The Birmingham style of reel has been called the “prototype of the modern fly reel” by author Jim Brown in A Treasury of Reels, in which Brown further describes these as the first “mass-produced” reels offered to anglers. Named for the city in England where they were first manufactured, they were predominantly made of brass, with spools narrower than the diameter of the side plates, and fitted with a curved crank arm. The vast majority of these reels are unmarked, and the originators of this design are still unknown.
The American Museum of Fly Fishing Collection
Gift of Frederic A. Sharf
