Love the Kovalovsky.
The Nep-Tuna Western Sportsman cover photo is a fantastic find. Especially because of the date of the issue. Could very well be the origin of the Nep-Tuna cradles. The very early Nep-Tuna cradles were not anodized, and some did carry the Nep-Tuna sticker. The ferrule used in that cradle is a friction non-locking type, which were used on the early Cradle combination rod and reel rigs made by Nep-Tuna. That magazine cover is a great find for anyone that collects Nep-Tuna cradle rigs.
I suspect the cradle looks a bit flatter because of the size. The larger the cradle becomes, the flatter the top, front of the casting gets. here is a very early Nep-Tuna 12/0 Cradle handle assembly. I feel the cradle looks flatter than later models and the ferrule is also a non-locking friction type that will accept any rod tip that fits the female ferrule size.
This rig is about as early as you can get with a Nep-Tuna handle assembly. The Penn logo on the reel being used in the cradle is first generation 12/0.
The use of Sila-flex blanks for Nep-Tuna built rod and reel rigs was also very early. Sometime in the 1960's I feel they changed over to Lamiglas blanks for in house combination rigs.
Thank you very much for sharing that magazine cover and thank you John Taylor for the pictures of that great Nep-Tuna rig.
