In a fishing reel of the type in which the spool for receiving the fishing line is caused to more to and fro in the direction of its winding axis in response to a cam drive for driving a spindle attached to the spool, the cam drive including a guide part with a guide slot into which projects an eccentrically mounted cam stud, the guide slot is in the form of an elongated S in order to impart an acceleration to the spool at its reversing points, and thereby prevent formation of bulges at the sides of the spool during winding. The locations in the guide slot corresponding to reversing points of the spool are offset from a center line of the guide slots along a longitudinal axis of the slot in a direction perpendicular to the stroke direction, resulting in the above-described acceleration and also having the effect of increasing displacement of the cam drive mechanism in the stroke direction.