Chinalure

New for 2026, on the table at Booth E2 2125

Not everything we brought to this show is in the catalogue. The new work sits on the table at the back of the booth: sample builds that came off the bench over the last few months, brought to Weihai so a buyer can pick one up, turn it over, feel the weight in the hand and tell us what's wrong with it while it's still cheap to change.

We add to this page as the show runs. It opens on the 19th and closes on the 21st, and the table gets rearranged every morning.

How the numbers work

Every pattern on this page carries a number of its own, starting with CL26-01. CL is us, 26 is the year the sample was built, and the last two digits are the order it came out of the box. Quote the number in an email and we know which one you mean without a photo or a drawing. If it's on the table, it has a number, and if you want to see something that isn't laid out yet, ask at the booth and we'll bring it out.

CL26-01

Eight-tail mouse, hand-tied

Pattern	Eight-tail mouse, tied by hand on a bare hook shank
Market	Russia and the Russian-speaking markets
Fished for	Northern pike after dark, and taimen on the big northern rivers
Body length	6 to 9 cm for pike; 10 to 16 cm for the taimen builds
Weight	15 to 25 g; 40 to 90 g for the heavy river versions
Hooks	Two, one at the tail and one under the belly, 4/0 to 8/0
Tails	Eight, and they come off. Sold as a spare part in your own colours

Eight tails do one thing two tails can't. They keep working when the retrieve is almost stopped, which is what a big fish in cold water asks for on a still night. A set of loose tails on the counter also brings a customer back long before the head wears out.

There's more on how it's fished, and on the two fish it's built for, on the mouse lure page.

CL26-02

Ice fishing LED beanie, three colours

Pattern	Knitted beanie with a rechargeable LED module in the cuff, built for ice fishing
Colours	Cream, heather grey, olive
Material	100% acrylic
Light	LED module set into the front of the cuff, switched from the centre of the module
Power	USB rechargeable, no battery to buy
Packing	Retail poly bag with a printed header card

This is the one pattern on the table that isn't a lure. It's an ice fishing beanie: knitted, with a rechargeable LED built into the front of the cuff. The light sits low on the forehead rather than up on the crown, which is where you want it when you're baiting a jig with both hands and the torch is still in the car. It charges over USB, so there's no battery to remember at the start of the season.

Three colours, cream, heather grey and olive, each one bagged with a printed header card, so it can go straight onto a pegboard without being repacked. For a tackle shop it belongs on the same board as the ice jigs and the head torches, and it sells to the customer who already buys both.

Three trays for the baits that come back wet

Soft baits weld to each other when they sit together in a bag, and hard baits tangle every hook they can reach. The three trays on the table are the answer we've settled on, one for each way a box gets loaded. All of them have a clear lid, so you can find the bait you want without emptying the tray onto the deck.

CL26-03

Soft-bait tray with a pin board

Pattern	Moulded tray with a pin board, for soft baits
Lid	Clear, hinged along the back, opens flat
Inside	Upright pins set in rows, one bait to a pin
Holds	Worm, grub and paddle-tail soft baits
Colours	Cream tray, purple board and pins, clear lid

A soft bait that lies against another soft bait comes out of the bag with a bent tail and a flat side. Hanging them one to a pin keeps every tail straight, and it keeps the oil off your hands until you tie one on. The ones you used and didn't lose go back on the board wet, and they dry in place instead of stewing in a bag.

The lid is clear and hinged at the back, so you can read the whole board without lifting anything out. Into the boat bag like that, and the tails are still straight at the other end.

CL26-04

Hard-bait tray in slots

Pattern	Moulded tray with long slots, for hard baits
Lid	Clear, hinged along the back, opens flat
Inside	Deep slots running the length of the tray
Holds	Crankbaits, minnows and other treble-hooked hard baits
Colours	Grey tray, amber slots and lid trim, clear lid

Two treble-hooked baits in the same compartment is how an afternoon goes missing. One bait to a slot settles it. The hooks drop into the channel and stay there, and the treble on the bait beside it has nothing to grab.

The slots run the full length, so a long minnow lies flat instead of standing on its nose. Grey tray, amber dividers, clear lid.

CL26-05

Hard-bait tray in a grid

Pattern	Moulded tray with a divider grid, for hard baits
Lid	Clear, covers the full grid
Inside	Divider block in a square grid, moulded as one piece
Holds	Small hard baits, jig heads and spoons, one to a cell
Colours	Cream tray, purple dividers and side panel, clear lid

Where the slot tray wants long baits, this one wants a lot of short ones. The grid puts a wall between every cell, so a jig head and a small minnow can share a tray for a season without meeting.

The tray wall is ribbed and the divider block drops into it as a single moulding, so the sides hold their shape when every cell is full.

Why the Russian buyers stop here

In Russia the mouse isn't a novelty bait, it's a category with its own name. The two words that carry weight on a product page there are мышь (mouse) and ночная ловля (night fishing), and the two fish behind the search are щука and таймень.

The same three questions come up every time a buyer picks one up. Can the tails be ordered on their own. Can the body be tied to our colour card. And can we take the sample off the table. The answers are yes, yes, and yes, once the show closes.

What else is coming

That's the table as it stood on the last morning, five patterns deep. Anything else that comes out of the sample case before we load the van gets the next number and goes up here with it.

If you can't make it to Weihai, the samples are still here after the show. Write to young@chinalure.com with the number you want and a note on your market, and we'll send photos and the build sheet. Our report from opening day is on the show reports page, and the story of our eighteen editions at this show is on the CGC page.