The Fishing Reel Patent Archive

The mechanical heart of American angling

Kentucky reel

Patent drawing showing a circular skeleton fishing reel mounted on a rod section, with a central rotating disk, divided peripheral rings forming a tubular ring for line, and a side handle for winding, alongside detail views of the ring components and mounting plate.FISHING-REEL.William Billinghurst · August 9, 1859Patent drawing sheets showing a spring-powered fishing reel with internal planetary gear train, cam-actuated clutch disk, hand crank, brake lever with wire line guard, and exploded views of individual gears and pinions.FISHING-REEL.Elbert Ball Porter · July 12, 1892Patent drawing of a fishing rod butt with an internal reel mechanism, showing cross-sections of the cylindrical shell with a coiled spring, shafts, bevel gears, a ratchet wheel with pawl, and lever and button controls for engaging or disengaging the spring-driven reel, with a signed inventor's name and witness signatures at bottom.FISHING ROD AND REEL.George H. Newell · April 18, 1893Patent drawing of a fishing rod reel showing the internal gear mechanism, including a pinion and master wheel with crank, mounted between metal side plates, with three figures illustrating the plan view, side elevation, and cross-section of the driving gear case.FISHING-REELCarl Wiebeck · February 20, 1894Patent drawing of a cylindrical fishing reel shown in perspective and in several cutaway cross-sections revealing an internal spiral spring, gear train, clutch plate, click wheel, and crank handle mechanism.FISHING-REEL.Granville E. Medley · March 12, 1895Patent drawing of a fishing rod fitted with a casing containing a spring, gear train, alarm bell, and crank-operated reel, shown in perspective and in longitudinal and cross-sectional views.AUTOMATIC FISHING DEVICE.George Cook · September 11, 1900