According to Wiki..
"The fishing reel was invented in Song dynasty China, where the earliest known illustration of a fishing reel is from Chinese paintings and records beginning about 1195 AD. Fishing reels first appeared in England around 1650 AD, and by the 1760s, London tackle shops were advertising multiplying or gear-retrieved reels. The first popular American fishing reel appeared in the U.S. around 1820."
ya ok but those reels were more in the manner of a winch like this:
prior to the modern fishing reel most anglers fished with just a pole, line and hook, like this:
and Atlantic salmon as large and larger than chum salmon were commonly caught on large poles without reels.
There is some information here:
http://www.lax-a.net/fishing-in-scotland/river-dee/The Dee has a deserved reputation as one of the world’s great salmon rivers. Since the 17th century, anglers have been sport fishing on the river for its famous run of salmon.
Victorian salmon anglers enjoyed some of the finest fishing in the Dee’s angling history and their innovative approach to fishing tackle design is still reflected in tackle today.With the advent of Victorian fly fishing tackle, the evolution of modern rods and reels had begun. No longer were salmon played on a ‘tight line’ or line tied to the rod tip, but rather a ‘loose line’ which ran through the rod rings. This allowed greater opportunity to land big Dee salmon, which the ‘tight line’ method was simply no match for.
I still dont get how the fish is landed... is it used like a crane to pivot the fish to shore? Although I imagine that would prob require 2 people..?!?
I'll have to go out ther and see if I'm lucky enough to check out his setup. Pretty cool to see
long competition 'poles' are usually an extenton piece with a smaller pole perhaps 1/3 the total length inserted at the top. When a fish is hooked the pole is pulled back hand over hand horizontally, the top insert removed and the fish landed.
FWIW it's common to steel people from the far east fishing poles without reels that are 12 to 15 feet long. This summer I saw one guy with a telescoping pole that must have been 18 feet fully extended at Fury Creek.