In a fishing reel, the combination operable for braking the reel, comprising a reel spool having an axis, two axially spaced brake discs on the spool, a brake pad between the discs, and the discs interconnected to rotate together and move relatively toward the pad, a braking lever movable by the user to effect the disc relative movement, and pad engagement by the discs, a shaft extending axially, and bodily movable to effect the discs relative movement, the shaft being non-rotatable, and means including an actuator for displacing the shaft axially in response to lever movement, thereby to cause braking engagement of the discs, with the pad.