The Fishing Reel Patent Archive

The mechanical heart of American angling

19th century tackle

Patent drawing of a fishing reel mounted on a rod butt, showing a crank handle, two side disks, a hinged cover with sliding gate, and an axial line guide eye, plus a cross-sectional view of the internal shaft and disks.IMPROVEMENT IN FISHING-REELSThomas Winans and Thomas D. Whistler · March 23, 1875Patent drawing of a circular fishing reel showing a perspective view with crank handle and cross-bar frame (Fig. 1), a cross-sectional side view (Fig. 2), and an internal view of the click mechanism with ratchet, dog, and spring (Fig. 3).IMPROVEMENT IN REELS FOR FISHING-LINESFrancis J. Philbrook · June 12, 1877Patent drawing of a fishing reel mounted on a rod section, showing the spool, end plates, and a folding crank handle that locks against the frame to stop the line, with two smaller detail views of the crank mechanism below.Fishing-ReelGeorge Hancock · June 28, 1881Patent drawing of a fisherman's reel showing an exploded mechanical view with a spooled reel attached to a wooden rod, gears, a coiled spring case, and detailed cross-sections labeled with reference letters like S, C, A, and G.FISHERMAN'S REEL.Franklin R. Smith · June 20, 1882Patent drawing of a wooden fishing reel with two crank handles, shown in cross-section to reveal an internal spindle riding on conical bearings and a threaded adjusting nut, alongside a separate ring-shaped clamp-sleeve for mounting the reel onto a fishing rod.FISHING-TACKLE.Gustav Ritter · June 1, 1886Patent drawing sheet showing five figures of a fishing reel line-guide mechanism, including side and front elevations of small and large reels with a screw-cylinder, follower, guide tube, and crank, plus a detached perspective view of the guide tube with clamp pins.LINE-GUIDE FOR FISHING-REELS.Christian E. Moller and Charles Raettig · April 9, 1889Patent drawing of a fishing rod showing a telescoping lower handle section, an internal rack-bar and gear mechanism, a reel mounted on the shaft, and cross-sectional details of the gears, pawls, and ratchets that convert sliding motion into reel rotation.COMBINED FISHING ROD AND REEL.Charles B. Corbin · September 9, 1890Patent drawing of a fishing reel showing the frame, spool, crank handle, and internal gear mechanism in six labeled figures illustrating engaged and disengaged positions.FISHING-REEL.Ezra S. Holmes · March 1, 1892Patent drawing sheet showing six technical figures of a spring-driven fishing reel with internal gear train, ratchet drum, brake lever, and folding hand crank, labeled with reference letters A through P.FISH-LINE REEL.Charles B. Corbin · May 29, 1894Patent drawing of a Meisselbach fishing reel showing the cheek plate with internal click mechanism, an edge cross-section revealing the spool and spindle, a perspective view of the frame with spool removed, and a detail of a modified click-spring.FISHING-REEL.August F. Meisselbach and William Meisselbach · January 14, 1896Patent drawing of a fishing reel mounted on a rod, showing the crank, spool, and two spring-loaded brake arms with a thumb button on a cross-bar, plus enlarged cutaway views of the brake-shoe mechanism.FISHING-REEL BRAKE.Henry W. Howe · April 25, 1899