There's nothing flashy about the location of Don Peabody's North Bend fishing tackle business.

Even so, his latest product is really grabbing attention.

The 46-year-old owner of Dee's Diamond Flashers has developed all his products in his garage for the last two years, and his business recently got a boost. At the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades' ICAST50 New Product Showcase at the Las Vegas Convention Center in July, his newest line of fishing tackle, Double Dee's Counter-Rotating Flasher System, won the most innovative product award.

“We sold them the very first time in February in Portland at the sportsman's show,” Peabody said, holding up a gleaming package of a pair of his silver and pink flashers. “We just had a tremendous response. It was amazing.”

Peabody sat on a stool in the dimly lit garage, with a blue tarp for walls, surrounded by boxes and boxes of his product - 20,000 of them in all. He was holding the micro-version of his triangular-shaped flashers, about 2 inches wide, which won the award. The counter-rotating flashers also come in large, small and mini sizes, with glittering colors - silver, pink, red, green and chartreuse.

“One spins to the right, the other spins to the left,” Peabody said. “They counter-rotate. We're the only outfit in the country that has counter-rotating flashers.”

Peabody said flashers replace other fish “attracters,” such as Ford Fenders and Max lures, that have been used by fisherman for 50 to 80 years and longer.

“You get more flash from ours,” Peabody said. “As this goes through the water the wings cause it to spin. The second wing allows us to spin with less drag. We have a noisemaker in the middle that replicates the sound of feeding bait.

“You get the same look with a lot less hardware and a lot less weight.”

At the New Product Showcase, sponsored by Fishing Tackle Retailer and presented by the American Sportfishing Association, he competed against 180 companies, including sporting goods giants that entered more than 600 tackle products and accessories. He picked up the most innovative product in the terminal tackle category - anything used to catch fish on a rod that doesn't have a hook, he explained.

“We were competing against the biggest tackle manufacturers in the world,” he said; �,000 square feet of fishing tackle over three days.”

Since receiving the award, he said, he has taken orders for about 9,000 flashers from big sports outfits like Dick's Sporting Goods, Cabela's and some Wal-Marts.

“We've had phenomenal success,” Peabody said. “Six months ago, these sporting goods stores wouldn't return my phone calls.”

Peabody's interest in fishing began at age 4 while growing up in Beaverton. When he was a freshman in high school his father gave him a 22-foot dory and told him to pay him back with the money he earned selling the fish he caught.

“When other kids were picking berries, I ran my own commercial fishing boat in high school,” Peabody said.

Later, Peabody became a bull rider in rodeos, was a general contractor and then a financial adviser for 11 years before finding a way to make a living through fishing again.

“I made lures originally for myself, fishing for steelhead,” Peabody said. “Then other guys wanted them for high lake trout fishing.”

Peabody employs a number of professional fishing guides to test his products on every type of fish.

“You don't keep a product in the market 50 or 60 years if it doesn't catch fish,” Peabody said. “Making sure that they're going to catch fish is a huge part of it.”

He also does a lot of testing on his own.

“I've had years of putting my boat in the bay, running these things just to find out they didn't work, then building them and refining them again and again,” Peabody said.

The counter-rotating flashers have worked on virtually every type of fish, he said.

“There's not a single fish we've tried with our flashers that haven't increased the number of fish caught,” he said, adding that bass are the only exception because the flashers are heavy and don't cast well. Now, he's working on a smaller version for bass fishing.

The lures are designed in North Bend, but the product is made in China because it would be four times the cost if made in America. Peabody said, the micro-size counter-rotating flasher systems retail for $15, and the three larger sizes for $11.

Peabody's wife, Carol, who takes care of the billing, inventory and Web site for Dee's Diamond Flashers, talked him into going to the showcase and entering his product. Otherwise, he said, they wouldn't have won.

“The award was a big deal. It was a complete surprise to us,” Peabody said. “We almost didn't enter it this year. My wife really encouraged me to do it.”

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For more information, those interested can visit Don Peabody at http://www.DeesDiamondFlashers.com.