Loading spinning reel

[graywolf]

I had mentioned on another thread that I was an old guy that fishes a couple times a year. I think this year I will get out more. I decided to put new 10 lb. test line on my new spinning reel, even after looking at a number of suggestion on the net., I managed to ruin $10 worth of line. The line would jump of the reel, what a mess. I seen a where a person said that once you had your line on your reel put it in hot water(to lose line memory). Well I got some new line and finally got about 3/4 of the spool on before it started to give me a problem. Well I put the spool in pan of hot water (from my Keurig), worked perfect. I have another reel that I am going to change line on but this time I am going to place the roll in a pail of hot water and reel it onto the reel from there. When you retired you have time to screw around. Enjoy this site very much, trying to learn enough to stay legal.

 

[Shaun Solomon]

There are a few things that might help. Try taking the spool off the reel and winding the line on with a drill. You will need to build a holder of some sort. I use a threaded machine screw, a t-nut, and rubber washers to hold the spool. You just put the screw through the center hole of the spool and screw it into the Tnut, using the rubber washer to protect the spool from scarring and to keep it snugged up.

You can also take the spool in to a shop and have them do it, but a lot of the places have snot-nosed young'uns working, so make sure if you do that they know what they are doing.

There are two issues you are fighting with spinning reels. One is twist, and one is memory. Twist is unique to spinning gear, levelwind reels don't have it. Spooling line off the bulk spool and onto the reel spool like an old ree-to-reel tape machine helps the twist issue, but you still have to deal with memory. I would absolutely not recommend boiling your line. Spool it on nice and tight and let it sit overnight, that should help a lot. The first time you use it it will get wet, stretch a little bit, and will "remember" the new spool. Just know that line twist and memory are part of the program with spinning tackle if you use nylon or fluorocarbon. Superline is made from dyneema or polyethylene, and has its own set of particulars. A different category of line, really.

Also... when you cast, most modern reels can be closed by hand. If you can flip the bail by hand (not by cranking the handle) then DO SO. Slamming the bail closed with the handle shortens the lifespan of the reel, and causes headaches with the line. You will form a loop fairly often closing the bail with the handle, and this will cause a big wad of tangled, twisted line to fly off the reel when you cast the next time.

Cast, catch the line again against the spool with your fingertip or catch it in the crook of your index finger, and close the bail with your off hand, guiding the line to the roller in the bail as you do so. You will experience at an absolute minimum a 50% reduction in line management problems.

Lastly, there are a few good line treatments you can purchase. Reel Magic is a well know example. They make line slicker and softer, which increases casting and manageability. Change line frequently and use conditioners, observe good line management practices, and spinning reels can be a lot nicer to fish with.

SS

 

[graywolf]

Thank you SS. I great to have help from experience folks like yourself. Going to Nv. Next week if it's not too cold, there is a small lake with trout for me to practice on.

 

[DrTheopolis]

Another trick that may help, is once you load the spool (and if you overfill it, you're going to get tangles), while it's on your rod (or bottom half of it), tie a barrel swivel on the end of the line, and clip it to... whatever it will clip to (car, tree branch, whatever), and loosen the drag a bunch, and walk down the street with it. Then tighten the drag back up, and keep decent tension on it while you walk back in while reeling up.

As a bonus, some smart-aleck neighbor will inevitably ask "so, caught any yet?" To this you can respond "you're the third today!"

 

[ChezJfrey]

Also... when you cast, most modern reels can be closed by hand. If you can flip the bail by hand (not by cranking the handle) then DO SO. Slamming the bail closed with the handle shortens the lifespan of the reel, and causes headaches with the line. You will form a loop fairly often closing the bail with the handle, and this will cause a big wad of tangled, twisted line to fly off the reel when you cast the next time.

Cast, catch the line again against the spool with your fingertip or catch it in the crook of your index finger, and close the bail with your off hand, guiding the line to the roller in the bail as you do so. You will experience at an absolute minimum a 50% reduction in line management problems.

Yes! In fact, on a couple of my spinning reels, I disassembled and removed the lever that actuates the bail-close-on-reel...not because I ever forget, but it was somehow sticking the bail slightly open even when shut, which caused a slew of aggravation as line doesn't wrap evenly on the spool when that happens. I recently let a friend borrow my rod/reel and first thing he blurts out, "Hey, your reel doesn't automatically close?" Nope, LOL

 

[hobster]

My finger is always on the bail when i am letting line out bobber fishing. I slap it shut and reel in quickly while setting the hook. It is a force of habit, on my 11 1/2 ft. bobber rod it's so long setting the hook is a breeze, as is casting (as long as no branches are around )

 

[bass]

As Shaun mentioned spinning reels twist the line as part of their operation. Shaun's approach is excellent but does require extra effort.

Another way to counteract the twisting is to use the following technique. Lay the spool flat so that the line comes off of it as it would come off a spinning reel. Then reel a little bit onto your reel (a few dozen revolutions) and then open the bail and see if it comes off nicely or super twisted. If it comes off twisted you need to flip the spool over and then put the line on. With the spool sitting one way you are double twisting the line and with the spool sitting the other you are undoing the twisting of the line coming off the spool as you put it onto your reel. This is not as perfect as what Shaun suggests but it is pretty darn close and a lot easier.

 

[graywolf]

You guys are going make me look like I know what I'm doing.

 

[hobster]

I always just fill the reel with line, close the bail, and loosen the drag so i can pull enough line out to attach a swivel and hook it to an eye. Attach a lure or whatever at the river and within a few casts it is smooth as silk. Once the line wets is works great, no worries man!

 

[pinstriper]

My finger is always on the bail when i am letting line out bobber fishing. I slap it shut and reel in quickly while setting the hook. It is a force of habit, on my 11 1/2 ft. bobber rod it's so long setting the hook is a breeze, as is casting (as long as no branches are around )

Being a newb, I bought something that others apparently look down their patrician noses at: a low profile bass real with a "flipper" switch. Only a few reels have this, mostly lower end Abu's. When you activate it, you cast like normal, but letting up on the thumb lever engages the real, just like turning the crank.

I love it for extending a bobber drift, and have used it with great success from my kayak, where being able to stop the line going out with only one-hand on the rod is a definite plus. Being able to stop a drift in its tracks my lifting your thumb, or casting upstream and taking up the slack, then letting it out to free spool with just the thumb is a lot fast reaction time to a bite. Works great letting a plug work its way away from you, too. Press down to free spool, lift your thumb to hold it in place, press down again to let it work a little farther/deeper. Works a treat.

 

[montym]

Will these twist and memory and things go away of we use braid?

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[hobster]

Being a newb, I bought something that others apparently look down their patrician noses at: a low profile bass real with a "flipper" switch. Only a few reels have this, mostly lower end Abu's. When you activate it, you cast like normal, but letting up on the thumb lever engages the real, just like turning the crank.

I love it for extending a bobber drift, and have used it with great success from my kayak, where being able to stop the line going out with only one-hand on the rod is a definite plus. Being able to stop a drift in its tracks my lifting your thumb, or casting upstream and taking up the slack, then letting it out to free spool with just the thumb is a lot fast reaction time to a bite. Works great letting a plug work its way away from you, too. Press down to free spool, lift your thumb to hold it in place, press down again to let it work a little farther/deeper. Works a treat.

That sounds pretty cool, i've never heard of a baitcaster that does that. I love using a low profile baitcaster for drift fishing with mono, it's great to be able to let line out and extend your drift. I've gotten pretty used to using the thumb to set the hook, but it took a while. But prefer spinners for bobber fishing because i use braid and i've had it bury in a baitcaster when setting the hook.

 

[ChezJfrey]

Will these twist and memory and things go away of we use braid?

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Braid has no memory. It can still twist, so should still try to mitigate by manually closing spinning bails and not reeling a spinning against pressure (like that of a pulling fish), but rather pull, then reel, pull, reel.

 

[Shaun Solomon]

Braid has no memory. It can still twist...

Yep.

I still use nylon for almost all my fishing, even in super clear water. I just don't like the physical properties of fluorocarbon or polyethylene in most situations.

I use braid when fishing densely matted vegetation or when fishing beyond 80 feet of depth. I will sometimes use it on spinning tackle as well when I want to downsize my presentations and still make long casts. Lake trout are about the only fresh water species I have ever targeted at depths over 80 feet. I use braid in salt water often.

Braid has the benefits of incredible sensitivity due to its almost total lack of stretch, great handling due to its limpness, and absolutely unparalleled strength. Braid has a couple significant weaknesses that make me not so fond of it, notably the very poor abrasion resistance of the material, and the poor knot strength. A lot of people bemoan the fact that it is opaque, but that does not bother me much. I am not convinced fish are big thinkers, and have my own ideas about what they "think" about seeing fishing line.

Fluorocarbon is something I do not use, ever. I give it a try every few years to make sure my feeling are unchanged, mostly because of the deep respect and admiration I have for Japanese anglers, and the Japanese freshwater market is totally dominated by fluoro. The one thing I will give fluoro is it gets down quicker, with less weight.