The spike-mount reel is a mysterious design of great age. Possibly Irish in origin, it continued to be made into the 1880s. Instead of the conventional reel foot, there is a spike on the base of the reel that fits through a hole in the rod butt. The reel is then fastened by a wing nut that threads up the spike until the reel is firmly in place. This reel is believed to be the oldest in the museum’s collection.
The American Museum of Fly Fishing Collection
Gift of Luis Marden
