What is a CRANKA Crab and how did it originate?
Firstly – about the inventor
Steve Steer, better known as 'Steersy' to his mates - has an insatiable passion for fishing and the great outdoors. Growing up in Melbourne, Australia, he spent every spare moment of his childhood exploring, fishing, camping, hunting, canoeing, hiking, and skiing with his family and friends. It was during these formative years that Steve's passion for fishing was ignited, and he began tinkering with existing fishing tackle to improve its fish-catching ability.
By age 14, Steve was making his own fishing tackle, including customized hooks, handmade floats, hand-poured sinkers, and basic lure and fly designs. His love for fishing and tackle only grew from there, and he devoted every waking moment to learning more about fishing techniques, fish behaviour and the prey that fish regularly feed upon.
In 1996, Steve quit his well-paid job as a special class electrician to pursue his dream of working in the tackle industry. For the next 13 years, he worked in various roles, including managing a successful tackle store, working as an angling guide and photojournalist, and managing his own product research and development company. During this time, he also worked on the research and development of a range of unique fishing lure ideas that he had been contemplating for years.
Eventually, Steve fell in love with Tasmania and its amazing fishing opportunities. In 2003, he and his wife Debbie packed their bags and moved to Tasmania to raise their family. In 2009, Steve registered CRANKA Pty Ltd, the company under which he would develop and launch what is now the CRANKA brand.
Steve has fished all over Australia and several overseas locations, targeting a wide range of fish species on bait, lure, and fly. However, he still rates Tasmania's fishing as some of the best there is. These days, he spends most of his time targeting bream and trout on hard body lures, soft plastics, and fly. He has won numerous Bream and Trout Tournaments and currently holds the ABT Big Bream Tasmanian Record with a fish weighing in at 1.84kg.
Not content with just being an accomplished angler, Steve is also an inventor, designer, and creator of the world's first CRANKA Crab - a product that has revolutionized the fishing lure industry. He has worked as a fishing guide, written for several respected fishing magazines, and appeared on several global fishing TV shows.
Steve Steer's passion for fishing and the great outdoors has been with him since childhood, and he has spent his life pursuing that passion with unwavering dedication. With his incredible talent, drive, and expertise, he has become a true icon in the fishing community, leaving an indelible mark on the industry that will continue to inspire generations of anglers for years to come.
For more information about Steve you can view it all on his personal profile - Steve Steer
Where did the idea of the CRANKA Crab come from?
Steve has always been an avid fisherman who loves to catch anything that swims. But there's one species that holds a special place in his heart – bream! As a youngster, Steve would fish for bream with his family using crabs as bait in the serene waters of Gippsland Lakes and Bemm River. As he grew older, he switched to using lures, finding it a more challenging and exciting approach.
Having spent countless hours fishing for bream, Steve quickly learned that they had a particular affinity for crabs. However, he was disappointed with the crab imitations available on the market and knew there was a need for a better one. This became even more apparent when Steve started participating in bream fishing tournaments later in life and noticed the crab remnants in his live-well after a day of bream fishing.
Determined to create a crab lure that would be irresistible to bream, Steve experimented with various designs. He started with two soft plastic Ecogear Tanks welded together, but it was difficult to keep the lure upright and achieve a good hook up rate. Next, he caught some crabs from his local waterway and used them to create a mould for his own soft plastic crab, but it still didn't hit the mark.
Then, one day, inspiration struck. Steve envisioned a crab lure with a hard plastic body, soft legs, a weighted belly, and buoyant claws attached to the treble hooks that would freely move in the water. He quickly set to work on creating a prototype using a real crab as a model.
To test the prototype, Steve and his team headed to the Swan River in Tasmania, where on the first cast, the CRANKA Crab was devoured by a bream. It was a sign of things to come - several more bream were caught using the new lure before Steve put it away, knowing he had a winner.
Steve's passion for fishing and dedication to creating the perfect crab lure paid off, resulting in the CRANKA Crab, a game-changing innovation in the world of fishing.
.jpg)
