38 CASTING TACKLE AND METHODS 



expert watchmaker. Naturally he first made a reel 

 for his own use, improving upon the winch as he 

 discovered need for improvement in actual fishing. 

 So the multiplying reel is a fisherman's discovery, as 

 is every piece of tackle which stands the test of time. 



When Snyder's reel was all but perfect his friends 

 were attracted by its value as an aid to sport, and w r e 

 find the inventor holding the honorable position of 

 reel-maker to the Bourbon County Angling Club. 

 Some of Snyder's early reels are still in existence anct 

 disclose a loving care and intimate knowledge of 

 tools worthy of emulation. Casting from the reel 

 with artificial lures was undreamed of in those days, 

 Snyder's reel being produced for live bait fishing 

 only, though it was but a step from live bait casting 

 to throwing artificial lures. In some respects, judged 

 by modern standards, these early reels are crude, the 

 plates being riveted in position, the drag and click 

 cumbersome, the shaft projecting through the head 

 and tail plate, the barrel much longer than those in 

 use to-day. However, the multiplying reel had 

 arrived. 



Another man to turn his attention to reel making 

 was Mr. J. F. Meek, who appeared in Frankfort, 

 Ky., about 1833, improving the Snyder reel by 

 operating the dick and drag with sliding buttons, 

 placing a collar around the crank shaft, and elim- 

 inating the protruding spool-shaft. In Louisville, 

 Ky., in 1843, a man by the name of J. W. Hardman 



