A large wild Australian bass, caught in the freshwater reaches of an East Coast river. Caught in late March (early autumn), on a lure with a barbless hook, this female fish was making her way down to the estuary for winter spawning. She was carefully released after the photo. [IMAGE: Codman at the English Wikipedia, 19 March 2007, retrieved 26.11.23]
ABC News, 26 November 2023:
John Langley still makes and sells hundreds of fishing lures each year. (Hannah Ross)
Necessity is the mother of invention, and in 1949 John Langley was in dire need of some fishing lures.
Then aged 17, he was working for his grandfather feeding the pigs on the banks of the Richmond River, and the waterway was brimming with bass.
He had with him his father's oldest and best two lures.
"I didn't want to lose them because they were so old so I decided to try to make a lure," he said.
John Langley spends many happy hours in his workshop at Geneva, near Kyogle in northern NSW.(ABC North Coast: Hannah Ross)
Like a scene from Huckleberry Finn, the lad used his pocket knife to strip down some willow limbs and fashioned old jam tins into some bibs that seemed to do the job.
"I sort of went on from there," he said.
The precious lures that once belonged to John Langley's father inspired his own designs.(ABC North Coast: Hannah Ross)
All for the love of it
Now 91, Mr Langley continues to handcraft and sell his lures, reeling in customers to his stall at the monthly Kyogle Bazaar market.
He charges $10 for a lure, with an output of up to 50 lures a week.
"It's just a hobby, I don't intend to make a real roaring business out of it," he said.
"I know I'm selling them cheap but I don't care, I just like making them."
To perfect his lures, Mr Langley has spent a good part of his life trying to think like a fish.
Each lure is hand-painted and tested to ensure it's ready to fool even the most canny fish.(ABC North Coast: Hannah Ross)
He meticulously hand-paints each lure with automotive paint in colours that will appeal to each species, taking into account what time of day they are being used.
He said a male bass, for instance, would attack a lure painted in the same colours as itself, thinking it was warding off a rival for its territory
"You can go fishing with a lure in the morning and catch a heap of bass on it, then go for a cup of tea," he said.
"When you go back, you have to find another colour. They know.".....
Wherever he goes fishing, his lures attract attention and buyers contact him to send them more.
His creations are now being cast into rivers and seas across Australia, Europe, the United Kingdom and Japan....
Read the full article here.
