Lure Hub OZ - P-Q

Australian Lure Manufacturers P

Pez Lures were made on the northern beaches of Sydney by Chris 'Pez' Perry for a short time around 2008-2010. Essentially they were a 'baitball' lure that could be jigged or slow trolled for bonito, kingfish, salmon and tailor. The lead heads were hand poured and the skirts were made by shredding heavy duty clear hose after it had been permanently dyed. Favourite colours were clear, red and purple. A highly effective jig/lure that replicates a squid or a baitfish. Photo is from the Lure Hub OZ shed - these lures were given to me by a old friend who used to own a boat and fish with the maker.

'Born in 1938 into a fishing family with my Grandad being a commercial netter and crab fisherman I spent most of my early years with him operating in Townsville’s Ross Creek. His local vernacular name was Sharkey Morris, also known as the Pelican Man because of his affinity with the local pelicans.  From about 8 years of age I would be hopping off the stern of a dinghy in a pitch black mangrove creek, holding a net tail rope while floundering through muddy banks in the dark night hours hauling in the catch. In those rather primitive times compared to today, the thought of crocodiles or sharks were never considered, although we had some dicey events. Sharks, shovel nosed rays and large sawfish were often caught in the pocket which mostly resulted in our arms stretched, a lost catch, and extensive net repairs. Obviously I had no choice but to become heavily involved in fishing but never took on the commercial side from my Grandfather, for being the only son in a big family, in 1952 I signed to a long apprenticeship and became a Plumber.

In 1970 I joined a local recreational fishing club and soon after when hearing of a meeting at Cardwell for recently formed mob called ANSA Qld State Exec and finding out our club nominee had resigned I attended the meeting in his place at Vic McCristal’s home. I joined the Exec on the spot and have been in ANSA Qld since then and held the positions of Publicity Officer, President, National Delegate, Critique Officer, and committee member. In the mid 1970’s I drew the template for the ANSAQ species and size standard chart that has been used since for most events with some changes being made over recent years. While President in 1979 I was privileged to award Eric Moller with his ANSA National Life Membership at a function at Cardwell. Over later years I was further privileged to have fished with Eric in my boat and in his, live baiting for javelin fish and luring for barra and jacks etc.

His skill with a baitcaster was inspiring, as was his ability to hand carve wooden lures with a pocket knife and basic implements. As it was the start of my newly found sportfishing activities in transition from my early days of net, catch and eat, I had only commenced using modern lures of the day and apart from making basic troll rigs and mackerel spoons I wasn’t interested in lure making as such. It was then 1974 and I decided to attempt to copy his lures using his same type tools and paint brands, something I eventually achieved with my lures as close replicas of Erics. I was very lucky in that as a friend of Eric I could visit Cardwell and sit with him for hours talking and watching as he generously showed me the techniques needed to make lures. Sadly as Eric passed away in 1981 my time interacting with him was limited.

It is not commonly known but Eric made quite a few different models before he stayed with the basic shallow and deep tiger type units so in demand today. He actually made garfish shaped lures in two sizes for both estuary and offshore use, using mulberry and silver ash timber respectively, and made excellent copies of nilsmaster as well. His basic timbers were white beech, red cedar, mulberry and silver ash, and I still own a few one metre  lengths of each of them cut to size ready for carving, given to me by Eric in the mid 1970’s. In the early days Eric cut his bibs from galvanized or zinc annealed sheet with metal snips, and much later by using a punch given to him with a small fault on an edge, but the early bibs were intact. Being a Plumber I also used metal snips to cut out my bibs, and in later years was given a supply of bibs from a mate John O’Sullivan who had produced them with a punch he had made.  Although I was advised that in later years Eric was using twisted wire eyelets I never ever saw him doing so. At the times we were together all he used was wire wrapped around a round object like a nail and shaped like a hairpin. Holes were then drilled into the lures to make a snug fit and after some araldite was pushed in with a piece of wire, the eyelet was coated with some glue and then pushed in. I can say that I never ever had an eyelet fail with this method, and to my knowledge neither did Eric. I even tested some in a vice by attaching wire and pulling with all my strength and there wasn’t any glue failure and only the wire eyelet straightened or deformed. 

It was around then that I became friends with Dave Killalea who was then experimenting with hand carved lures and I showed him the work I had done and what lures I had made. I can remember him swimming one of his early prototypes in my home swimming pool in Townsville and he has certainly made progress since then. While in a competitive mode in ANSA I completed in various fishing and other events and attained awards such as Masters in Plugcast, Spincast, Lure cast, Sportfishing and held several national and state fishing awards. In 1982 I was also awarded the first Life Membership of ANSA Qld although in deference to Vics’s prestige, although he was a later recipient, I am listed second in the official records. 

I joined the NQ Sportfishing Championships committee run from Cardwell in around 1971 and served as President, Secretary, Coordinator and committee member for around 35 years, the last 20 or so in league with my wife Lee who took on the role of Secretary/Organizer. From the late 1970’s I was also the inaugural northern representative of first the Qld Amateur Fishing Council, which became the Qld Sport and Recreation Fishing Council, and finally Sunfish as it is today, in which I served in various positions as Committee member and Boat Ramps Liaison Officer, until retiring from the group around 1995. For a period during those years I was also Secretary of the NQ Zone of ANSA Qld. I currently also have Life Membership in Tully and District SC, Tag and Release Sportfishing Club, and the North Queensland Sportfishing Championships Committee.

I first met Vic at a 1971 fishing competition in Hinchinbrook Channel involving Cairns SC, Tully SC, Hinchinbrook SC and my club the Townsville Amateur Light Gear Club, and my club and I joined ANSA that year. Vic and I became friends soon after we met and over the years, in addition to our association through ANSA and our family holidays at Cardwell he lived with us in Townsville twice, once after his hernia operation, the other for several months while his boat Ungmadi was being built in that city. When I retired to Cardwell in 2002 we had our regular Saturday morning coffee and chat which continued even after his stroke and ongoing disability. I learned many stories and tales of his life then from him which were very personal and interesting and of course that data will stay secret.  I have everyone of his books all signed, including one few even know about, named Vic McCristal’s Fishing Tackle, and all copies are personally signed. As my daughters grew up associated with Vic, I am keeping the books for them and so on.

I retired from the workplace in 2000 although had written some articles for the Sunfish magazine for a few years, I started writing for NQ Fish and Boat in 2002 and became a regular monthly article contributor until I ceased in 2014. My first article called “Pelican Man” told about my Grandfather. My articles were often about fishing methods but I mainly concentrated on general and human interest stories and pushed the need for conservation of the marine environment, especially wetlands, and various political agendas.

Don Porter

26 October 2017