The present application relates to improvements in fishing reels and more particularly to bait casting type fishing reels that have an open spool.
The bait casting reel, in most of its essential aspects, has been unchanged for the last 100 years. A bait casting reel typically includes an open spool held between opposed side plates that is freely rotatable about an axle or shaft in a first direction for casting. The line is retrieved or reeled in by rotating the spool in the opposite direction by means of a handle or crank. A level wind assembly is provided in front of the spool to cause the line to be evenly wound on the spool as it is being reeled in. See, e.g., Schmid U.S. Pat. No. 1,456,283.
While bait casting reels allow for a great deal of control when casting, they do tend to suffer from at least two shortcomings. First, bait casting reels are subject to line tangling known as “backlash” when casting if the spool rotates at a speed to release line at a faster rate than the bait being casted moving. Second, the level winds typically associated with bait casting reels have been relatively complex mechanisms and, as a result, susceptible to malfunction from exposure to the often harsh environments in which they are used. The bait casting reel disclosed herein addresses both of these shortcomings.