Hooked on Ikes
Lazy Ike Lure Show draws anglers from around Iowa
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen <BR> Randy McCurdy, of Grimes, looks over a still-in-the-box Lazy Ike lure Saturday during the Lazy Ike Lure Show at the Fort Dodge VFW. McCurdy researched and authored 26 articles on the lures after finding little information when he first started collecting them.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen <BR> Kai Lewis, of Fort Dodge, accepts a spinner from Gene Dollen, of Persia, during the Lazy Ike Lure Show at the Fort Dodge VFW. Dollen also gave him a Lazy Ike when he found out Lewis loves to go fishing.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen <BR> Lesley Zaun, of Fort Dodge, guards what may in fact be the holy grail of Lazy Ike lure collectables during the Lazy Ike Lure Show Saturday at the Fort Dodge VFW. The plaque is an award from Popular Mechanics magazine, who gave the lure their "Fishing's Deadly Dozen" Award in May of 1962. The award was rescued from a trash bin when the company closed its Fort Dodge factory and moved to Des Moines.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen <BR> While there were plenty of lures on display, items like this giant bobber were also on display.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen <BR> The Lazy Ikes lures were made in several styles and a seemingly endless array of colors and designs.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen <BR> One of the displays at the Lazy Ikes Lure Show features unfinished wood specimens and a history of the lure's origin.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen <BR> Randy McCurdy, of Grimes, looks over a still-in-the-box Lazy Ike lure Saturday during the Lazy Ike Lure Show at the Fort Dodge VFW. McCurdy researched and authored 26 articles on the lures after finding little information when he first started collecting them.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen <BR> Kai Lewis, of Fort Dodge, accepts a spinner from Gene Dollen, of Persia, during the Lazy Ike Lure Show at the Fort Dodge VFW. Dollen also gave him a Lazy Ike when he found out Lewis loves to go fishing.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen <BR> Lesley Zaun, of Fort Dodge, guards what may in fact be the holy grail of Lazy Ike lure collectables during the Lazy Ike Lure Show Saturday at the Fort Dodge VFW. The plaque is an award from Popular Mechanics magazine, who gave the lure their "Fishing's Deadly Dozen" Award in May of 1962. The award was rescued from a trash bin when the company closed its Fort Dodge factory and moved to Des Moines.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen <BR> While there were plenty of lures on display, items like this giant bobber were also on display.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen <BR> The Lazy Ikes lures were made in several styles and a seemingly endless array of colors and designs.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen <BR> One of the displays at the Lazy Ikes Lure Show features unfinished wood specimens and a history of the lure's origin.
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A visit to the Lazy Ike Lure Show at the Fort Dodge VFW Saturday might have had an influence on the future of at least one young fisherman.
Thanks to Lazy Ikes collector Gene Dollen, of Persia, he might have sent Kai Lewis, 11, of Fort Dodge, onto a lifetime of going to auctions, estate sales and online auction sites in search of that special lure to complete a collection.
"I always keep a box of lures with me," Dollen said. "I love to give them to the kids. Now he can say he's got one from Fort Dodge."
Dollen got interested in a similar way to many other collectors.
"I was looking through my dad's tackle box," he said. "It got me interested in old lures."
The colorful lures, which were originally manufactured in Fort Dodge by Kautzky's Sporting Goods, by hand, started in 1938.
Much of the available information about the lures and company's history is due to the effort of Randy McCurdy, of Grimes.
"When I started collecting, I couldn't find any information on the internet, no history," McCurdy said.
That changed when he started doing the work to research the company's history and many variations on the various lures the company produced over the decades.
"I wrote 26 articles," he said. "I had details like how many colors did they have, how many were produced."
Many collection fields have a "holy grail" that tops the list of most desirable. It might be a rarity, a certain color or a flaw that made it desirable.
With the lures, it varies.
"It varies from collector to collector," McCurdy said. "For everyone though, it would be finding an uncatalogued one."
Lesley Zaun, of Fort Dodge, had the job of guarding what might actually be a holy grail for some collectors.
It's a plaque owned by her boyfriend Bruce Engler.
"It's what caused Bruce to start collecting," she said.
The plaque is the Popular Mechanics Magazine's"Fishing's Deadly Dozen" award from May of 1962.
"Bruce's dad pulled it out of the dumpster," she said.
Engler actually worked for the company.
"I saw it on the wall." he said.