KOKOPO / RABAUL, PAPUA NEW GUINEA — ACTIVE YEARS 1980s – PRESENT

John Lau is one of the South Pacific's most celebrated lure makers — a Rabaul, Papua New Guinea legend whose hand-poured resin lures have won big-game tournaments around the world. He was born in a Japanese-built war tunnel in occupied New Britain in the final months of World War II, grew up in a north-coast village of Rabaul-and-Chinese roots, and has spent his whole life in East New Britain — though he's traveled widely to fish, including a long run at Hawaiian tournaments since the early 1980s. Marlin magazine pairs him with Joe Yee as makers whose unique hand-poured resin lures keep winning competitions worldwide.

His shapes are entirely his own — unlike anything else on the water, and often set with Talibung shell slabs — and they're notoriously hard to come by. The catch record speaks for itself: his "Linda" (a big-and-short 14") raised the heaviest blue marlin at the 2005 HIBT, a 636.5-pounder; his "Good Head," with a Talibung shell insert, took a 594-pound blue at the 2006 HIBT aboard the Humdinger with Capt. Jeff Fay; and his small "Spitz" (9.5") accounted for the heaviest ahi, a 171.5-pounder, at the 2019 HIBT. Other shapes include the "Super Duckie" and the 12" "Ali."

Lau is far more than a lure maker. He and his wife, Dame Sandra Lau, own and operate the Tropicana wholesale business in Kokopo, and he has served as the IGFA representative for Papua New Guinea since 1998. He founded the tag-and-release Tropicana Billfish Tournament — held each November out of Rabaul and hosted by the New Britain Game Fishing Club — which has helped put PNG's world-class blue marlin fishery on the map. By many accounts he's also famously generous, known to hand visiting crews his world-famous lures and to feed scores of people from his own kitchen.

As a museum and archive, we're honored to document John Lau, a true South Pacific legend whose original, shell-inset baits stand among the finest in the world.

Notable shapes: "Linda" (big-and-short), "Good Head" (Talibung shell), "Spitz" (small), "Duckie," "Ali" — frequently with Talibung shell slabs

Identification tips:

• "Lau" lures from Papua New Guinea; all-original shapes
• Talibung shell inserts/slabs are a recurring signature
• Genuinely rare — most on the market are pre-owned, not direct from the maker

Below, you’ll find our ever-growing digital archive showcasing every lure that has come through our shop. This collection is constantly evolving as new lures arrive, making it a living record of rare, limited-production lures. We will continue updating this database regularly, building what we aim to be the largest digital archive of offshore trolling lures in the world.

If you have any further information or any lures you believe deserve to be showcased, please reach out to us at ren@luremonger.com