It’s TOPWATER Time presents 'Wooden Lures of NZ', featuring On Top Lures (OTL).

Wooden Lure’s of NZ: What make’s the countries best lure makers tick?

We sat down with Northland local and Daiwa angler Mike Knight, the mastermind behind OTL. We dug deep with Mike into the origins of his angling creations, and we get his take on the current state of the popularising sport.

1. What made you get into the business of creating topwater lures?

After using $30 plastic lures straight from the packet and catching very good fish, to a mate purchasing two Japanese timber lures costing him $500, I was intrigued by the variety of these lures. It got me playing with the belt sander and it all began from there!

Also being a carpenter by trade I already knew a bit about timber etc so I thought it can’t be that hard… two years later I was finally happy with all my prototypes and it exploded from there.

No access? No worries. Featuring Mike from OTL.

2. What do you believe makes your lures, your brand, your offering to the NZ fishing public so unique?

I think the timing of coming into the topwater scene was spot on. Then the help of known fisherman friends trialling them and having huge success with them just blew us up. Plus, we really have spent a lot of time perfecting the action and swim of OTL first and foremost. Alongside making sure the quality and finish is always on point for our standards.  We feel like OTL is really a wholesome, family, cottage industry product that is really built from the roots up.  We like to align ourselves with the environmentally friendly ethos, catch, measure and release. Plus, renewable sourcing of products to produce our lures with minimal plastic packaging.

3. Is there a particular catch on one of your lures be it overseas or by another angler that you’re most proud of ?

I'd say the first most outstanding catch for us was Johnny Brooks at No Boundaries Oman. His huge land-based GT was insane, and he caught it on a 100gm Custom OTL (Brooksy lure). The photography shows pure excitement and how pumped all the anglers were to help land this huge beautiful giant onto the rocks.

For myself, the most crazy catch for me in NZ would have to be catching a 20+ lb Snapper on one of my 100gm OTL Blackjacks. To have the fish come up and erupt on the lure only to miss it and then two sweeps later smash it was insane. Was firstly called for a Kingi but once it got closer we were all surprised to see a big Snapper.

4. The niche market of topwater fishing has grown substantially over the years. What direction do you see NZ’s topwater scene heading in the future?

I think at the moment topwater is gaining huge momentum with a lot of the younger generation getting stuck into it, whether it be fishing topwater or making and creating top water lures. There seems to be a craze for it which we only see getting bigger & bigger.

 Lo-Cab x OTL. Collaboration projects have become a staple of Mike's work.

5. Who is an angler that you draw inspiration from?

For me when I think about someone who has really inspired me it'd be Ed Nichols from No Boundaries Oman. He has literally unlocked the world's biggest GT’s, with fish in excess of 80kg. It blows my mind when I see the amount of big GT’s he and his charter produce.

6. What do you think NZ’s topwater scene could learn from the International Topwater circuit?

Maybe take a little more care of your catch, especially for a release.

Also, with New Zealand not having a huge amount of topwater species, I guess us anglers are not used to much other than Kingfish. Heading abroad to fish would open up a world of skills, techniques & gear that we don't necessarily use day to day in fishing NZ.

7. If you’ve got any additional comments on your craft, your brand, your thoughts on fishing, opinions, general inspiration: