Stuart Wigston, Director at Wigston LuresThanks to sheer curiosity and experimentation, Tasmanian business Wigston Lures has produced one of the most successful fishing lures for sale throughout the world.

Through an idea conceived over a beer at the pub in the 1970s, the Wigston name is now one of the most recognised in the Australian fishing industry.

Ian Wigston had been making lures by hand for some time, inspiring him, his brother Garth and local retailer father Eddie to further research the idea of mass production for the handmade lures.

The production of Wigston Lures formally began in 1979 and demand rapidly exceeded supply as the lures were quickly snapped up.

Garth Wigston, owner of Wigston’s Lures, attributes their success to the quality of their product and their down to earth, friendly service.

“We currently have nine employees, two of which have worked in our factory for over 20 years, and our products have gone through rigorous testing – something I take great pleasure in doing,” Mr Wigston said.

Export of the product began in 1984, when the first shipment of lures was sent off to New Zealand, highlighting some of Tasmania’s finest materials in the process.

“We prefer to use locally-sourced materials and services as much as possible, as we like to support other Tasmanian enterprises,” Mr Wigston said.

“Just to name a few local suppliers, our packaging cards and boxes are supplied by Focal Printing in North Hobart, our blister shells are manufactured by Caled Containers in Franklin, and Spectrum Car Paints in Derwent Park supply us with the paints and thinners used to decorate the lures.

“Our lures are distributed worldwide and are available in more than 35 different countries, with our major overseas customers in New Zealand, USA, Russia and Europe.”

Wigston Lures also places great emphasis on making its production processes as environmentally friendly as possible.

“100 per cent of the waste material from our manufacturing process is recycled and our packaging materials are produced from recycled paper and cardboard,” Mr Wigston said.

Over 10 million lures have been sold by Wigston’s to date, and overseas markets continue to open due to the success of the product.