Eddy Lures - QLD:
Dave Edwards was born and schooled in Brisbane before marrying and settling in Toowoomba. His love of fishing gave Dave and a chance meeting with Peter Newell and this inspired him to try his hand at lure making more seriously. The deeper diving lure formed into the 'Stinger' and 'Dam Buster' patterns in 1988 and were made of cedar. By 1989 with demand outstripping supply the lures, Alan Dolan from Lively Lures was enlisted and the lures were moulded in plastic. By mid 1993 two new models, the 'Mini Dam Buster' and 'Wasp' were released. Acknowledged as reliable fish catchers in fresh and saltwater the deep version of the 'Stinger' was released by 1995 along with the Magnum 'Wasp' and the large Stinger. Dolls eyes were sometimes different due to supply however most will have white/black dolls eyes from this time period. Around 2000 the business was taken over by Darren Storm till 2007 when Nick Clarke from Redcliffe took over. The 'Dambuster' models and 'Lip Ripper' were owned by Jamie Harris of JD Lures who then sold them in 2014.
Early Eddys 'Tiger Prawn' is possible the 'Holy Grail' for Eddys collectors. This model was only ever made in small numbers and in timber and predates many of the later models and was developed around the same time as the early 'Stinger' and 'Little Beauty' models. The paperwork is an early promotional advertisement for this model and dates to the mid to late 1980's.
Below is an early deep diving 'Stinger' with the curved bib. Never many made with this bib - estimated at about 20 in total which makes this another of the rarer Eddy Lures for the collector
Below is an early straight bibbed 'Stinger' in rare colour
Early Eddys lures such as the timber Eddy 'Stinger' (left) will be signed on the bottom of the lure as shown. Eddy's 'Little Beauty' shown below was the fore runner or prototype for the 'Mini Dam Buster' and shows up occasionally and is a very rare lure.
Dave Edwards started making lures in the early 1980's but many of the early lures are rare and hard to find. Below is another rare timber 'Dam Buster' with a rattle. There was difficulty in placing rattles inside these lures which were manufactured from spent .22 calibre rifle shells.
Eddy's 'Little Beauty' with a fine group of early painted eye Eddy's 'Dam Buster' lures. This group shows some early colours and various signature locations.
A magnificent matching colour pair of early Eddy lures - a yellow eyed 'Stinger' signed Eddy on the bib and a white eyed 'Dam Buster' with dual signings.
The lure shown below sold on Ebay in September of 2017 for over $600 and is a rare example of the the very early packaging for the Deep 'Dam Buster' which is made of cedar and dates to approximately 1988/89.
In the early days, Dave’s love of fishing took him anywhere from the very upper reaches of the Noosa river chasing wild Bass through to the very north of Queensland and over to the Territory in pursuit of the famed Barramundi and as far south as the Clarrence River and over to the reliable cod producing Copeton Dam.It was in fact a trip to Copeton dam where Dave first met Peter Newell.
Whilst Dave made a few plugs as well as a few other creations often using cut down broom handles,it was his meeting with Peter Newell that he proudly admits inspired him to have a serious crack at lure making.
By 1988 Dave was making enough of his quality timber Stingers to start selling them and then around mid 1988 the need for a deeper diver saw the birth of the timber Dam Buster.Both these models were made from cedar and sold through Peter Taylor’s “Mullet Gut Marine”
After a thousand or so of the hand made timber ones and with a rapidly growing reputation, demand was well and truly out stripping supply.
Around late 1989 and with the encouragement of Peter Taylor and the services of Allan Dolan the moulded versions were born.Once again demand was so great for the new moulded versions that Dave utilized the services of both Russell Hedges and then Stuart Rumble as lure painters for many years
There was a couple of other timber models that were made in extremely small numbers, namely the the rattling Dam Buster, the Tiger Prawn, the Little Beauty and as well as a handful of a dolls eye timber version of the ever popular Wasp.Whilst on the topic of dolls eyes there were on the odd occasion the need to randomly use eyes with the different coloured pupils like the yellow and red that we sometimes across.This was due mainly to a supply problem of the regular black ones.
By mid 1993 two new moulded models,the Mini Buster and the Wasp were starting to hit the shelves.These two models exceeded all expectations and were widely acknowelded as very reliable fish takers in both fresh and saltwater.A year or two later the deep Stinger was added to the range and following that the Magnum Wasp and then the large Stinger soon after. All moulded models except the magnum Wasp started life with dolls eyes although some were very short lived.The need to replace moulds helped make the decision to go away from the dolls eyes which were often bulging and cracking as a result of being exposed to the elements and heat in tackle boxes.
The Eddy 'Dam Duster' 15+ was one of the early success stories and the lure right is an old discontinued colour 211 (frog spot) in early packaging with old telephone codes. Below shows another type of older packaging with a Smithtown contact address once Darren Storm owned the rights to Eddy Lures.
The Eddy 'Dam Duster' is shown below with some of the original colours. The body shape was changed slightly and the lures below right show the skinny and fat bum versions in the dolls eye series before they were later changed. The eyelets also changed becoming more elongated and less round. The elongated eyelets are the earlier models.
Fish Tackle Australia No 15 - Stinger colours. Right later catalogue from Mo's Tackle including Max-Stinger.
Below shows some colour charts and colour codes for the early versions of the Stinger and Wasp 12+, the Mini Buster 10+ and the Dam Buster 15+. There will be many variations out there but these are a good guide for identifying the earlier colour patterns.
