Quickie History Of The Fishing Reel

October 23, 2022
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    Over coffee this morning, I pondered the background of the common fishing reel. I'm a reel junkie, but, I'm also aware that we take these things for granted.
However, like all, "man made" things, they had to start somewhere.
Just where was that? And how did they get to the ubiquitous, familiar reel what we know today?
    Inspired by a 1950 magazine article on the subject, I decided to dig.

The Fishing Reel Is OLD!
    The earliest fishing reels known came out of China. Detailed images were seen in Chinese illustrations and paintings and mention was found in written records beginning about 1195 AD. 

     But, occasional descriptions of "line wheels" for angling go as far back as the 3rd century. None of these early Chinese reel designs exist today, but they were likely derived from winches, and probably resembled modern centerpin reels.

    In Europe, it wasn't until the 15th century that a crude, but recognizable fishing reel was seen. It was from England, a brass single-action, skeleton-frame reel. It was retrieve-only, with the line stripped from the reel by hand before casting. This would be the norm for a couple centuries.
    By around 1650, fishing reels were common enough to be documented in English fishing literature. For example, an incident is mentioned in 1653 by Thomas Barker, where he describes the use of a "reele for trouling,”... a trolling reel.

    Within 100 years, by the 1760s, London tackle shops were running a trade in both single action and multiplying, rotating-spool reels. These are really the first known commercial “reels,” as we might think of them.
    They were essentially clockwork winches, laboriously hand made by skilled artisans, and fitted to a rod. As you might imagine, they were too expensive for average people to own; we can consider them oddities for the well-to-do of the day.
    They were still retrieve-only, too, not casting reels. That innovation was still a century and half away . With these reels, the line was stripped from the reels by hand, held loosely, and then flung into the water by the rod.
Similar to fly fishing, when you think about it.

    In America, the earliest home-grown fishing reels began to appear around 1820. These were still few and far between, though, as most reels still came from England. But by 1850, several American reel makers were in business, hand-crafting reels as spin-offs to the clock making trade. In 1853, though, Jonathan Meek & Benjamin Milam formed a partnership and put out the first mass produced fishing reels, developed from what were previously hand-made, “Kentucky reels.”

    The first rotating spool reel with an internal drag system for playing large fish was the Henshall-Van Antwerp 'Black Bass Reel,' made from 1885-1895. It was also the first that I've found that had a spool release, one that allowed for actual casting of the the lure from the reels spool. I don't know how well it cast, but it was probably a chunk. 
    That was the layout for decades, and it is still the standard for such reels. The only really significant additions to this type have been the oscillating level-wind guide, and spool braking.

Spinning Reels
    The inspiration for today's spinning reels came from the beginning of the Eighteenth Century, in the Basque region of Spain. It resembled a canary cage with an axial handle, separate from the rod itself.

    This birdcage-like device made it necessary for the user to hold the "reel" in his left hand, while his right hand was occupied with coordinating the rod.

    After making his cast, the angler moved the line to the fingers of his right hand at the rod butt, and, still holding the rod and playing the fish,.... he whipped the birdcage reel around by hand to take up the line. Meanwhile, he was also expected to guide the line onto the reel with his already busy right hand. This frantic cycle of events was repeated until all the line was retrieved. Any kid with string wound on a tin can will recognize this technique.

    The next step on the path towards a fixed spool spinning reel came late in the 1800's, from Scotland. In appearance, it was similar to the winch-like reels of the period, but it had a ring guide in front of the spool. To make his cast, the clever Scot grasped the spool and flipped it 90 degrees, so that the spool's end faced in the direction of the ring. The line was then cast off the end of the spool as with any spinning reel. Then, to retrieve the line, the angler turned the spool back to the orthodox reeling position and reeled it back in.

    About 20 years later, another Scotchman built a reel with a spool that remained stationary on the cast AND the retrieve. This set the stage for the English firm of Illingsworth to create the first “spinning reel” with a line pickup, around 1905.

    The Illingsworth reel looked more like a hand drill than a fishing reel... the spool was just a small narrow drum on the front, made to handle the very light silk lines of the day. It had no shuttling motion to lay the line on evenly, either. But that was next, and the spinning reel form we recognize was already in the works by the 1920's.

    The spinning reel as we know it today was developed by French mechanical engineer and clock maker, Maurice Jacquemin. His goal was to create, not a cranky gadget to hold fishing line, but a “precision tool that would cast at a greater distance and recover the fishing line without tangling.”
    After years of research and development, especially with the shuttling spool to evenly spread the line as it is retrieved, the iconic Mitchell spinning reel was born.
Mass production of the reel began in 1937, and the rest is history, as they say.

    An interesting side note is that the Mitchell reel was to be named after Msr. Jacquemin’s son, Michel. However, French law at the time forbade proper names to be used as product brand names. So, Maurice presumably did what any Frenchman would do - he “anglicized" the reel's name from Michel, to 'Mitchell.'

Enter The Dragon
    Of course, no look at the story of fishing reels would be complete without bringing the Asian makers into the subject.
    During the first 60 or 70 years of the 20th century, American manufacturers dominated the field in the US. Outfits like Shakespeare, Pflueger, South Bend, Bronson, Zebco, Johnson, Langley and Garcia ruled the reel market.
This is not to say reels weren't made in Asia - they were, and almost exclusively in Japan. But they were subpar in quality and function, when compared to American and English reels.
    But that all changed in 1973, when an entrepreneur from Alabama named Lew Childre, Jr., introduced the “Speed Spool” baitcasting reel...and it was a legitimate game changer.
    Childre's reel featured a narrow V-shaped spool that rendered the reel nearly backlash-proof. Also revolutionary was the unique push button spool release - previously if had been a lever that required two hands to operate. Now, only one hand was needed to facilitate longer, controlled casts. Finger shaped, no-slip handles and a black textured finish were popular finishing touches.

    Childre contracted with Shimano of Japan to make the original Speed Spool reels... Shimano was previously known as a maker of bicycle parts!
    But, apparently Shimano saw the potential, and each Speed Spool reel sported the Shimano name.

    Sadly, Lew Childre was killed in a plane crash, in 1977. Shimano had previously obtained rights to the design, and they entered the American market with their own branded line of reels. With Childre’s death, Shimano took up the torch and the rise of the Oriental fishing tackle companies began. 

    Today, it is safe to say that the fishing reel has come full circle, right back to China where it all started. The Chinese manufacturing megalith has become the dominant force in tackle making out of Asia, and probably in the world... along with pretty much every other manufactured item on the planet.

    Thanks for reading and I hope you learned something, If you enjoyed it, a like and share is appreciated.

If you are interested in a no drama, Facebook fishing page, please come visit us at: Palmetto Fly n Fish

Tight Lines,

David
Palmetto Fly n Fish
All rights reserved, 2022

Resources:

1. PA Angler, December 1950

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishing_reel

3. "The Art of Angling," Thomas Barker, 1653
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/26116/pg26116.txt

4. https://www.outdoorlife.com/story/fishing/awesome-old-school-fishing-reels-that-changed-how-we-fish/

5. https://mitchellreelmuseum.com/mitchell-fishing-reel-history/