For this demonstration, I’ll be going with a spinning reel because if you can master this one, the rest will become easy as pie. Now, it’s very important that you learn how to properly spool your spinning reel because it will help you limit line twists and tangling troubles down the road.
Filling your spinning reel is the first step that you need to take to start your fishing trip. You want to make sure you are starting on the right foot.
Learning how to put a fishing line on a fishing reel/spinning reel can help you counter troubles such as loops, line twists, and other hassles. As for the fishing reel itself, I really prefer spinning reels because of their versatility.
These popular reels are easy to use, easy to master, and perfect for lightweight tackles and lures. If you are just starting out fishing, there is a high chance that you will start your fishing journey with a spinning reel.
Even though these popular fishing reels have a lot of perks, they can be rendered useless if you don’t spool the reel properly from the start. This is where I come in.
Important Starting Note
There are different types of reels and lines. Spinning reels are different from baitcasting reels because they are mostly used for lightweight fishing. In fact, spinning fishing reels are designed to be compatible with lighter lures and fishing lines.
This is the reason why you should check your reel first, see what line you should use for it, and make sure to check the line capacity.
Line capacity can mean a bunch of things. Although it’s a topic for a separate article, I will quickly go over the basics. The first thing you will need to look at is the line weight.
Your reel can only withstand a specific line weight, and you want to ensure you are using the right fishing line. Now, speaking of line capacity, you never want to have less than a hundred yards of line on your reel.
There is also a limit on how many lines your fishing reel can hold along with the line length. That’s why it’s important to match your fishing line to your spinning reel’s capacity.
How To Put Line On A Spinning Reel?
Now, what you want to do before you start putting the line on is make sure that you open the reel bail. This is something that a lot of people forget, but if you don’t open the bail before actually tie the line on the spool, you are not going to be able to wind the line on the spool.
Follow this step-by-step guide if you want to learn how to properly spool a reel with a line in only a few minutes. Once you are done with the steps, you will be able to properly put a line on a reel and fish with it right away.
Step 1 – Tying The Line
The first step is to tie the line onto the reel itself. I don’t make any complicated knots on the reel. There are plenty of different methods on how to tie a knot on a fishing reel. Just go with the one that you think is doable.
For now, I will go with an overhand knot. It is a simple knot, and all you have to do is loop it around the spool and then tie one overhand knot like you would tie a shoelace. From there, do another overhand knot and do the exact same thing. Tie it and pull it down tight.
Step 2 – Cutting The Loose End
Now that you have got it tied on there, one of the things that you can do is take the actual tag end from the loop, cut it down to a smaller size using a scissor.
Make sure to cut it as close as you can so that it’s not going to impede the line that is coming off the rest of the reel. Another thing you can do is take the sticker from the spool and put it over the top of that.
Sometimes you do need to take the scissors and cut the sticker a little bit smaller but once you’ve actually cut it a bit smaller and you’ve got a smaller piece, what you want to do is you can actually take that sticker and you can actually just put it on the spool right over the top of the knot.
Now what that’s going to do is it’s going to do two things. One, it’s going to keep that line nice and tight to the spool, and the other thing it’s going to do is it’s going to keep your tagging from becoming an issue for the rest of the line. From there, you’re now ready to actually wind the line onto your spool.
Step 3 – Winding The Line
One thing you want to make sure of with your spool is that when you set it down, you want to make sure you’ve got the label facing up. The label of the spool facing up is going to have that line coming off clockwise, and it is also going to match it up to the way of how the line is going on the reel.
So, the line, again, whether it’s monofilament or fluorocarbon, has some memory. This means the line now has the memory of the spool but now going into a smaller spool with the memory of the direction that it is going. If you can keep it going in the right direction, it’s going to make things a lot easier for you.
Step 4 – Wind The Reel
Now, all you have to do is hold the rod nice and tight and reel in. Keep the drag down, and make sure the line is pinched in your fingers real tight. Don’t wind too fast. If you wind really fast when you are bringing in the line, you might burn your fingers. Keep on reeling until it is full.
Now, when I say full, what full means is that you want to have it just maybe a sixteenth of an inch below the capacity of the spool. In this case, the capacity would be the line being completely flush with the spool itself.
For now, just keep on winding the reel till you get close to that point. Take the same scissor and cut the line. Don’t use your teeth.
Step 5 – Making The Final Touches
Now what I’m going to do is actually show you our trick to actually make sure that you can cast right away. A lot of times, as I said, the line has memory. Any nylon line, whether it’s monofilament or fluorocarbon, it is going to come from a spool larger than what the line is going into.
This is going to give it the tendency to want to jump off the spool. When you make a cast, you will have that line jump-off, and it will create a big knot for you. So, what you want to do is you want to take the spool off.
- Taking The Spool Off
The way you take the spool off is untwist the drag. You want to make the drag again as loose as it’ll possibly go, and that’ll allow you to take the spool of the reel itself off. So again, you want to keep it going until it’s really loose, and eventually, it’ll just pop its way off.
You want to make sure you don’t lose any of the washers when you do so. Now grab the line and pop the spool off, making sure those washers stay in place. Take the line and wrap it around the actual line tie there to keep it nice and tight.
- Dump It In
Now what you will need to do is you will need to take a glass of warm water. You don’t want really hot water. Just plain warm tap water is enough, or else it will damage the line.
Now take the spool and drop it right in. Leave it in there for about 10 minutes. The warm water changes the memory of the line so that it will fit into the spool that it is now in.
Final Thoughts
And there you go. Follow these steps and keep some of these things in mind when you put your new fishing line under the spool. It’s really going to make your life a heck of a lot easier. That’s how you spool a spinning reel.
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