Fishing
13 November, 2025
Local casts his lures far and wide to create Spinwright Lures
It's often said from little things big things grow, and in the case of Spinwright Lures, there is probably not a statement more accurate. In early October, founder Gage Wright celebrated 10 years since catching his first fish using one of his own, homemade lures.
Little did Gage know that a decade later, he would have built a credible reputation in the fishing lure industry and have his creations in more than 80 stores across Australia.
In celebration of the milestone, Gage recently shared a photo on his socials showing where it all started.
Pictured was a baby-faced, braces-wearing child, proudly holding a fish.
He labeled the fish as the most memorable he has ever landed.
"(We) made up a few lures and thought we'd better go and test them," the description on the photo read.
"So myself, Dad and my brother went out for a fish in the river and within 10 minutes (I) had this one on the bank.
"That feeling of getting a fish on lures you made is like nothing else and this one started my addiction to lure making."
Fishing has been a favourite pastime for Gage all of his life, but at a youngster he realised how expensive lures were.
"I had a bit of money left aside from doing a few jobs and thought I could probably make them for cheaper than what I would buy them," Gage said.
"I thought I'd make a few for myself; I'd do jobs around home and earn a couple of dollars.
"Lures would cost about 20 bucks so I would have to do 10 jobs to buy a lure, so I realised I could do it for cheaper if I just made them myself."
Gage purchased a lure-making pack, which he said had everything he needed in it, and went from there.
"It came with all the components you need, and was pretty explanatory. So anyone could probably do what I did at first," admitted Gage.
"And from there, I expanded to where I am now, and we are looking to get more stuff externally manufactured to focus on the actual business stuff now."
Fast forward those 10 years and now lure making is a full-time job for Gage, and he employs his brother Judd, 19.
And just this week, Gage added another employee.
For Gage, 23, the business is a dream come true and he revels in operating his own venture.
"You've got a pretty flexible lifestyle," admitted Gage.
"I love fishing and do it all the time.
"I love getting to chat to all the fishermen, all the fishing stores, and it's pretty cool working with some blokes.
"Like a few blokes I sponsor are pretty high up in the industry; a few of them have 100,000 followers, so it's cool working with them.
"Blokes I used to idolise when I was younger and now they are working with me."
But he admits he never dreamed that little fishing lure he carefully constructed at first would grow into what it has.
"I definitely didn't plan where I am now when I was 13," Gage laughed.
"Even when I was at school, I was more focused on attempting to play footy as a living and when that didn't work out the way we wanted, I thought I've got a gap year, and I could either go work and be a tradie, I wasn't interested in going to uni and doing any more study.
"I thought it's either have a crack at this for a year, or get a trade, so I thought I'd give it a go."
Gage still works from home out of the shed, and said he has it decked out in a built-on extension.
The average lure, he said, only takes a couple of minutes to make, but Gage makes sure every one of his lures is made to the finest quality.
"I've got it pretty refined these days; it used to take a lot longer, but now we get a bit done externally; the little jobs, the ones that are tedious, so that saves us a bit of time," he said.
But when constructing a lure, what needs to be considered?
"You've got to make sure everything is in line, straight and rigged up properly," Gage explained.
"Otherwise, it will swing crookedly.
"But we are tedicous with quality control, so I'm always making sure there is nothing wrong with them before sending them out to stores.
"We also have to make sure they look good and present well."
In an evolving market, led by overseas, Gage said he is always trailing something new.
"We do trial a lot of different materials and different stuff," he said.
"I look a lot at the American and Japanese markets, the leaders in the new stuff and then I will put my own twist on them.
"Our fish in Australia are a lot bigger, a lot stronger than a lot of the stuff around the world than these American and Japanese markets are targeting, so I work off them, see what they are doing and then beef it up so it suits our fish better."
Having cast his lures far and wide, Gage said he has Australia pretty well covered and is now getting interest internationally.
"I probably wouldn't mind going internationally into a few stores down the track," Gage said.
"I'm working on a new plan with a new range of products that are going to be better quality again, like stepping up to an entire new level of quality, and I'll be more focused on the business side of things rather than actually assembling ourselves in the future."
And although Gage and his team are buried deep in orders for summer at the moment, come November, he is hoping he can cast a line.
"This time of year is pretty jam-packed but in summer and winter, there is definitely plenty of time on the water going out testing and trying new stuff to see what is working and what isn't," he said.
"And I think that is one of the big things we do well here; we are always out fishing, testing stuff out and finding out what the new big thing is, hopefully."