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Wild River Lures

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CaptainCranky View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote CaptainCranky Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Wild River Lures
    Posted: 14 Jul 2010 at 9:24pm
Today I had the pleasure of doing a Bio on John Collett and his Wife Bonnie.

He is the man behind Wild River Lures and is a keen Fisherman.

John started in 1977 making a few lures for himself as well as friends.He started to sell his lures to tackle shops in 1980. He now only makes a handfull for himself.

He has a modified copy lathe that was made by Jeff Reid but set up a little differently by John so as to fully utilise the shapes and sizes of his lures. John then set about making a bib punch and concaver and then a custom wire twister to go with his cutomised triple head drill press.

John is a firm believer in making things easy because he has a slight  disadvantage in only having one arm. While I was there in his workshop he put a piece of Pine in the lathe,turned it down on auto,then cut the ends off with a hacksaw and straight after that he drilled all the holes and bib slot with no measuring in less than 3 minutes - Unbelievable to watch.

In the early days he used to cut out the timber around an alloy template and then sand it down on a large  open cut white stone wheel. He then hand sanded the rest.Now he uses the copy lathe.
Anyway his lures are made like this---

All eyelets are stainless steel.
All bibs are alloy.
All acrylic paint used with airbrush.

His very first lures were Red Cedar, then White Beech, then Western Red Cedar and finally he used ordinary old Pine.

If his lures have a "H" written under them these were his first commercial ones.The "H" stands for Herberton.

If you find one of his lures with no writing underneath it is his earliest.

If his lures have "WR" underneath then they are his later ones. "WR" means Wild River.

The numbers underneath his lures are for colour coding charts he has on the wall.

His Eyes are put on with a wooden rounded end stick with a nail on the other end. One end for the large part of the eye and the nail for the small part of the eye.
 
 
John standing next to his copy lathe.
 
 
A lure have a couple of grooves put in it.
 
John's 3 chuck drill press.
 
Putting the grooves on the side and belly.
 
 
 
All by hand and eye.
 
 
This tool cuts and bends the bib.
 
 
This is the cutting bit and above is the bending bit.
 

 
It is operated by a foot lever.
 
 
One of his airbrushes.
 
 
Some of John's spraying equipment.
 

 
One of 2 colour code boards.
 
 
A plastic template.
 
 
A few Blanks
 
 
The small jig on the left is where John bends his eyelets and cuts them to go into the tool on the right where he twists them.
 
 
 
A few of John's magnificent lures.
 
 
 
 
And last but not least a TD MG I saw in Atherton.
 
Forgot this one of the turning process in action.
Hope you like it.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Journey is the Reward


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tooch View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tooch Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2010 at 9:45pm
Good Bio Barry, John certainly is handicapped with one arm but it seems as though he's got it all worked out with his setup he's got there....ClapClapClapClapClap....Pete.
I'd rather be fishing with





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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote simon bruce Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jul 2010 at 11:48pm
Barry
 
great write up and insight into the Wild River story.  Some innovative stuff there for making the lures.
 
 
Simon
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote darcymenchin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jul 2010 at 6:33pm
ClapHi Barry.
great story ,looks like you should send a couple of his lures down this way ,What do you think........good idea  hey.
Regards Darcy

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rally44 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jul 2010 at 7:20pm
hi barry,excellent coverage of another NQ luremaker.Well done,i dont feel so bad at all about the state of my shed & surrounds after seeing Johns set upEmbarrassedEmbarrassedEmbarrassed.cheers richard.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jclures Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jul 2010 at 11:52am
I thought that is what a shed should look like, well used.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote puglee62 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jul 2010 at 9:21pm
bluudy oath!,THAT is a REAL workshop!, i really like that bib press set up ,is it kick operated or
motorised?.  great story Barry ,they are beautiful lures a real testament to John and Bonnies skills
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CaptainCranky Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2010 at 7:01am
The press is just put your foot on the bar at the bottom and press.
The Journey is the Reward


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Timber King Lures Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2010 at 9:03am
I like them lures.John does a great job Clap
Thanks Barry.
nando.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote laz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2010 at 6:43pm
Thanks Barry  now i know who made my lures .Mine have just a W followed by a number i am pretty sure that when i bought them they had no backing card
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tony Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2010 at 7:18pm
Another exceptional read - thank you Barry. Clap
(sorry I'm a bit slow in responding - slowly catching up!)

Some very nice examples of John's lures Laz Thumbs Up


Cheers, Tony

For the love of Fishing Lures.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bigi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2010 at 8:34pm
great story, and now some people know where some of thier lures come from such as Laz. Its great to hear a storey behind the lure.
Could you describe how the eyelets are bent and twisted on the casts please
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote hazmail Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Aug 2010 at 10:21pm
Great work again Barry, thanks mate I enjoy reading these.
Pete-R
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bluey Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Feb 2011 at 11:28am
an early one found on a snag in Hervey Bay by my brother
regards George

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Seaweed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Feb 2011 at 2:32pm
Good one George, I picked-one up in an old tackle box down at the local dump. Nobody knew what it was, it's now home in my collection, beat-up like yours but plenty of character. Have a few of John's in good nick as well, terrific paint jobs. Great bio, thanks Barry.
Regards, Tony (Darwin, NT).
"Always Merry and Bright"
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote N.Stock Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Jul 2012 at 9:49pm
This thread made my night! I caught my first decent Barra in Tinaroo Dam on a Wild River Lure when I was 8 years old in 1993.  Not only did I think that John's lure was the best thing ever to hit Atherton, it sparked my fascination for timber lures.
 
I think from memory that we bought it from the Atherton Convenience when I was in grade 2 along with some of J.M's unreal timber lures. I wish that you could still walk into your local tackle store and buy from a decent selection of hand made , FNQ local timber Barra lures.
 
Thanks for posting that Bio Cranky, made my night mate
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CaptainCranky Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jul 2012 at 8:11am
My pleasure and glad you liked it.
The Journey is the Reward


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ropes.basstard Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Jul 2012 at 8:12pm
What a great memory to have.
Hi I'm Ropes and I'm addicted to fishing lures.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lionel Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Jul 2012 at 9:20am
Amazing........Clap. There's hope for me yet as I've had a stroke would love to make lures again.....
 
Lionel
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote bassnbob Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Dec 2014 at 6:39am
AWESOME read fantastic story also ClapClapClapClapClapBig smileregards bob
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jebe Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Dec 2014 at 7:51am
I love reading these
Thanks for sharing
Cheers
Justin
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote peter am Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Dec 2014 at 12:07pm
top yarn
peter
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Joe92 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Dec 2014 at 1:47am
Im from herberton are these still about would love some?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CaptainCranky Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Dec 2014 at 7:59am
Joe they are hard to come across.An odd one turns up occasionally.
The Journey is the Reward


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