Respooling with New Line

[fatfish]

When respooling a levelwind reel with new line at home, who has the best method to insure that the line goes on tight, even and smooth? Is there a one man method that has proven successful for you? How about those commerical line spoolers you can buy, do they work? Has anyone come up with a system that works? I have yet to find a method that results in a first class job.

Yes I know that the local tackle shop can wind on some new line for me. That's not always convenient. Besides the last time they did it for me they exploded my Cardinal C4 original spool. Thank goodness the reel came with an extra spool. Those spools are hard to find.

Anyway, who has a method that really works at home?

[Rakkasan]

Not trying to be a smart *** but go get your line, sit down, turn the tube on, pull all of your old line off if you chose to take all the old stuff off, tie the new stuff on. May sound stupis but I pit a pencil through the spool, hold the pencil between my feet, and use the carpet as my tentioner. It has worked for years and I have never has a problem ever. To keep it from going on where one side has more than the other as you are reeling hold the spool and keep reeling as your line guide passes the hevier side then let the spool spin to get more line in that section. If you line your line guide to where you tie up on the spool either on the left or right side it should go on even. If not do what I mentioned and no problems.

Just a little hint and a money saver. I never take all of the old line off but once a year. I do re spool about every three trip on mono for steelhead. I take about a little over half of what I have on and splice the new line into the old. I have never ever been spooled or even close by a salmon or steelhead.

Works for me. Good luck

[ampersat]

I do what DSRods does: pencil between the toes. Never had a problem with it. However, I don't think this would work too well with braid. For braid, you could do it this way to get the line onto the spool then take it down to your local ball field to really spool it down tight.

Respool every three trips??? (even if it is only half the spool) If that's what you have to do to fish your line with confidence, then maybe it's time to switch to better line. Not knocking you, just a suggestion.

[skrimmy]

I too do it the DSRods way, but instead of a pencil, I use a long bladed screwdriver through the hole in the spool. Also, I put a towel under the spool so the spool isn't spinning directly on the carpet. It especially works well when using braided line as you can apply much more pressure to get the line on extra tight. Try that with a pencil and you'll go through a lot of pencils!

[Moley Molson]

I bought one of the little Berkley Line Spooling stations...only 25 bucks.
This thing works great...in my opinion.
I had a little trouble with it at first, but after bolting it down to the work bench in the garage....no more problems. It even comes with a cheapo line stripper, that works GREAT!

I just saw one in the Fisherman's online ads, only 22.88. Check it out!

[salmurai]

In order to eliminate wear and tear on the guides, I use a cotton/canvas glove, and just weave the line through a couple of fingers and just crank it on. I also have an old line winder but the glove thing is quicker and simpler.

[SailCat]

I'd agree with any of the methods, fatfish. It's not too critical with a baitcasting reel with the exception of additional pressure for braids. Also, it's important with braids to back with mono or hit the knot with a drop of SuperGlue so it doesn't slip on the arbor. If t slips, the drag becomes ineffective.

for expensive high-tech braids, consider spinning off the line to an empty spool, then transfer that to another spool, then back to your reel. This puts the new line on the outside and buries the old line which only serves as backing anyway.

Regarding the dealer who 'exploded' your Cardinal spool, I've done that lotsa times having filled hundreds of reels at a tackle shop in McMinnville. Most of there were Mitchells, but the problem is the old spools, nit the dealer. They become brittle and lose the ability to stand up to pressure. Those things make a very distinct popping sound when they go.

Best to ya,

~MT
The Guide's Forecast

[David Johnson]

I change the line on my spinning reels about every four trips, it keeps it from being too springy.

On my steelhead level winds I re-fill them every five to ten trips. The line gets streached out from fish and snags and gets nicks. A full spool also casts a lot better so when loosing a lot of line to snags they get filled more often.

[crabbait]

For braids, I hold a small piece of buckskin folded over the line between some fingers and really add tension. Have to stop several times during a Calcutta 400 loading to keep fingers from cramping but I know the line is on tight.

[KChookem]

After doing what 'DSRods' does, I hold the spool with new line under the faucet (warm water) for a minute to reset the mono's "memory" from the filler spool to the casting reels. Works wonders on Spinning Reels too. Do not use a lot of water pressure, just the warm water.

[Fishalot]

Try the elastic line tammers that are sold, I have seen several different brands. They consist of some elestic and 2 plastic or metal rings that adjust the tention. It goes around the spool with the line run through one of the rings. I am not sure how it will work on the wide spools.


Fishalot

[fatfish]

Thanks to all that contributed their technique. From the info provided I fashioned a winging mechanism that I can hold with my feet and have the spool run on some carpet. Not real pretty but I can now wind line on by myself and it goes on tight and even.

[Pickles]

I also do it the same way as dsrods, the only difference is after I have finished spooling a reel. Once finished, I drive down to Chinook Landing and tie the end of my line to my hitch the de-spool my reel. Once that is done, I reel my line back in with tension on the line.

[SHOUGALNITE]

What DSRods said.