Skip to content

The Fishing Reel Patent Archive

The mechanical heart of American angling

Browse Dates Inventors Types About

Stop-crank

Patent 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, 1881

United States patent drawings and specifications are works of the U.S. government and are in the public domain — they were never copyrighted. Download them, print them, frame them. Our commentary and descriptions are © 2026 The Fishing Reel Patent Archive.

About · Terms · Privacy · Corrections welcome — this archive gets better when collectors write in.