Fishing reel History

In literary records, the earliest evidence of the fishing reel comes from a 4th century AD[1][2] work entitled Lives of Famous Immortals.[3][4] The earliest known depiction of a fishing reel comes from a Southern Song (1127–1279) painting done in 1195 by Ma Yuan (c. 1160–1225) called "Angler on a Wintry Lake," showing a man sitting on a small sampan boat while casting out his fishing line.[5] Another fishing reel was featured in a painting by Wu Zhen (1280–1354).[5] The book Tianzhu lingqian (Holy Lections from Indian Sources), printed sometime between 1208 and 1224, features two different woodblock print illustrations of fishing reels being used.[5] An Armenian parchment Gospel of the 13th century shows a reel (though not as clearly depicted as the Chinese ones).[5] The Sancai Tuhui, a Chinese encyclopedia published in 1609, features the next known picture of a fishing reel and vividly shows the windlass pulley of the device.[5] These five pictures mentioned are the only ones which feature fishing reels before the year 1651 (when the first English illustration was made); after that year they became commonly depicted in world art.[5]