Nice 16/0 Kov' with Neat Story

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Deepfins791
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Nice 16/0 Kov' with Neat Story

Post by Deepfins791 »

I purchased this nice 16/0 Type I kov' from a fellow collector. It came with a Lee's rod, and some interesting provenance. As the story was told to me, a charter boat owner/captain by the name of Earl Dare owned the outfit, and used it on a boat named "Moose". Lou Gehrig used to fish with Earl, and supposedly there is a picture of Lou holding this very rod/reel along with a tuna. The combo ended up with Dare's granddaughter, who was married to a Doug Stuart. Doug claimed it hung on the wall of a mobile home park clubhouse for many years. Doug sold it to Bill Greene, who many of you old timers will recall. He auctioned it off at one of the shows, and the person I bought it from was the winning bidder. This probably would have been in 1990 or 1991. Unfortunately, none of the provenance was documented.

After acquiring the outfit, I did some research online, but kept drawing a blank. I could find nothing on Earl Dare, or any pictures of Lou fishing with the reel. So I put it to rest for a couple of months. The other day, I googled Earl, again, and one of the hits was a photo for sale on eBay of none other than Earl and Lou fishing together! I immediately bought the photo. It didn't show my rod and reel, but at least it confirmed that the two fished together.

Yesterday, I had just finished cleaning the reel, and was about to put a light coat of oil on the Micarta when I noticed some scratch marks along the bottom portion of the headplate. I put some decent light on the reel, looked closer, and about fell out of my stool. There was the name "Earl Dare" scratched lightly and barely visible in the Micarta! As the reel was quite dirty, I never noticed it when I purchased it, and I doubt if anyone else ever noticed it.

If anyone has or knows the whereabouts of the picture that shows Lou fishing with a Kov' Type I, I would love to hear from them!

Cheers,
John





Jay White
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Re: Nice 16/0 Kov' with Neat Story

Post by Jay White »

NICE!!
butch carey key west
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Re: Nice 16/0 Kov' with Neat Story

Post by butch carey key west »

John,
Great story and nice reel. That Lees Rod would look good with my Lees reel.
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54bullseye
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Re: Nice 16/0 Kov' with Neat Story

Post by 54bullseye »

John could you post some pics of your Lee's rod ? John Taylor
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