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Desperately Seeking Kicky

Thursday, May 1, 2008
by Ray Scott




Dan Basore is a modern-day treasure hunter. For over 50 years this Warrenville, Ill. resident has chased down every type of lure and fishing implement known to man. And he is as enthusiastic today as he was at l5, when he inherited his grandfather’s tackle box and discovered his life’s passion. He has arguably the world’s largest collection of antique fishing items.

I’ve known Dan for nearly 40 years, and he is a great friend. As a matter of fact, he was one of the first members of BASS and fished our early tournaments. In the intervening years he has exhibited his lure collection (at least parts of it) widely and has mounted spectacular shows, presenting a panorama of lures and fishing paraphernalia from pre-historic and biblical times to more current handmade pieces of “art” in which every scale and fin is hand-carved.



Photo: Ray Scott Outdoors
Ray Scott hopes to obtain a pre-World War II lure called Kicky The Swimming Frog that was invented by his grandfather-in-law.

He not only likes to share his collection, but his wealth of knowledge as well, and writes a fishing history column for Midwest Outdoors. Underneath his enthusiasm and good humor, he has a serious agenda: to draw people to fishing, and especially to educate and expose young people to the sport.

As much as anything, Dan loves the stories behind his lures. And he will go to great lengths to establish a “provenance,” as they call it in antique collecting. That is the origin or personal history of a particular item. So when I had a lure mystery of my own, it was only natural to call Dan Basore.

It all started when my wife Susan and I were looking at some of her old family photos. We came across some taken in the 1920s and '30s. She pointed out her maternal grandfather in a rowboat with some young children. He was in rolled-up shirtsleeves, but had on a straw hat and tie.

She laughed and told me he was a very dignified man who retained an Old World formality. Louis Engman had immigrated to the U.S. from Sweden at the turn of the 20th century and ended up in Moline, Ill. He was very engineering-minded and mechanical and skilled with his hands. He worked at the Rock Island Arsenal for nearly 30 years and became a master machinist. Ironically during this time he worked on the highly secret World War II Norden Bombsight, which his future son-in-law, Susan’s father, would use as a B-l7 pilot in England.

But what really caught my attention was my wife’s comment about her grandfather’s love of fishing and “Kicky Frog.” She had always heard about the frog growing up. According to Susan’s mother, her father Louis was constantly tinkering with things in his shop and had applied for several patents (Dan actually located one).

He was a better inventor than businessman, however, he did bring one of his inventions to fruition, and that was a bass lure called Kicky Frog. It was a rubber lure that mimicked the natural movement of a frog when pulled through the water. Susan’s not sure how far he got in distribution, but her mother recalls as a grown woman seeing boxes of Kicky Frogs stacked up in the house. Louis was very enthusiastic about his lure, but his dreams fell apart with the start of WWII, when rubber was severely rationed for the war effort.



Photo: Ray Scott Outdoors
Dan Basore inspects a lure in his world-class collection of fishing artifacts. Basore is a noted collector and exhibitor of antique lures and writes a monthly column, Fishing History, for Midwest Outdoors.

According to Susan’s mother, Louis never lost his love for fishing. From childhood memories she recalled his excitement when he left the house to go fishing and his contentment when he returned home with a fish or two in his pail. And she distinctly remembers his particular pride when he caught a bass. Susan’s mother, who couldn’t tell a bass form a goldfish, asked why that fish was so important. And he would tell her in his accented English “Ah, the bass is special. There is nothing like a bass.” I would have liked Louis.

I have tried to find Kicky ever since, to no avail. I finally thought about Dan and put him on the trail. It wasn’t even a day or two until he called back with exciting news. He had called a buddy, Don Wheeler, on the West Coast, who was actually putting together a book on frog lures – and he had a Kicky and a box! That’s where our photo came from. The guy was thrilled too, because he knew nothing about the lure, and like Dan, the history of the lure was very important to him.

Unfortunately, that lure and box is the only one we have been able to locate, in spite of Dan putting out an appeal in his column and help from my pal Bob Groene, outdoor writer for the Dispatch and the Rock Island Argus.

So I’m putting out my own appeal. Look in your attic and keep an eye out for Kicky at antique stores and yard sales. I’d love to have one, and I’ve got a special reward for the individual who can first deliver Kicky and his box alive and well – a day of fishing on my trophy bass lake here in Alabama. Contact me at (334) 28l-3661 or ray@rayscott.net.

Note: To read more about the inspiring story of Ray Scott and the multi-billion-dollar sportfishing industry he created, order Robert Boyle's biography, Bass Boss, at RayScott.net, or call (800) 518-7222..


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