Fishing tackle has come a long way over the years - from rods which were as thick as a mans arm to the delicate wands of today. Plain barrel winders of brass were known in the 1600s, but reels didn’t become common until the line itself improved. Fishing line was made of braided horsehair or horsehair and silk until the 1800s, when braiding machines were refined and cotton and flax lines were made.
The reels of that time were versatile and unspecialized: a big one held 200 or more yards of heavy line, and leaders were generally made from silkworm gut. Drawn from the bowels of a silkworm, gut made fine, extremely strong leaders that were four to nine feet long, readily available by the 1800s
Take a look, then, at todays superb
reels from the House of Hardy and soak in the information on flylines
supplied by Line and Tackle Manufacturers, Shakespeare.
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