In late July the Australian Lure Expo hit Fernvale in Queensland for its inaugural show. QFM attended selling subs with a limited Edition Gidgee Lures Sardinops in our own colours and had a ball. I thought we’d take a look at some of the amazing lure makers who attended the show and what may be coming up for the end user – and trust me, it’s all good!

For starters the Expo had a range of awards from the Best Collection of lures to the Best Presented Stand, Lure of the Year and Most Artistic Lure.

Mike ‘Brolly’ Gilbert won the first Best Collection gong for his amazing collection of Peter Newell lures. This collection is virtually unable to be valued and is a testament to Brolly’s dedication and Peter Newell’s brilliance. And to have the courage to display that many Newell lures gave an amazing opportunity to show visitors to celebrate Peter’s lures in full.

The amazing Nutterjuck Lures took out the inaugural Lure of the Year award for their inspired popper. Nutterjuck Lures have some of the most amazing paint work you will ever see and they only use black and white paint – Simple, Done Well is their motto. These brilliant lures are hard to come by, however if you log onto www.nutterjucklures.com you will see the brilliance behind these lures and be able to order some for your own collection or use. I suggest both!

The amazingly popular Lively Lures and JD Lures combined their efforts at the show to take out the Best Presented Stand. Both of these lure makers now sell direct on line and their range of lures will appeal to any angler chasing barra to redfin and trout to bass, plus all the critters that live in any estuary Australia wide.

And lastly, and probably the award that recognises creative flare was the Most Artistic Lure, won by Fugly Lures. For those who have never heard of Fuglies, look them up. There is absolutely creative genius behind these lures and I have a few squirreled away in my display cabinet that always get talked about by visitors.

Other exhibitors that appealed included Gidgee Lures with their range of hand crafted lures that simply scream fish, while the Bassman Spinnerbaits stand impressed with a range of new lures aimed at serious Murray cod. BTD Lures had the most awesome range of burnt image lures you will see and… and…

I could go on for days about the amazing lures on show.

The show also had a strong learning and teaching focus. Demonstrations on carving timer, painting lures and working with the various plastics were heavily attended. Rod Harrison also did his bit by passing on his wealth of experience on lure lore in hugely informative demonstrations.

FFSAQ, who basically lobby on all freshwater angler’s behalf had a stand with some very, very impressive bass and these certainly got the casting arm a bit twitchy.

There are a heap of websites with images and chat about the expo so go on line for more information. Some places to check include sweetwaterfishing.com.au, lurelovers.com and lureandmore.com. All three sites have reams of images, videos and opinions on this great show.

Enjoy the images on the following pages and when this event comes around again, make a bee line for the entrance!