Lively Lures

[Tagged]

Maybe the greatest name in Qld or Australian lures would be Alan Dolan and Lively Lures. They haven't changed for 23 years now and he's made hundreds of different lures for dozens of different lure makers. He started out in about 1987 when he linked up with a few other guys, I'm guessing but Down Under Lures, Gordon Fallon's Kingfisher Lures, Mal Florence and a couple of other mates. Sorry about the missing names, please fill us in with them if you know. I spoke to him about this one with a steel bib and he can't recall ever making a Mad Mullet with a steel bib, but it has been over 20 years. There's still some collectible Lively Lures out there, rare colors mostly.

[Tagged]

Lively Lures was started in the late 80's by Alan Dolan, Peter Howard. Gordon's Poppers, Mal's Masta Blastas, Leigh Boileu's Mirrorspoons and Rob Smith's Boomerangs.

[Roo]

I've recently had a good run on some bass with a small Lively Lure called the "Hypa Active". the polyurethane construction and small 45mm size meant it isn't the worlds best casting lure, tends to tumble a bit. The wild river bass don't seem to mind, but I suppose they often will smack anything in range. i picked it for a few reasons....it would float very well(lots of weed beds in the rivver), had a reasonably large profile for its size and mostly because its wide and aggressive action would send out lots of "im injured" signals while the polyurethane construction meant it would have no rattles which I've started to pattern up with finding more fish in shallow areas preferring a bit less "Noise" is a good thing.
I got 2 of these lures from a discount bin at BCF about a year ago and hardly used them till last week when my stash was reduced to 1 by a huge hit that popped my leader.....dodgy knot me thinks.... then No.2, tied on securely this time, proceeded to entice more strikes and fish to the boat than anything else in my box. I swapped rods all day but the little gold Hypa was doin the trick. went back to the same spot 2 days later and it did it all again including getting revenge for the fallen brother....cast into the same overhang where No.1 had seen its end and proceeded to get monstered off the surface (at lunchtime on a hot,sunny day). A finely conditioned 40cm bass came to the boat. I may have to retire the Hypa Active to the "Pool Room" as I've had little luck finding them on any online stores. If I spot some, I'll be grabbing more.

cheers, Roo.

[Tagged]

Great stuff Roo, wild bass are the best to chase. Bust offs are so quick, makes you wonder what you did wrong as you stare at your gear while your mate laughs. With these floating lures that pop up quickly you can just knock the barbs off and the Bass tend to remove hooks and you get your lure back. My non boater lost the same lure 3 times in one trip.
Do you have a photo of the lure, I've never heard of them.

[Roo]

Hi Tagged,
I should knock those barbs off, I did the same on another lure because it was a discontinued line (Heddons Tiny Tad) and it paid dividends last time i used it...took a few minutes but she popped up eventually. both times it was my knot tying that had let me down. the 4lb braid was slipping on the 12lb flurocarbon but a little dab of supa glue fixed it up nicely.
I found a pic of the hypa actives on the Arafura tackle website.http://arafuratackle.com/page.php?46
colour 10 was my first pick but met an untimely end. Colour 3 saved the day and has earned its place in my takle box.

Cheers, Roo.