REELS 

 HISTORICAL 



THE first mention I can find of a reel is in 

 " Barker's Delight or Art of Angling " pub- 

 lished in 1651. He says: "Within two foot 

 of the bottom of the rod there was a hole made for to 

 put in a wind, to turn with a barrell, to gather up his 

 line and loose it at his pleasure." 



Walton, who acknowledges his indebtedness to 

 Barker for fly fishing information, mentions a reel but 

 apparently never saw one. The dear old fellow 

 cleverly " camouflages " his lack of information by 

 merely mentioning " a wheel " and dismissing the whole 

 subject with the remark : " which is to be observed 

 better by seeing one of them than by a large demon- 

 stration of words." 



Venables showed a picture of a reel in his " Ex- 

 perienced Angler " in 1662. 



The winch of Barker, Walton and Venables was a 

 large, grooved wooden spool of the type still used in 

 England and known as the Nottingham reel. 



The early Kentucky bass fly fishermen, according to 

 Henshall, used a reel similar to the Nottingham which 

 they made from a large sewing thread spool fitted with 

 a frame, handle and base made by the local tinker. 



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