A Learning Curve

If anyone has managed to find this site never mind this blog, I am amazed and very grateful for your perseverance.

Welcome to this website which has been a considerable step into the unknown for me.

When I started making these lures, it was really a challenge to see if something I had made could be as productive as a professionally produced lure. Armed with info from several of Keith White's articles, other bits of advice gleaned from the internet along with a severely neglected, very rusty lathe and some equally corroded tools I started turning various bits of wood into all kinds of profiles. I enjoyed the process and really wasn't concerned that I was making slow progress. After a few months I had a couple of lure boxes full of heavily epoxied bits of wood most of whose intended purpose was only apparent due to the attached hooks. They travelled with me on a week long trip to Ireland but although the fishing was tough at no stage did I become desperate enough to resort to clipping one on until the final hour when waiting for the ferry I cast a few just for the hell of it. Needless to say they did not save the trip by being immediately swallowed by double figure bass.

On returning home, I felt a little disappointed in myself that I hadn't had more confidence in them and given them a bit more of a trial.

A few months later, I was back on the ferry for another week on that glorious South coast of Ireland with even more painted and epoxied sticks of timber. The fishing had improved a little and after a few days I started to find a few good fish scattered over an extensive area of reef interspersed with cleaner patches of sand and gravel. They were by no means numerous and only appeared during the brief hours of mid summer darkness but they were very welcome after the previous couple of days had only resulted in the odd fish.

The next night I confidently returned to the same area but as I fished the early flood up into darkness it became apparent that the fish just were not up for a repeat performance. Wave worms had done the damage previously but they were being totally ignored 24 hours later. By 3 am the tide was about at the top and the gloom was lifting as a new day dawned and I felt rather affronted by the lack of participation from my quarry. I had painted a couple of my homemade, short needlefish in fluoro pink having had success with pink Wave Worms in the dark previously. It was one of these stubby, rather obscene looking needles that I forlornly clipped on and gave a good whack out into the dawn. It was pleasing how much further it seemed to have travelled than the Wave Worms I had been using for the previous few hours. I swung the bail arm back over and to my astonishment was into what felt like a reasonably good fish.

I was thrilled and feverishly excited, desperate to get photographic evidence of my capture on one of my very own "lures".

With the spring tide nearing high water I was a little cramped for space at the base of the cliffs but the fish was playing ball lying still on the shingle with this pink thing sticking out from it's mouth. It was a relatively new phone and I never normally photograph fish so in the half light I was struggling to find and operate the camera function. Somehow I seemed to manage to start recording a selfie video and before I could sort out what was going on, one of those bigger than all the rest swells hit the beach, picking up the obliging bass, pink needle still attached and returned it into the backwash. I just managed to save the rod from being towed after it but as I tightened the line it was obviously buried in the shingle. I briefly felt the bass struggling to head for deeper water before the line parted and fish along with my pink, stubby needle were gone and my only reminder was a video of my ugly mug uttering expletives I care not to repeat.

Fortunately I was fishing alone and there were no witnesses to my behaviour over the following few minutes. After what seemed like an eternity I managed to sort my line, tie on a new leader and clip and attach another of my stubby needles, this time in white.

The very next cast I was into another decent fish. I had given up on the picture idea so released the fish quickly to get back at them and yet again within seconds of the lure hitting water it was hit.

It was those three successive casts resulting in three fish that gave me the confidence to give hard needlefish in general and my own in particular far more water time and had each of those casts not caught I can imagine my lure making would have stagnated and ground to a halt.

Later on that day I was just embarking on the walk to another location when I noticed three figures walking towards me. They weren't happy, as after a fair walk had found the spot to be full of weed and unfishable. We had a chat and it was suggested that we go and get some lunch. After four days on a diet of mars, bananas, digestives and black coffee the thought of some proper food was quite appealing.

Over lunch I boasted of my success on my homemade needles and afterwards on returning to our cars I showed a few to them. Henry seemed genuinely impressed and extremely enthusiastic and it is the catching of those three bass and Henry's infectious enthusiasm that provided the boost in confidence needed to not only continue making lures but to continue fishing them as well.

On returning home I sent him a few which he very kindly gave some proper fishing time to and has subsequently reported on in a number of his excellent blog posts. It was reading his last needlefish related blog back in March that made me think that I should invest a little more time in this venture and have therefore set up this site in the hope of spreading the word and hopefully making them a little more accessible to anyone who wishes to buy them.

Many thanks for reading. Not too dull I hope but a brief intro into my lure making.

The Stubby needles that worked from the off.