Lures/Baits/Artificials
Killer Study
Killer
Study
A work in
progress which all will appreciate I'm sure!
Thanks to Derrik, Hans, Henrik and Uffe and others yet to contribute.
Please feel welcome to contribute and improve this article.
1959
to the Present!
ABU Killer
As I began the
Toby
history and Hi-Lo history, what
better way to start off the history of the famous Hi-LO lure than to quote
directly from the man himself;
Wayne,
You
wanted some
more
info about the
Killer
lure.
The original Rapala lure was getting very popular. It was made of wood bark and
did not hold up very well if attacked by a big pike.
A company in the US – REBEL – made a copy of the
Rapala in plastic. I bought some of these lures on a trip to the US and then tested them pike fishing by my summer
home by the Baltic Sea.
The Rebel lure had better and more consistent movement in the water and was not
damaged by the sharp pike teeth.
Instead of making just another copy of the Rapala we decided to buy the plastic
bodies from the Rebel Company.
They were then assembled and packaged in
Sweden.
After I left ABU this lure as well as all the other lures was made in the
Orient. I however do not think that the quality suffered. It just made the lures
less costly.
Regards! Len
General Observations
My first experience with the
ABU Killer was in 1967 when I was a teenager getting meagre amounts of
pocket money to spend on fishing lures which were very expensive in reference to
my world. I was interesting that when i saw the Rebel Killers from USA it was
several years after I had bought the Swedish licenced bodies and sold under the
ABU brand name.
All ABU Killers had either 2
or 3 treble hooks depending on size (length and weight)
All ABU Killers were made of plastic
(until a Balsa version was sold in 1988) unlike the growing range of Finnish Baltic pine minnows such as the Paijanne
below which was initially available in silver and gold. Sizes were 10g 130mm, 9g
110mm and 6g 90mm only. I suspect but cannot confirm that they were floating
models only.
As a prelude to the ABU
Killer, the Paijanne from Finland was included in the two ABU Catalogs of 1958
and simultaneously with the official Swedish ABU Killer in 1959. It looked
remarkably similar to a whole line of Finnish minnows which ended up evolving in
the great names of ABU and Rapala. I believe Baltic pine was used in the other
minnows, through which which colour was impregnated, until the spray on
colour was used on the new plastic ABU Killers released
in 1967.
Hans
from The Netherlands adds "Päijänne
actually is
a
sizable lake in Finland, the one where Lauri Rapala tested his first plugs in
the mid-1930’s. On the southern edge of the lake lies the town of Vääksy where
the Finnish Rapala works are still situated. Probably they made the Päijänne
lure for ABU, which is very similar to their own original Rapala plug. I would
bet they did, but this is not absolutely certain, because there were more lure
makers in the Päijänne area, such as Finlandia Uistin, better known as the
makers of Nils Master lures."
Only confusing point is that
I have seen for sale in an ABU Paijanne paperbox an example (marked on belly)
which was never advertized in the catalogs. It is blue and silver as well as
being 12g and 130 mm long. Certainly different to first catalogue
offerings in 1958 and 1959.
My friend Derrik Figge (ABUFreak) has
kindly shared some requested rarely seen images from his massive early Killer
collection here.
Perhaps another friend John Behrndtz
will provide some images here
HISTORY (as documented via catalog
advertizing)
1959 The
first year that the ABU Killer appeared, all 10 colours were available.
The Paijanne was imported from Finland.
1960 No
changes for the second year of production.
1961 The
Paijanne is removed from ABU catalogue due to the availability and success
of 30 different ABU Killers!
1962 The
only changes to ABU Killer advertizing for the next four years is the addition
of more meritorious catches attributed to the lure.
1963
1964
1965
1966 ABU Killer is advertized as being made of plastic with
colour penetrating completely through the material. Colour does not scrape off.
1967 This is the first big change to ABU Killer line-up and it
is when I came into using ABU Killers, the beautiful
silver, combined and black , gold and blue cross-hatched scale pattern.
Len explains the USA origin of this form of the Killer. Incidentally my $ 2 per
fortnight pocket money bought me just one of these beauties that i used to chase
barramundi with. I learned to cast carefully and swim for snagged lures due to
the then high cost for a teenager.
1968 No changes except to line-up at all, except to pictorially
reference meritorious catches to the Killer.
1969
These released in three colours BGL, G and B for
all four sizes of 1/8 oz, 3/8 oz, 1/2 oz and 3/4 oz
1972 It was not until this year that that the BGL colour
was dropped from the smallest Killer (1/8 oz)
No more changes for 2 years.
1974 The 40g large Killer was released
1976 Most significant change introduced was the new
floating versions in 10g, 15g and 40g and sinking version in 50g size.
ABU start to advertize their Killers along side their other plugs for the
first time. So we see Hi-Lo Kynoch, Snoky, Cello and killer alongside on the
same pages.
1981
1981 sees
ABU-Garcia take its lure production offshore and to the far east.
Questions on this
matter produced these very helpful responses from different PF Managers in
Sweden and France.
Hi Wayne,
The manufacturing of all lures was moved to the Far East in 1981.
Best regards,
Anita Enarsson
--
Abu AB
SE-376 81 Svängsta
SWEDEN
Hi Wayne
We do not make
any lure in Japan
anymore, but basically we can say that spoons and spinners realisation have been
moved from Sweden to Taïwan. Actually we even
moved to China later but for the Swedish market,
for which high quality is key, we came back to Taïwan in order to be sure to
follow exactly the original Swedish standards. R&D is made in Europe, and based on an exchange between the Swedish team
and me, supported by our pro teams when it comes to field tests. Otherwise we
have quality inspectors directly in the Asian factories to ensure the quality
and the consistence.
Hope
it helps. Any question I remain.
Regards
Sylvain
Manager PF
(European Division) France.
I guess as ABU went off shore to Asia for production, new changes were
inevitable.
To me the soul of the Killer and other ABU lures, I used in my youth
departed when production left Sweden.
First change in the ABU Killer line-up for many years. I
guess , if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
I guess as ABU went off shore to Asia for production, new changes were
inevitable.
To me the soul of the Killer and other ABU lures, I used in my youth
departed when production left Sweden.
On the positive side and for fishing effectiveness we now see some all new sinking Killers with Natural colours as well as
the use of the new technology Mylar tape coverings which enhance reflectiveness.
1982
1983 Same line-up of sizes and colours except the jointed (ledad)
version is shown in the catalogue.
1984 No changes this year
The passage of 3 decades production never allows the ABU Killer to be forgotten for its long
term fish catching qualities, even if more modern authors from Modern Fishing
1984, do manage to get some things wrong like what it was made from. ABU Killers were
always made of plastic in the 50's to mid 80's, NOT Balsa wood!
1985
Killers no longer considered worthy of a page of their own in catalogue
advertizing. The page was titled wobblers and mixed with Hi-Lo lures.
1986
1987
1988
Balsa wood used to construct the body of the lure. More colour options offered
1989
1990
to be
continued
If you
have any other ABU Killer lures, particularly in the early plastic
finish, that are
mint or boxed, and are un-needed or
doubles in your collection and are available for
swapping
or a reasonable fee, I would be
very pleased to hear from you.