Fishing reel

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A fishing reel is a hand-cranked reel used in angling to wind and stow fishing line,^[1] typically mounted onto a fishing rod, but may also be used on compound bows or crossbows to retrieve tethered arrows when bowfishing.

Modern recreational fishing reels usually have fittings aiding in casting for distance and accuracy, as well as controlling the speed and tension of line retrieval to avoid line snap and hook dislodgement. Fishing reels are traditionally used in angling and competitive casting. They are typically attached near the handle of a fishing rod, though some specialized reels with pressure sensors for immediate retrieval are equipped on downrigger systems which are mounted directly to an ocean-going sport boat's gunwales or transoms and are used for "deep drop" and trolling.

The earliest fishing reel was invented in China at least since the Song dynasty, as shown by detailed illustration of an angler fishing with reel from Chinese paintings and records beginning about 1195 AD, although sporadic textual descriptions of line wheels used for angling had existed since the 3rd century. These early fishing reel designs were likely derived from winches/windlasses and roughly resemble the modern centerpin reels.

Fishing reels first appeared in the Western Hemisphere in England around 1650 AD. An incident is disclosed in an excerpt from author Thomas Barker found in his book, The Art of Angling: wherein are discovered many rare secrets, very necessary to be knowne by all that delight in that recreation:

.... The manner of his Trouling was, with a Hazell Rod of twelve foot long, with a Ring of Wyre in the top of his Rod, for his Line to runne thorow: within two foot of the bottome of the Rod there was a hole made, for to put in a winde, to turne with a barrell, to gather up his Line, and loose at his pleasure; this was his manner of Trouling....

In the 1760s, London tackle shops were advertising multiplying or gear-retrieved reels. The first popular American fishing reel appeared in the United States around 1820. During the second half of the 20th century, Japanese and Scandinavian reel makers such as Shimano, Daiwa and ABU Garcia, previously all precision engineering manufacturers for biking equipments and watchmaking, began rising to dominate the world market.