logo
logo
  • About
    • About Us
    • Visit Us
    • Ways to Give
    • Ambassador Program
    • Award Recipients
    • Contact Us
    • Tackle Inquiry
  • Collections & Exhibitions
    • Our Collection
    • Current & Past Exhibitions
    • Online Collections
    • The Stream
  • Journal & Film
    • The American Fly Fisher
    • Traver Award
    • Film Projects
    • Fishing The Collection
    • Online Screening Room
    • Webinars
  • News & Events
  • Online Store
  • Membership
    • Member Portal
    • Become a Member
  • Sign Up
  • Search

J. F. & B. F. Meek Trout-Size Casting Reel

Beginning in the late 1830s, brothers Jonathan F. and Benjamin F. Meek produced some of the finest multiplying reels ever made, offering small sizes such as this #1 model for use by trout fishermen. Confident that their reels were simply better than any potential competitors, they never applied for any patents, believing that none could do better.

Courtesy of Tyler Thompson


Yearc. 1840Accession No.L2022.003.003Made byJ. F. & B. F. Meek

You May Also Like

Unmarked Brass Clamp Reel c. 1800

The clamp-footed reel first appeared in print when Thomas Barker described one in his book, Art of Angling, circa 1651. In his revised edition,…

S. Allcock & Co. Ltd. Mahseer Reel

Henry Sullivan Thomas designed the S. Allcock & Co. Ltd. Mahseer reel for breaking the heavy runs of large fish, specifically the mahseer, a powerful…

Willard Bradley 1868 Patent Multiplying Reel

General Robert E. Lee purportedly presented this reel as a gift to his former rival and sitting President Ulysses S. Grant when Lee visited the White…

Ready For More?

If you love fly fishing as much as we do, you're going to love this.


PLAN A TRIP

Visit, fish, explore & more

VISIT

DROP A LINE

We are happy to hear from you

CONNECT

COME TO EVENTS

Check out the latest events

EVENTS
© 2026 American Museum of Fly Fishing. All rights reserved