Baitcasters are bit expensive reels used by many experienced anglers. This reel is not preferable for beginners. But if You have a bait caster, it is important to know how to spool a baitcaster to achieve perfection. And why is it important to spool it?
Perfect bait caster spooling is necessary to prevent the line from twisting and tangling. It reduces the maintenance issues of the line. Understanding the reel is quite complicated at the start, but once you have gone through it, it will be easiest and straightforward, and it just takes a few minutes to be done.
List of Necessities Before Starting
Collect these things before starting to spool the baitcaster:
- Reel
- Rod
- Line
- Line cutter
- Weight, hook or lure to bind at the end
Decide Them
- You want to turn the reel clockwise or anticlockwise
- Which line are you using for your reel
Baitcaster reel spooling is daunting at first, but it seems easy once you learn how to do it correctly. Also, check the best baitcasters of good price.
How to Spool a Baitcaster
Seven basic steps are mentioned below for perfect spooling of a baitcaster:
- Connect your reel with the baitcasting rod.
- Feed the line through the rod’s first eye
- Feed the line through the baitcaster’s line guide
- Knot line to spool
- Cut off the spool from the tied End
- Begin spooling by rotating the handle:
- Fill spool till 1/8 inch gap left
These seven steps are applied to spooling using fluorocarbon or monolines.
Connect Your Reel With the Baitcaster Rod
Putting a line on a baitcaster reel line spooler is unnecessary; instead, you can achieve the same effect of spooling the line with the help of a rod only.
Feed the Line Through the Rod’s First Eye
Feeding the line rod’s eye will ease running the line toward the baitcaster from the correct direction. It will help in providing tension to the rod during the spooling process.
Feed the Line Through-Line Guide
While spooling, moving the spool side by side is important, ensuring the perfect spooling of line on the rod.
Knot the Spool to Reel
Tie a double overhand knot between the two holes of your baitcaster. If the reel has holes, thread the line through these holes and tie the knot.
On the contrary, if the spool doesn’t have holes tie the thread over the spool by wrapping the line around the spool with a double knot.
Cut off the Line
It is essential to cut the line at the end after spooling to avoid sticking out and putting itself in the way of the mainline during spooling.
Begin the Process of Spooling by Rotating the Handle
Keep tension on the line and begin the spooling process by turning the handle in the clockwise or anticlockwise direction you prefer. Ensure the turning of the spool in the same direction as your spool on the baitcaster top to prevent line twisting.
Spool the Reel Until It Is Completed
Always try to fill the reel’s spool until its 1/8 inch gap is left behind the corners of the spool and line. This avoids and reduces the risk of backlash.
How to Spool a Baitcaster by Yourself
If you don’t have a friend or partner for spooling your baitcaster and don’t know how to spool it by yourself, then this must prove helpful. Here are some things you need to do while spooling the baitcaster.
With the Help of a Pencil
If you don’t have any buddy to hold the filler of the spool, you may control it by putting a pencil through the hole of the spool. All you have to do is to hold the pencil between both your foot in such a way that one end of the pencil is at the top of the foot but step on the other end of the pencil with the other hand.
With this, the spool will turn freely as pulling the line off into the reel. Moreover, run the line through your fingers before it touches the reel and provide tension continuously and consistently.
If you are a novice to baitcasters, let’s look at our articles on the best baitcaster for beginners.
Spooling a Baitcaster With Braid
If you need to thread a baitcaster with braided lines, this process is similar to the one outlined above, but for spooling with the braided line, you need to back it with monolines first.
Backing With Monolines
Before spooling it with braided lines, fill the baitcaster until 1/4 inches with monolines. These monolines, however, have no use while reeling because they are at the base.
- Backing is important to give twofold to the line of the spool.
- Firstly, monolines are not as expensive as a braided lines.
- Secondly, monoline stuck to the spool. On the contrary, braided lines slipped too much when tied directly to the spool, while monoline was tied firmly without slippage.
Spooling Baitcaster Backing?
If you want to back your baitcaster’s spool, start with a monoline, as mentioned above. But backing is done about ¼ inches of the reel.
Then trim the mono line and tie an arbor knot with the braided line. Trim the mono line and start spooling the braided line till 1/8 inches gap is left behind.
Choosing the Best Line for Baitcaster
As we’ve explained, the spooling process of baitcaster with three different lines. So the question that comes to your mind is which line will be best suited to spooling for baitcaster.
The Answer to this question is quite delicate as all three lines work perfectly with the baitcaster reels depending upon the type of work you are planning to receive from them.
If you are a beginner, then monoline is preferable for you as it prevents backlash and reduces the risk of birds nest compared to the other two lines, Fluorocarbons and braided line.
Some benefits and flaws backs of these lines are mentioned here to choose what type is best suited.
Braided Lines
Braided lines are the best and strongest lines with zero or no stretch level or flexibility. They are perfectly fitted and ideal for setting the hook. They are best used for cranking the big fish from a noticeable distance before they snag the line. It gives much higher visibility than the other two lines.
Monofilament Lines
Mono lines give less visibility than braided lines. They are easier to cast. They give less backlash and float on top of the water. These lines are best for top water baits. They have relatively high flexibility and elasticity, generating problems in setting the hook.
Fluorocarbon Lines
Fluorocarbon lines are a bit more expensive than monolines, and they are almost invisible and can only be seen in clear water. They create more backlash than the other two lines on a baitcasting reel. These reels come in handy in just clear water.
Hopefully, this will help you to pick the best line for a specific purpose. If you are thinking to buy a baitcasting reel check out our complete guided reviews of baitcaster under $100.
Maintaining Tension
When dealing with a new line, keep in mind that the essential thing to do there is to maintain tension. Not accurately dealing with the tension will lead you to loose loops around the spool and may generate lots of problems during spooling.
With uneven tension, your lure may fly in the air, your reel travels at different speeds, and you will consequently get rough and wrong cast. This uneven and unmaintained tension will cause jerkiness, and you will lose accuracy. This will ends up with the worst casting with the baitcaster and cause birds nest and backlash, which is the hardest to deal with.
Uneven tension may also cause a losing loop below several layers. It would weaken your line and cost your lure and fish, which is a bit expensive.
Spooling Reel (Baitcaster vs Spinning Reel)
Spooling concept is almost the same for all types of reels, but it causes minor differences in the realistic approach. For the spinning reel, your line will be on the correct side of the line. For further details, look at how to spool a spinning reel, but if you have a baitcaster, you must line the spool with a line guide through holes in the rod and tie the knot on the spool.
Conclusion
In the end, I hope you all know how to lessen backlash, which is the essential step in dealing with the spooling process of baitcaster.
Preferably you can use monolines for spooling baitcaster reels. The methods mentioned above work perfectly for lessening the twisting and tangles. You have to know in which direction you have the twist, then flip or rotate the spool to straighten it out.
Always fill your reel up to 1/8 inches gap overfilling may cause abrasion between parts of the reel. But if the reel is unfilled, it will cause additional friction while casting long distances.
To learn about fishing reels, consider our other work on types of fishing reels. Hope you get important information for your future reel selection and choice.