World-class handcrafted lures
Designed and tested for successfully targeting big aggressive pelagic fish, Mike and his family live in the small seaside town of Waipu, where they run their successful business, On Top Lures.
With sea salt running through their veins they have a huge passion for the environment and ocean. It was only natural for Mike, who is a well-known builder and carpenter in the area, to combine the two together. Fishing his home waters a lot with mates led to them peer pressuring Mike into making lures. It wasn’t long until he gave in to the pressure and started making prototypes.
“My mates and I had been fishing with $30 lures straight out of the packet and had been catching amazing fish. One of my good mates upped the ante by picking up a couple of well-known Japanese lures which I’d never seen in person before with a price tag of NZ$500.00 for two lures! It blew my mind that people actually buy these to potentially tie on their line and lose in the first cast or take. Being a builder by trade, it gave me the urge to see if I could make something similar. I kept trying to make better ones and giving them to mates to use and they loved them, so I just kept on making them and never stopped!”
From that moment on, in between building, fishing, or surfing Mike was in his shed improving and perfecting his creations. Eventually sending a few fine tuned models to some well-known fishing legends and in return getting a world-class name for his craftsmanship. The business has gone from strength to strength with the brand becoming a common sight in lure boxes worldwide, selling in shops from Dubai to Australia, Japan and New Zealand.
The love and care they have for the environment is reflected in everything they do at On Top Lures. No plastic is used in the packaging and sending of lures. Caring for the environment and getting others to jump on the bandwagon is a huge goal for the brand. They are a true family business, Mike on the tools, Rita in the office and their two girls, Lila and Indi, their biggest cheerleaders!
www.instagram.com/OnTopLures | www.facebook.com/OnTopLuresNewZealand