A fishing reel comprises a cylindrical handle shaft that rotatably retains a high-speed driving gear and a low-speed driving gear. Inside the handle shaft, a switching shaft is fitted slidably along the axial direction. The fishing reel includes a switching member inside the handle shaft that is selectively engageable with the high-speed driving gear for high-speed winding or the low-speed driving gear for low-speed winding in response to an axial movement of the switching shaft. The switching member having at its one end adjacent to the handle a projection extending inside the handle shaft.
