The Fishing Reel

In literary records, the earliest evidence of the fishing reel derives from a 4th century AD work entitled Lives of Famous Immortals. The first 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. Another fishing reel was detailed out in a painting by Wu Zhen (1280–1354). 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 implemented. An Armenian parchment Gospel of the 13th century illistrates a reel (though not as clearly depicted as the Chinese ones). The Sancai Tuhui, a Chinese encyclopedia put out in 1609, features the next known picture of a fishing reel and vividly shows the windlass pulley of the device. 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 described in world art.