Welcome to ORCA’s online guide to fishing reel history and collecting! These pages provide information about:
- Early History and Types of Reels
- History of Reels by Period
- Rotating Spool Casting and Trolling Reels
- Fly Reels
- Spinning Reels
- Functional Features
Fishing Reel History was compiled by ORCA members David Lehmann with assistance from Steve Vernon. Please provide suggested updates to them or the webmaster.
First, let’s define the term “fishing reel.” A fishing reel is a device which stores, releases and winds fishing line. It differs from spools used for handline fishing in that it utilizes some sort of mechanism—such as a rotating spool or line-pickup device—to retrieve line.
Early History and Types of Reels
Early History of Fishing Reels
The ancient Egyptians, avid fishermen, are believed to have used hand-held, metal, C-shaped frames that bore the ends of rods that could be turned by hand to wind up line. There is evidence that the Chinese used reels by the 3rd or 4th century A.D. An eastern Mediterranean plate from the 6th century illustrates what has been interpreted as a fishing reel.
These pages focus on fishing reels that are meant to be used with hand-held fishing rods, but there are also fishing reels that attach directly to boats, belts, and other fixed objects other than rods. By the late 12th century, Chinese illustrations showed reels on rods held by fishermen.
Though fishing reels have been used for thousands of years, very little is known about their history until the 17th century. Thomas Barker made the first written reference in English to a “winde, to turne with a barrell” in the mid-17th century. As far as we know, until the mid-1700s, all fishing reels were pretty simple devices without mechanical advantages; one rotation of the handle rotated a reel spool a single time (single-action reel).
Around 1760, fishing reel design began to evolve. We break fishing reel evolution into eight periods that are defined by new inventions and designs and the types of reels that most anglers were using. These are:
- 1760 to 1815
- 1816 to 1865
- 1866 to 1900
- 1901 to 1920
- 1921 to 1945
- 1946 to 1960
- 1961 to 1980
- 1981 to Present
To learn more about each of these evolutionary periods, click the appropriate period link.
Types of Reels
From Barker’s time until the mid-1700s, anglers in the English-speaking world could choose only single-action reels for use on their rods, regardless of the style of fishing. The literature was full of advice on the rods, lines, and hooks recommended for every style of fishing, while reels were treated as mere conveniences for retrieving and storing line.
The multiplying reel was probably invented during the mid-1700s, and writers began to recommend them for fly-fishing, primarily to speed up line retrieval. Mechanical deficiencies made multipliers unsuitable for angling for larger fish, according to many experienced anglers.
After craftsmen in the United States began to manufacture reels during the early 19th century, the evolution of fishing reels began to accelerate, and reels designed for particular types of fishing began to be developed. Even so, catalogs through the rest of the century continued to classify reels as “plain” or “multiplying” or alternatively, “simple” or “compound.”
In the mid- and late 1800s, fishing books and periodicals highlighted the benefits of particular reel designs and features for specific types of fishing, and reel designs evolved to target particular bait and lure presentation techniques and particular species of fish.
In the broadest sense, there are three major types of reels, based upon how they are used and operate. Fly reels, rotating-spool reels, and spinning reels.
Fly reels are used when fishing with nearly weightless artificial lures. Line is not cast directly from the reel but is pulled off the reel by hand during a cast. They have relatively narrow frames, compared with other rotating-spool reels.
Rotating-spool casting and trolling reels are used when fishing with bait or heavier artificial lures. The weight of the bait or the lure pulls line off the spool.
Spinning reels have fixed spools (i.e., the spools do not rotate during casting). Like conventional reels, the weight of the bait or lure pulls line off the spool.
There are a lot of different classification schemes for fishing reels. Some are based upon reels’ mechanics and features and others are based upon the intended fishing technique for the reel. The reel classification presented here is a hybrid of mechanical and technique-based schemes. It also has an “American” flavor about it, using terminology most commonly used in the U.S. What we refer to as “spinning reels” in the States have typically been called “casting” and “threadline” reels in the U.K. During the mid 20th century, what the Brits called “spinning reels” were called “casting” reels in the U.S.
Learn more about the varieties of each of the three types of reels and how they work by clicking the navigation links.
Next – History of Reels by Period