noelm Posted June 27, 2019 Author Share Posted June 27, 2019 Once again, just mulling, probably one of the longest running tackle shops near me would be in Windang, started out as Searles bait and tackle, owned for years by a local Jack Searle, many decades ago, then renamed Deans bait and tackle, owned by John Dean, an ex Fisheries guy, then Dick Bayliss owned it, then the Bridge brothers, Garth and his other brother, and now it's still operating under the Compleat Angler name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted June 27, 2019 Author Share Posted June 27, 2019 I just had a flash back, who remembers the old "Hank Newman" gimbal belts? back in the early days, you just had to have one, made out of cast Alloy, felt backed and a leather belt, Hank was a pretty famous identity back then, ?I went to the shop in Taren Point to buy mine, cost a fortune in its day, and I think I might still have it somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Hornet Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 35 minutes ago, noelm said: I just had a flash back, who remembers the old "Hank Newman" gimbal belts? back in the early days, you just had to have one, made out of cast Alloy, felt backed and a leather belt, Hank was a pretty famous identity back then, ?I went to the shop in Taren Point to buy mine, cost a fortune in its day, and I think I might still have it somewhere. Yeah, I had one and just found it under a pile of old tackle about a month back. You can see part of it in the pic here. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted June 27, 2019 Author Share Posted June 27, 2019 Yep, that's the one, they were the must have piece of kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickmarlin62 Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 The old nut crusher gimbal hahaha 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazatherfisherman Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 4 hours ago, noelm said: All this dreaming has made me think of the big sports/tackle shops that used to be around, most built great custom rods, there was a good one in Nowra, I think Mcallums? then a handful of smaller ones around the Illawarra, Ern Webs was probably the biggest, in the later years they more or less went into fishing gear only, they moved location, then closed, in Sydney there was the one in Taren Point and the one in Hurstville, and one in the city, maybe Complete Angler? most have vanished as the big chain stores eat them up, kind of like Bunnings did to hardware stores, anyone know of a good/favourite shop from back in the "olden days" Bought my first sidecast from Jim Mitchell's at Hurstville, Barrie's Sports and Hobbies at Burwood and Miller's Sports Store at Ashfield had "the full range" of tackle, used to count out hooks and wrap them in waxed paper. Got my first "Tubular Fibreglass" rod from Mick Simmons at Haymarket- Jarvis Walker "Gold Medal series Port Hacking"- Luderick rod- so whippy you couldn't break 4 lb line through it. When I was a kid, the barber shop at Croydon (nowhere near the water!) sold tackle, bike parts etc- even had a back section with a full size snooker table and 'gallery' seating. Family had on-site van at Windang, my Grandmother bought the first aluminium boat with an "outboard motor" that was down the Windang end of the lake and there was 2 tackle shops- one each side of the road- the western side was the big one. That was well over 50 years ago Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted June 27, 2019 Author Share Posted June 27, 2019 Yes, the Western one was Searles, the Eastern one was Bruce's bait and tackle, owned by Bruce Darrah, I nearly bought the shop off him a long time ago, he was ill and couldn't work the 7 days and late nights anymore, it included the shop and land as well, a guy named Kel Brookman bought it, and he and his wife and son ran it for years before moving on, the shop is still there in a small way, a "one man band" setup selling bait mainly. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazatherfisherman Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 1 hour ago, noelm said: I just had a flash back, who remembers the old "Hank Newman" gimbal belts? back in the early days, you just had to have one, made out of cast Alloy, felt backed and a leather belt, Hank was a pretty famous identity back then, ?I went to the shop in Taren Point to buy mine, cost a fortune in its day, and I think I might still have it somewhere. My housemate has 3 of those old gimbal belts on the wall- Hank was a club member of AFA of NSW (as well as Sydney GFC) and he regularly took out junior's from the club. Fished with him quite a few times and worked with him at the Australian Fishing Museum at Birkenhead Point for a year 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Signing Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 5 hours ago, noelm said: All this dreaming has made me think of the big sports/tackle shops that used to be around, most built great custom rods, there was a good one in Nowra, I think Mcallums? then a handful of smaller ones around the Illawarra, Ern Webs was probably the biggest, in the later years they more or less went into fishing gear only, they moved location, then closed, in Sydney there was the one in Taren Point and the one in Hurstville, and one in the city, maybe Complete Angler? most have vanished as the big chain stores eat them up, kind of like Bunnings did to hardware stores, anyone know of a good/favourite shop from back in the "olden days" Mcallums is still there and still a quality tackle store 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankS Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 I bought my first boat from Nock and Kirbys Liverpool think it was 12 foot Savage tinnie with 4hp Johnson, made the trailer myself, I was 16 years old. my brother in law would drive us down to the ramp set us kids fishing and pick us up when we were ready to come home as I was too young to drive . I used to buy most of my fishing gear from Guards sports store in Liverpool. I moved to Liverpool when I was about 16 before that I lived at Enfield/Strathfield, can't remember where I used to get my gear before Liverpool, probably the south Strathfield barber shop. Frank 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berleyguts Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 3 hours ago, rickmarlin62 said: I’ve got a stack of WK Superjigs, unused. Werner Kossman was in my fishing club and I must have bought them at one of the tackle auctions. He would have donated them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted June 27, 2019 Author Share Posted June 27, 2019 (edited) I remember when Nock and Kirby had a shop in .Warrawong and used to sell Pongrass boats and Johnson outboards, for those young ones, Nock and Kirby was a kind of Bunnings, but they sold boats as well, they had a guy on the TV adds, "Joe the gadget man" and his finishing line each time was "bring your money with you" Edited June 27, 2019 by noelm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazatherfisherman Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 3 minutes ago, frankS said: I bought my first boat from Nock and Kirbys Liverpool think it was 12 foot Savage tinnie with 4hp Johnson, made the trailer myself, I was 16 years old. my brother in law would drive us down to the ramp set us kids fishing and pick us up when we were ready to come home as I was too young to drive . I used to buy most of my fishing gear from Guards sports store in Liverpool. I moved to Liverpool when I was about 16 before that I lived at Enfield/Strathfield, can't remember where I used to get my gear before Liverpool, probably the south Strathfield barber shop. Frank Hi Frank -My Grandmother bought her boat from Nock and Kirby's at Warrawong, no trailer either, used to leave it chained to a Casuarina tree lakeside in front of caravan. In those days, never even needed to lock the van annexe, motor sat on a trolley just inside the door next to all the fishing gear- never dreamt anyone would steal anything (nor did they) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazatherfisherman Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 45 minutes ago, Berleyguts said: I’ve got a stack of WK Superjigs, unused. Werner Kossman was in my fishing club and I must have bought them at one of the tackle auctions. He would have donated them. Hi Baz what club were you in when in Sydney? Reason I ask is that Werner was also a member of my old club AFA 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berleyguts Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 (edited) 11 minutes ago, wazatherfisherman said: Hi Baz what club were you in when in Sydney? Reason I ask is that Werner was also a member of my old club AFA St George Sportfishing Club, an ANSA Club. So maybe he was also in an AFA club. I’m still a member of St George SFC, even though I now live in Port Stephens. There is no ANSA club in the Bay unfortunately. Edited June 27, 2019 by Berleyguts 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazatherfisherman Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 7 minutes ago, Berleyguts said: St George Sportfishing Club, an ANSA Club. So maybe he was also in an AFA club. I’m still a member of St George SFC, even though I now live in Port Stephens. There is no ANSA club in the Bay unfortunately. AFA of NSW was also an ANSA club and affiliated with AFCA ("C" for clubs- Sydney Metro Division) Werner also a Sydney GFC member. Trying to remember the name of one of his lures that came as either 4 or 5 pieces of highly polished, chromed hexagonal rod in diminishing diameters - not attached- just fed on line from largest diameter downwards to small (or any configuration you wanted)- no anchor point just put line through and tied treble on at the end.- Any ideas? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 4 hours ago, kingfishbig said: I think it might have been Ken Apel's. Ken was in a small shop at Caringbah before moving to Taren Point. He made me a 2 piece 12 foot beach rod at Caringbah (most beach rods were single piece 12 footers in those days) and I still have it. Just had 2 runners replaced due to old age, the rod is about 50 years old and still going strong. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yowie Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, noelm said: I remember when Nock and Kirby had a shop in .Warrawong and used to sell Pongrass boats and Johnson outboards, for those young ones, Nock and Kirby was a kind of Bunnings, but they sold boats as well, they had a guy on the TV adds, "Joe the gadget man" and his finishing line each time was "bring your money with you" You are showing your age. I spent a lot of holidays as a kid at Windang fishing the lake, and visited Warrawong as a treat. Edited June 27, 2019 by Yowie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazatherfisherman Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 3 minutes ago, Yowie said: You are showing your age. I spent a lot of holidays as a kid at Windang fishing the lake, and visited Warrawong as a treat. Same! There weren't even that many houses along the road from Windang to Warrawong and it was 'the' big shopping centre. A new 'Matchbox' car was prized by me more than fishing gear in those days- often got one from Grandparents if we went in to Warrawong, otherwise it was all fishing, prawning and Blue Swimmers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackfish Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 (edited) 4 hours ago, kingfishbig said: I think it might have been Ken Apel's. Yes I think it was. Bluefin moved down to Kogarah, then Bill sold the shop and it closed after that. Bill Heaton (thats where Heatons hill got its name) is still around, does a couple of days here and there in Tackle shops. He was the Decky, when much younger on Bob and Dolly Dyers game boat up in Cairns, there's a great photo of him on the trace of a Grander as its jumping. Edited June 27, 2019 by Blackfish 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackfish Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 As for Tackle shops there was as previously mentioned was Mick Smiths on the corner to Campbell and George st Haymarket, but that also a sports store. Then in Campbell st was Nivens, run by Bob, Margret and Jeff after he left school, that was beside the Capital Theatre, then in Hay st there was another one and that name escapes me.............. And don't for get Schneider that was one of the first mail order places around, I think they were in Firth st, Arncliffe. Ok you Older Fellas, take a trip down memory lane with some of these ... https://www.lurehuboz.com/early-advertiseing.php 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savit Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Some more for the memory trip: 😁 https://australianfishingmuseum.com/vintage-fishing-reels-and-tackle-advertisements/# 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelm Posted June 27, 2019 Author Share Posted June 27, 2019 30 minutes ago, wazatherfisherman said: Same! There weren't even that many houses along the road from Windang to Warrawong and it was 'the' big shopping centre. A new 'Matchbox' car was prized by me more than fishing gear in those days- often got one from Grandparents if we went in to Warrawong, otherwise it was all fishing, prawning and Blue Swimmers Still plenty of crabs in the lake, and good fish for those who know what's going on, but Prawns are long gone, there was a couple of years that some small ones were caught, but now they are gone too, I spoke to a pro a year or two ago, and he said that because the entrance is so big and deep now, the Prawns don't stay in the lake or continue to breed, Lake Illawarra Prawns were once considered prime quality, now there's none! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazatherfisherman Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 16 minutes ago, Blackfish said: As for Tackle shops there was as previously mentioned was Mick Smiths on the corner to Campbell and George st Haymarket, but that also a sports store. Then in Campbell st was Nivens, run by Bob, Margret and Jeff after he left school, that was beside the Capital Theatre, then in Hay st there was another one and that name escapes me.............. And don't for get Schneider that was one of the first mail order places around, I think they were in Firth st, Arncliffe. Ok you Older Fellas, take a trip down memory lane with some of these ... https://www.lurehuboz.com/early-advertiseing.php Fisherman's World was in Hay St 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackfish Posted June 27, 2019 Share Posted June 27, 2019 Just now, wazatherfisherman said: Fisherman's World was in Hay St Thats the one, thanks Wazza. 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now