Fishing Lures by Krippled

Krippled Fishing Lures has been in business for over 40 years, first established by long time fishing buddies Jim Gilbert and his partner Jack Robertson in 1962. However, Jim’s involvement in the fishing industry goes back even further than that. His father used to rent rowboats to salmon anglers in Brentwood Bay on Vancouver Island in the 20s, and subsequently raised Jim in a boathouse. Growing up in such close proximity to some of the best fishing in the world it’s not surprising that Jim would come to be a salmon-fishing guide by the age of 13.

With 30 years experience guiding salmon fishing excursions Jim earned a reputation as one of Canada’s most internationally acclaimed fishing guides. He reached a career record of 332 consecutive guiding trips without a "skunk" in the early 1970s and has guided celebrities such as Canadian Prime Ministers John Diefenbaker, Lester B. Pearson as well as U.S. President George Bush. Jim possessed a degree in fisheries biology as well as being a noted author, lecturer and accomplished artist.

In 1962 Jim and Jack went into the lure business, with Jim's fishing knowledge and Jack's contacts in the Orient, through being a 2nd officer for Canadian Pacific Airlines, they started out with their first lure, the Krippled Minnow, which sold 6,000 in its first year. In 1964 Jim worked with manipulating a McKnight spoon, and found that by making the ring holes bigger, the spoon a little wider and using lighter metals he could make the spoon quicker and more erratic. This came to be known as the Krippled "K"Spoon, probably the most productive Krippled lure to date, also in 1964 the Slasher Flasher was introduced, a fish shaped, stainless steel, dodger style blade, designed to attract salmon and make lures more erratic. After Jack's tragic death in 1965, Jim continued on, forming Jim Gilbert Ent., which encompassed the lure business, Jim's artwork, books and lecturing. In 1967 the Krippled Herring Dodger was introduced, a narrow stainless steel dodger, which came in three different lengths, this was followed by the Jim Gilbert Dodger, a wider stainless steel dodger, which came in five different lengths. In 1970 Jim introduced the Krippled Herring, and later manipulated this lure to accommodate a larger bait. In 1970 Jim sold the boathouse (Gilbert's marina) but continued to guide for another two years. In 1979 the Krippled Anchovy was introduced as well as making changes to the Krippled Minnow. Krippled Anchovy to date has sold over one million pieces, and has become the most popular of all the Krippled lures.

In 1990 the Slasher Flasher was redesigned to be a line-through flasher made of plated plastic. In 1991 Jim Gilbert Ent. sold its lure division to long time employee Butch MacPherson, who worked for Jim for the prior 13 years. Butch brought back the original name Krippled Fishing Lures, and now operates the business from Sooke, B.C.

Butch would like to acknowledge Jim and thank him for his assistance in the construction of this website.

Butch MacPherson can be reached at:
Krippled Fishing Lures
6871 Talc place
Sooke, B.C.

ph/fax 250-642-3834
info@krippled.ca.