Drag adjustment mechanism for fishing reels

A drag adjustment mechanism for a fishing reel having a length of fishing line wound onto a rotatable spool, a rotatable reel handle, and drive means coupled between said reel handle and said spool for rotating said spool to wind the fishing line thereon in response to rotation of said reel handle, said drag adjustment mechanism comprising:

• a drag adjustment assembly connected between said reel handle and said spool for permitting rotation of said spool relative to said reel handle to unwind the fishing line from said spool in response to a tension force applied to the fishing line, said assembly including a rotatable star wheel mounted on said reel at an inboard side of said reel handle for selectively adjusting the magnitude of the tension force required to unwind the line from said spool;
• and
• a stop mechanism mounted on said reel at an outboard side of said reel handle and including pin means protruding in an inboard direction for engaging said star wheel to restrict rotational movement of said star wheel;
• said star wheel including a plurality of radially outwardly projecting and circumferentially spaced spokes, said pin means protruding in an inboard direction into the circumferential space between a selected adjacent pair of said spokes to restrict rotation of said star wheel to a part-circle path with opposite end limits defined by respective contact of said spokes with said pin means.