Scarce - JOHN EMERY - Tarpon Reel - Early Dovetail Foot - Florida Keys

Description

JOHN EMERY
Vintage Tarpon Reel
~ Early Dovetail Foot ~
For your consideration:  A Vintage John Emery tarpon reel
designed by the revered Florida Keys fly fishing guide
John Emery for legendary tarpon fisherman Tom Evans.
This particular John Emery fly reel is serial number 225
and has the early dovetailed foot that identifies it as one
of the early, highly sought after first model reels.  The
reel
comes in its original black vinyl case with white piping.
Tom Evans wanted a fly reel with a larger line capacity and
a palming spool so his guide John Emery designed and had
the reel built for Evans.  The reel developed a reputation
for handling large tarpon and soon many of the great Florida
Keys and Homosassa tarpon fishermen who preferred a
direct drive reel were fishing with John's reels.  Stu Apte
set a world record with an Emery reel, they were built to
land the largest tarpon that swam in the salt.  Sadly,
John passed away which ended the production of
the original Emery reels.  A small run of
reels
including both a tarpon and bonefish size
reels
were produced later by the family but the
originals are a piece of fly fishing history
and a thing of beauty and functionality.
This particular Emery reel is set up for left hand wind
and has a strong smooth drag.  The early reels with
the dovetailed foot were originally glued together
and sometimes came apart at the joint.  Emery
tried to recall all the reels to secure the foot by
countersinking screws into the foot to hold it
in
place.  This reel is rare because no
screws
were ever put in the foot so it is in
original
condition making it a great collectible.
The reel is in excellent overall condition showing
virtually
no
in use fishing wear whatsoever. The
reel's foot is slightly bent on one end as if it were
dropped at
some point in its life. The foot
could be
repaired if someone wished to
fish with the reel.
Don't miss this chance to pick up one of the
great fly salt water fly fishing reels of all time.
These reels are don't come up often and this
is a great example of one of John's early reels.
Read about Emery and his reels in Monte Burke's
new book - Lords of the Fly
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask them.
This item is being offered for sale in the United States only. If you are
interested in purchasing this reel and live outside the US you must
contact me first before purchasing.Shipping cost includes USPS
mailing service and delivery confirmation.If you desire insurance
please ask, the cost will be added to the invoice.
Thank you for looking and HAVE FUN bidding!