About Us

It goes something like this...

I have always been around the ocean. My father was a professional fisherman, so as a kid my time was spent around jetties fishing while waiting for the boats to come in or go out.

I have always liked sight fishing, seeing the fish in the water taking the lure or bait. This to me is the most exciting part of sport fishing and from that point on, I have been hooked.

Because of this, I became very interested in making fishing things like poppers, marlin lures and now pelagic dredges.

Like most things we do, it has been an evolution of one thought to another, to design and test it until it is the best for you.

Dredges are not unique. They have been around for a long time in lots of different configurations.

My first encounter with dredges was with a guy in the US in the late 90s who was making an umbrella type of dredge with black rubber flaps (mud flaps) attached to the arms. This dredge was semi-ridged and was difficult to store and transport.

I was able to get one from him and I would wire-tie garfish (ballyhoo) and mullet fish to the arms and trawl it behind my boat. It did work but was hard to manage and time-consuming to prepare the baits for the dredge.

Time moved on and dredges started to become popular in attracting pelagic fish to your lures or baits while trawling.

Of my interest in making fishing things, I started a small business making dredges and teasers in 2019.

The name 'exetackle' has a lot to do with where I spent a lot of my time fishing in Exmouth, Western Australia for pelagic species. In particular sailfish, blue, black and striped marlin.

From a tried and proven style of the pelagic dredge, I have been able to make improvements to its storage and extra strength.

One important consideration in developing this range of dredge and teasers was to make and manufacture the components here in Western Australia from local suppliers of stainless steel and CNC machined fittings.

I have also designed and made a polycarbonate holographic clear and black fish which mimics a free-swimming fish in the dredge along with good quality rubber squids imported, to enhance the silhouette in the water column. I have made the body of the dredge much stronger with the ability to fold the arms flat for storage. I have made available replacement holographic fish and squid daisy chains and mud flaps to replace the inevitable loss of fish in action, on this website.

You will see the following examples of different styles and applications of dredges and teasers.

I hope you have a use for one of these. I would also like your feedback on how they have performed for you in the many fishing grounds for pelagic fish around the world.

Tight Lines.

John Fraurud