gears, constructing small parts, and doing precision work. In time, the Kentucky Reel was mass-produced by the emerging factories located in the Northeast, where they could be produced at a fraction of the cost and time required for hand-built construction. The availability of more affordable fly reels greatly stimulated the sales and popularity of fly fishing equipment, and was soon applied to bait casting reels, resulting in a surge in the popularity of fishing as a pastime among all levels of American society. The American, Charles F. Orvis, designed and distributed a novel reel and fly design in 1874, described by reel historian Jim Brown as the "benchmark of American reel design," and the first fully modern fly reel. The founding of The Orvis Company helped institutionalize fly fishing by supplying angling equipment via the circulation of his tackle catalogs, distributed to a small but devoted customer list. Types Centrepin reel The centrepin reel (or centerpin, center pin, or float reel) is a single-action reel which runs freely enough on its axle ("centrepin"). The centrepin reel is historically and currently used for coarse fishing. Instead of a mechanical drag, the angler's thumb is typically used to control the fish. Fishing in the margins for carp or other heavy fish with relatively light tackle is very popular with a 'pin' and is often used for 'trotting' a method in which a float on the line suspends a bait a certain depth to flow with the current along the waterway. During the 1950s and 1960s, many anglers in England began fishing with a centrepin reel. Despite this, the centrepin is today mostly used by coarse anglers, who remain a small proportion of the general fishing population. A special class of centrepin reel known as the fly reel, used specifically for fly fishing, is normally operated by manually stripping the line off the reel with one hand, while casting the rod with the other hand. The main purpose of a fly reel is to help cast ultralight fly lures and provide smooth uninterrupted tension (drag) when a fish makes a long run, and counterbalance the weight of the fly rod when casting. When used in fly fishing, the fly reel or fly casting reel has traditionally been rather simple in terms of mechanical construction, and little has changed from the design patented by Charles F. Orvis of Vermont in 1874. Orvis first introduced