During a great day of fishing, the worst thing that can happen to a fisherman is line trouble. Line twists, backlash, and other fishing line issues can put the brakes on your angling outing. In many cases, your bait caster reel may need a fresh fishing line. For many, this is a major hassle in the middle of a fishing trip.
Fortunately, all these issues can be minimized by properly spooling your fishing reel in advance. Many a newbie suffers bad experiences with a baitcasting reel because of improper spooling. The pros take utmost care while spooling so that all line trouble is minimized.
Though a bait caster reel is the hardest to use for a newbie, it is much easier to spool a line on a bait caster than on a spinning reel or spin cast reel. The following section will tell you how to spool your baitcasting reel effectively.
Steps To Spool Your Baitcaster Reel Easily
- Firstly, keep the following ready- a rod, reel fishing line (monofilament), a pencil, a friend to assist you (not a fishing line spooler), and a braided fishing line (optional).
- Feed the line through the first eyelet of the rod.
- Attach the fishing line to the spool by wrapping the line around the spool and tying an overhand knot around the main line.
- Attach the line with the main line with an Arbor knot.
- Trim the tag end with sharp scissors and begin spooling your reel.
- Take the help of your friend. Ask him to place the pencil through the hole of the new spool and hold it vertically. It should look like a tire on an axle. You can use a fishing line spooler if you don’t have a friend available.
- Begin to reel after placing a little tension on the line (a lightly placed finger will suffice).
- Reel until your spool is almost full. You mustn’t fill the reel fully. It is ideal to leave one-eighth of an inch from the edge of the spool. If you fill it up fully, you will suffer backlash and other issues.
- Ensure that the fishing line comes off its filler spool the same way it goes onto your baitcasting reel. This will prevent line twists and future casting problems. As your reel spool feeds at the bottom of its turn, you want your filler spool to feed off the top. It is similar to a cassette tape where one reel fills up the tape as the other loses the tape.
- Finish off by snipping your spooled line from the spool package and threading through the remaining eyelets on your rod. You are all set for fishing.
Spooling A Braided Line
Fishermen prefer braided lines for their virtually stretch-free design and impressive strength-to-diameter ratio. But due to it being rather slippery, it is difficult to attach it to the spool of your baitcasting reel. While spooling a braided line to your baitcaster reel you must have a backing so it does not slip.
You can use the length of your old monofilament for the backing. Feed the monofilament line through the worm guide and tie it to the spool. Spool a few turns until you have a layer of the mono across the spool. This layer of the monofilament line on the spool will give sufficient backing for the braided line.
You can attach the braided line to the monofilament backing with a double-uni knot. Once both the lines have joined, you can start spooling the braided line onto your bait caster reel as normal. As recommended, leave roughly one-eighth of an inch before the spool lip.
Now that you’ve spooled your bait caster reel with a fresh fishing line, all you have to do is attach a suitable lure. Head off to your favorite fishing spot and enjoy a day of fishing without worrying about any line trouble.