I picked up on the sad news that Dutch fishing equipment designer Ari ‘t Hart passed away a few days ago.
I never met him but I have always had a real soft spot for his designs, his reels in particular and a couple of those wee gems have passed through my ownership. The craftsmanship was second to none and I rue the day I didn't take the opportunity to pick up one of his Salmon reels at the CLA Game Fair back in 2013. Ah well
To be fair, many folk wont have heard of Ari't Hart. But for the mainstream I
believe he was a consultant with Hardy for the Angel series of reels - they bear an uncanny resemblance to his design philosophy. Dutch Reels continued with many of his designs and his own brand could (possibly) be classed as quirky or innovative, but never boring
I hope he knew how much joy his work and passion brought to others
H