:  Deep diving tiny lure for Bream. Body length 4cm

 
Moogerah Minnow:  Great on Bass, Yellowbelly and Flathead.  Body length 7cm

 
Trout:  Great lure on Bream and Trout.  Body length 5cm
 
Cheers, Tony

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tooch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 May 2010 at 2:09pm
Thanks Tony for putting up the history of Powells Lures it was a very good read and thepics to support the story were greatClapClapClap Regards Pete.
I'd rather be fishing with





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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nativeman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jul 2010 at 12:32am
Thanks Travers

An inspiring story for anyone attempting to make lures...

Cheers


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CaptainCranky Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jul 2010 at 7:06am
Travers and Tony,fabulous job,great reading and great pics.Well done.
The Journey is the Reward


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote darcymenchin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jul 2010 at 10:31am
Good morning Travers .
Great story and it would have been great to meet up with Peter and to be actually shown how to be a better lure maker would have been terrific ,I had the pleasure to observe Trevor McFeeters  many years ago making his lures and him being a nice bloke made it all very rewarding it seems that a lot of talented lure makers came from this neck of the woods .
Well done on your story.
Regards Darcy.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tooch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jul 2010 at 10:55am
I've said it before, That's an EXCELLENT!!!! story Travers..Really nice of you guys to put this story up for us to see...ClapClapClapClapClapClapClapClapClapClapClapClapClapClap.......Pete.
I'd rather be fishing with





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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Powelly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jul 2010 at 2:10pm
When asked to write the story, I thought that I'd knock it over in about a page!  When it started to resemble an eight volume encyclopaedia I began to wonder if anyone would find time to read it.
 
The interesting thing, for me, was finding my old photos to scan and put in the story.  I wish that I had taken more photos, back then, and kept a heap more of my old lures as memorabilia.  I did keep quite a few of the early lures, just as a reminder of the progress of my lure making designs and skills.
 
Never really thought about keeping any of the lures that I was making to sell until my son asked me for some cod lures, last Xmas.  I looked through my tackle boxes and was shocked to see how few I still had - they are now set aside for keepsake.  The batch of lures that I have just finished was made purely to give family and friends.
 
I've just started taking photos of my lure making and will post it as a step-by-step process.  Hopefully, this will help anyone wanting to make lures and it will also give a bit of an insight into how Peter Newell used to make his lures back in the 80's and 90's.
 
Cheers
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tony Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Jul 2010 at 2:39pm
G'day Travers

The step by step sounds like it will be a great read as well, I look forward to checking it out! Thumbs Up


Cheers, Tony

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote wrapper Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jul 2010 at 8:53pm
Clap enjoyed the posts here , thanks for putting it up
          cheers wrapper Wink
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ropes.basstard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jul 2010 at 9:16pm
What a great read! I only got my first lures from Travis this year, wonderfull works of art.
 
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A lot of years there Travers, great story of something after all these years you obviously love.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Sep 2010 at 8:01pm
Hello Travis,
My wifes Parents live in Tenterfield. Great story. I have many lures from Pete, B Cambell & Darts.20 years worth .Like to swap stories about the shed and the cells. Pam lives on Molesworth St Tenterfield (Wildlife Carer). If you would like a talk give us a reply.
Regards
Wayne Simpson
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote doccod Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Feb 2011 at 11:11am
Awesome read I ask myself how have I missed this peice of history!!!! The lure making/painting tips are unreal,the history wow! The fact your still doing Kaditchas, And your other designs unreal powelly!!! When I clear my financial backlog I'll P.M. you travis for a order if possible! Regards B.J.Wink
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Sounds like a plan, BJ.
 
With any luck, you winning Lotto and me clearing the back log of orders might coincideBig smile.
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Seaweed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Feb 2011 at 10:02am
Great read Travers, proud to have custom painted Mack Attack and Kaditcha here in Darwin, along with my cap which I wear, maybe I should put-away as it's one of the older models, comfortable to wear however. Your lures have now reached every corner of Oz.Wink 
Regards, Tony (Darwin, NT).
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WinkHey travis go you halves in a mega pick ticket,ya never know we just both might be able to fulfil our desires together!LOL B.J.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Powelly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Feb 2011 at 11:43am
BJ, you're an "ideas" man.  I like that. Big smile.  Maybe you should be in the wealth creation business.
 
I've tried winning Lotto on my own and it has never worked.  I usually organise the Lotto syndicates at work, but the poor buggers don't take 'failure' very well.  Maybe, the only option left is for you and I to take the jackpot together!Beer
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Cgmorg Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 Mar 2011 at 9:54pm
I found this to be a very entertaining, informative and inspirational article.
 
Thanks for sharing your story.
Cheers Glenn
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ropes.basstard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 Mar 2011 at 8:03am
Travers sure does make attention catching lures. Extremely functional, high quality and I just lvoe the finish he gets. Thanks for giving us all the good oil.
 
At the risk of becoming insanley jealous, how many of the lures in the Pics are yours Tony?
Hi I'm Ropes and I'm addicted to fishing lures.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Powelly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Apr 2011 at 10:25pm
The next time you are travelling through Armidale, call in to the Railway Hotel Beer and see if you can spot the 'missing wall'.  A renovation job, that my father-in-law did on the Railway Hotel about 30+ years ago, provided much of the cedar for my lures.  As you can see from the photo, the cedar is pretty old - 1878 Big smile.
 
Just a bit more history
 
Travers
 
 
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I often wondered why that door in your shed seemed to be getting smaller, I just thought I was going mad Wink

Fish hate me!!!

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote puglee62 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Apr 2011 at 11:50pm

very interesting to read this Travers you've been around a bit!,i can remember your lures hanging in the Deepwater pub,Trevor Mc Feeters had his there too i think.Its good that you're still making them and they are always fish catchers and a quality one at that

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dingo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Apr 2011 at 1:48pm
Great read TraversClap.
Could relate to many things that were in the article.Didn't realize the Peter Newell influence but should have put two and two together.Love the history behind the timber.I also use red cedar which my late Grandfather gave to me making every lure that little more special. 
gdm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Powelly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Apr 2011 at 3:06pm
Originally posted by puglee62 puglee62 wrote:

very interesting to read this Travers you've been around a bit!,i can remember your lures hanging in the Deepwater pub,Trevor Mc Feeters had his there too i think.Its good that you're still making them and they are always fish catchers and a quality one at that

Chris, what have you been doing snooping around the Deepwater Pub?  Mallard & Claret club, maybe?  I was pretty darn grateful that those boys stocked the top end of the Deepwater River with Rainbow Trout.
 
Can't ever remember Trevor's lures at the Deepwater Pub, with mine.  A mate bought the pub and asked me to sell my lures there, which was when I first started selling lures in the early 90's.
 
@ Dingo.  The really old cedar is magic to work with and certainly has a special feel and look to it.  I've still got one of the original cedar doors, from the old Tenterfield School, but I just can't bring myself to cutting it up!  Fortunately, there is still a little bit of the Railway Hotel cedar left.
 
I went to my grand daughter's Christening, last month, which was held in a really old church in Newcastle.  Absolutely mind boggling how many thousands of lures could be made from just one pew, let alone the whole church.
 
Cheers
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dingo Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Apr 2011 at 5:22pm
 I like the way you think, opportunity everywhere! I use every little piece with little to no wast.The old stuff is beautiful to work with. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Aussbasstony Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jun 2011 at 6:23pm
Hi Travers,
I'll post this in here as I see one the same colour in your Board of lures picture, I saw this one about a week ago and forgot to post it. Nice lure in the flesh. They are still out there mate !


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nicho Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jun 2011 at 7:25pm
glad tony added this pic, as id never come across this post before......great read travers, I love  a bit of history, necer seen your lures except in pics here, but they always look the goods mate, top shelf.
Good to read the bits about your reluctance to sell kadaitchas, etc due to respect for the original maker, as you said, he didnt care and found it amusing......... but its those little things that show someones genuine character and loyaltyClap  well done mate great read.
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YA DONT KNOW...IF YA DONT GO...SO GET OUT THERE AND... FISH IT
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote River Rover Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jun 2011 at 8:43am
Travers
Glad to see a photo from the Bonnells Bobbers era made it into your collection of photos. Good flattie by the way amazed Gary let you catch one of his pet fish  Wink
David
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Aussbasstony Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Jul 2011 at 3:48pm

Travers,

I'll post it here as I think I see one in your picture up the top. 

I saw this today in a mates collection and thought it to be one of your !
Is it ?


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Powelly Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Jul 2011 at 7:03pm
A little "Grunt".  Peter gave me some large "Grunt" and a couple of medium sized "Grunt" (some refer to them as the original Guppys, but Pete called them Grunt, when he gave them to me) blanks.  From them, I downsized the template and made a trout-sized Grunt.
 
I tried making the first of the tiny Grunt's with the bib straight out the front of the lure, like the big ones, but it just wouldn't work until I bent the bib down. There are 2 of the originals in the photo. After that, I cut the bib slot to it's current position.  The Tiny Grunt's have a fabulous action.
 
 
Not sure where the little grey/silver lure popped up from (Harry?), but I can't remember ever selling them.  That little lure would have to be 20 years old.
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Aussbasstony Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Jul 2011 at 7:22pm

Thanks for filling in the Jigsaw mate, No not Harry's another person up my way owns it. along with the other ones I posted in the other thread. 

He had it in with his Newell's and I said it looks like a Powelly Spray job.  I then was showing him some pictures from my computer and came across the Guppy in the Above picture in this thread and we both agreed I take a picture and get the facts Big smile 20 years hey, I reckon you have met the guy but like the rest of us age screws with our memory LOL

Thank you and now it is confirmed.  Thumbs Up
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote handbrake Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 May 2012 at 8:22am
Travers I've had two young fellows recently get their tackle box out to show me their first attempts at high School under your tuition. They have both continued to make their own lures to fill their tackleboxes. How's that for inspiring young minds. Pat Lollback started making lures when his two teenage sons came home from school with their product. Pat showed me the timber they first used moranti I think.He visited this week and caught a 72cm cod on his own version. I wonder how many other students are still using that knowledge to produce lures?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote barneyminno Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 May 2012 at 8:31am
Just read this post and what a great read! Well done Travers and Tony. Excellent bio.Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mdlures Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 May 2012 at 9:42am
Great bio enjoyed reading it, well done guys Thumbs Up

cheers
Mark
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