How to spool or put a line on your fishing reel, a guide to spooling up, and what line to use for what fishing situations. First up, we’ll explain how to spool up a reel with a monofilament line without any backing. And then stick around until the end of the article for more details on different line types and what line to use for various fishing techniques.
Steps to put a line on a fishing reel
1. Place the line
In a bucket, put the fresh spool of line. The line won’t tangle or excessively spray off the spool as a result.
The line’s end should be threaded backward through the fishing rod’s first eye. As a result, it will be simpler to rule the line onto the new spool.
2. Tie the line
The new spool must now be attached with an arbor knot using a line. After wrapping your line around the spool, secure the main line with an overhand knot. One or two inches away from the first overhand knot, tie the second one in the tag end.
As you tighten the knot, moisten it with saliva to prevent friction from burning your line.
3. Attach the spool
Pulling on the line will tighten the knot. The second knot needs to settle in place against the spool just next to the previous one.
Once the tag end has been cut, you’re prepared to spool up. Spool the reel while releasing the bail arm. As you hold the rod in your hand, close the bail arm and exert some pressure on the line.
Reel the line onto the spool until it is completely filled. To prevent overfilling the reel, which can result in severe tangles as too much line springs off the reel when you cast, you should leave a few millimeters of space at the top of the spool.
Cut the line after you have placed it in the clip, and you now have a freshly spooled reel. To avoid wasting your new line, you might use the backing to fill the spool halfway up when you don’t always need as much line as you have on your reel.
The backing is simply a term for some inexpensive, thick line that you can use to begin filling the spool before completing it with the line you intend to use for fishing.
4. Spool with backing
There is a simple method for doing this that enables you to load the spool properly each time. To execute this, you will need two identical spools.
Put the new line inside the bucket. Reverse the line and pass it through the rod’s first eye. Use the arbor knot we previously demonstrated to tie the line to the spool, then reel the necessary amount of line onto the spool.
Since I won’t be casting that far with this reel, I attached roughly 100 yards of line in this instance. Cut the line and tie an Albright knot to add some used or inexpensive line to be used as a backup.
To form the Albright knot, which joins two line segments, fold the thick material back over itself. To wrap the folded section, thread the thinner material through the loop you just made.
With thicker lines, wrapping around five times or less is sufficient, but if you’re using a braid or extremely thin line, you’ll need to do more. Reverse the end through the loop, ensuring that it exits through the same hole that it entered.
Pull the knot tightly after moistening it with saliva to prevent friction from melting the line. After that, trim the tag end and carry on spooling.
The backing should be wound onto the spool until it is almost at the lip. Cut the line, then remove the spool. Place the spool of line you just loaded onto it in the bucket.
Using the arbor knot as demonstrated previously in the article, thread the line through the rod’s first eye and secure it to the empty spool.
Reel in all of the lines from the other spool. Now you have a reel that is correctly spooled, has backing, and only the precise amount of line you will want.
It’s crucial to apply backing or tape on the inside of the spool when spooling up the braid before reeling it on. This is due to the braid’s lack of flexibility, which makes it prone to slipping off of spools under pressure unless it has a hold on something.
We usually fill the spool with braid after a few meters of monofilament line, which we then secure with an Albright knot.
You have it, then. To avoid wasting money or line wastage, spool a reel up in this manner.
What line to use for fishing (Line choices)
It can be difficult to decide which line to use because there are so many options available to place on a reel. So, let’s quickly go over the equipment we use when fishing.
When fishing for large carp, we use twelve to fifteen pound 1/0. We do occasionally employ a 15-pound sub braid.
We suggest monofilament for most individuals starting out in carp fishing. Stretching while playing fish makes it possible to use more gear, which reduces the likelihood of hook poses.
Additionally, wind knots aren’t as problematic. To prevent too much line from flying off the spool and winding around the ice rod in a tangle while casting with braid, you really need to moisten the line before making a huge cast.
Nevertheless, braid has benefits. The lack of stretch, for instance, improves bite indication and increases your chances of guiding fish away from danger when you are fishing at a range of two snags.
Additionally, braid becomes crucial for bite indication if you’re boating out rigs hundreds of yards. In actuality, though, everything comes down to taste. Some anglers prefer to use different materials entirely, but we think mono is the best to start with.
However, if your fishing brings you to locations where casting a very long line is crucial, you might want to switch to braid.
For general purpose fishing, we utilize a guru dragline with a breaking strain ranging from four to ten pounds. For float or feeder fishing, the lighter lines are ideal.
When fishing with floats, we prefer to use four pounds, and when using feeders, six pounds. Unless there are obstacles like barbells or large carp or fish that fight fiercely. At that point, we switch to an eight or ten-pound line to be sure we don’t lose any equipment tackle, or fish.
Given that it has little elasticity, a full fishing braid is required. Thus, it greatly simplifies working lures and sensing bites.
As of right now, we fish for pike using an eight-strand braid with breaking strain ranging from ten pounds for perch to fifty pounds for pike.
Four-strand braiding is adequate if the casting is not crucial to you. The diameter of an eight-strand cast is smaller and significantly simpler. Its increased cost is the only drawback.
Because treble hooks frequently get caught in surface snags when pike fishing, we like to use a 50-pound braid. You may exert a lot of force and straighten the hooks using 50-pound strands. Specifically, you avoid snagging large hooks and leaving them in the water.
Braid has a relatively small diameter, which is also important to note. As a result of less water resistance, lure fishing in deep water is made simpler.
Finally, before actually throwing a huge whack out there, it’s a good idea to give a newly spool reel a few short throws, regardless of the material you have decided to spool up with.
This is because occasionally they can be slackly trapped in there as you’re reeling in the new line. If you immediately go for a huge carp, that line can fly off the reel and produce negative witness, which is certainly something you don’t want. You have no issues at all simply making a few modest casts, reeling in the line, and placing your baits correctly.
Thank you for reading our explanation of line selection and fishing reel spooling. I hope it was helpful to you.
FAQs on how to put a line in a fishing reel
Should I soak the fishing line before spooling?
It is always recommended to let a new monofilament fishing line soak before spooling it into your reel. Allowing the monofilament to soak will lessen line memory and improve how well the line is set on the reel compared to not letting it soak.
Where does the sinker go on a fishing line?
Start by threading your ball sinker onto your main line when using a swivel. Next, cut a segment of your main line or trace line, and toe a hook and a swivel on opposite ends of the piece. Last but not least, use a quick-tying knot like a half-blood knot or a uni knot to secure the ball sinker to the opposite end of the swivel.
How long do you soak the fishing line in the water?
Ideally overnight, but at least for a few hours.
Why does my fishing line keep coming off the spool?
The main reason why your fishing line unravels and comes off the spool is that there wasn’t enough room for it to begin with. Most spinning reels can’t take as much or as heavy of fishing line as baitcasters can, unless you’re using a reel made for saltwater.
How much line do you put on a fishing reel?
Make sure the line is filling the reel spool evenly and fill it to within 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch of the edge by keeping an eye on the reel spool. The performance of the reel will be impacted by too much or too little line.
Should the fishing line be tight?
The line shouldn’t come out without applying a good deal of pressure. Tighten it if you catch a little fish that removes the drag. Leasing the drag will help if a large fish begins to tug so hard that you fear the line will break—just that simple.
Why is my fishing line so curly?
When a monofilament line is wound on a spool, it develops “fishing line memory.” It begins to curl, reducing throwing range and raising the possibility of knots or snarls. Eliminating line memory entirely is essentially impossible.
