How To Spool A Baitcaster Reel Easily!

One of the first things people learn about fishing is spilling a fishing rod, specifically a baitcaster. However, if you don’t learn to spool your rod successfully, you might end up with no fish after your fishing trip.

The reel on your rod is the only thing that connects you, your fish, and the rod together. So, imagine if you don’t spool your reel correctly. What would possibly happen to your fishing excursion?

Just imagine! Therefore, you must ask the question of how to spool a baitcaster and then learn its answer.

How To Spool A Baitcaster (Step By Step Guide)

Spooling a baitcaster reel correctly is crucial because it averts the line from twisting and other issues of the reel that might occur.

But, luckily for you, whenever someone asks you how to spool a baitcaster reel, you will know exactly what to tell them because I am going to explain to you how to spool it with simple steps.

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Things You Need First Before Starting It

So, before I explain to you how you can spool a baitcaster reel, I will give you a list of the things you need to learn about spooling.

There is a chance that if you are into fishing, you will probably already have all these things because you can’t fish without them.

• Baitcaster reel.
• Rod.
• A cutter to cut line. You don’t need a specific cutter for this purpose; you can use sharp scissors, nail clippers, or even wire cutters to cut the line.
• Line.
• A small hook, lure, or weight to tie at the end of the line. It will prevent the tip of the reel from going back inside the reel.

Lines For Baitcasting Reels

Now that you know how to spool a baitcaster, you must be wondering which baitcasting reel you should use for fishing. But, fret not because I will tell you about the three most common types of lines that I and other anglers use.

Monofilament Line

Among the many types of fishing lines, monofilament is the most common and cheaper option. This type of line is thick, stretchable, and robust and, therefore, can provide you with a lot of power and resistance to abrasion so that you have a smooth fishing experience.

However, you can’t fit a longer length of monofilament line because of its thickness into the reel. But, since it is more durable and affordable, people choose this line option when they go for fishing trips.

Fluorocarbon Line

On the second number, there comes the fluorocarbon line. This line is a fantastic substitute for other fishing lines. The best feature of fluorocarbon is that it becomes practically invisible once it is cast into the water.

So if the fish is ravenous, it won’t even be visible to that fish. But fluorocarbon is expensive as compared to monofilament lines.

Braid Line

Braid line is a complicated line for fishing. I’m saying this because many people ask questions about it, like how to spool braided line on baitcaster? The Braid line is very thin and yet strong.

This allows me to fit a large amount of line in my spool. But, the drawback is that the braided line is not resistant against rocks or sharp fish teeth. So, what I do is that I use the braided line as the main line and then use the fluoro or mono line as my leader line.

Now that you know the specifications of each type of line, you can choose the one you like the best or the one which meets your requirements.

Utilizing A Backing

Fishing is an expensive hobby. And buying equipment for fishing like lines (monofilament, braid line, or fluorocarbons) can be very expensive.

Fishing requires you to spend a lot of money, especially if your fishing line breaks because then you have to invest in lines all over again (and they are not cheap!)

An excellent way to cut some costs is by utilizing a backing on the fishing reel before filling it up with the line you have got for your reel. It doesn’t matter which type of backing you use because it doesn’t affect the fishing.

You just have to buy the backing according to the size and type of your reel. I suggest that you go for 8-14 pounds of mono because you can’t go wrong with that.

What I do is that after I finish filling my reel with a line, I add it on the top of my backing. I don’t have to worry about tying a knot for connecting the line to the backing because the backing is taped down and helps in serving a bigger spool.

So if your baitcasting reel is bigger, then the backing needs to be heavier too and vice versa. If you are using less quantity of new line on top of the backing, you fill your reel with the total capacity of a new line.

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The Knot And Maintaining Tension

I can’t emphasize this enough: tying knots properly is very important while you fish. If you tie it badly, then it will break at the most crucial time.

So, it would be best if you keep practicing your knots before you go fishing to tie it perfectly when the time comes.

You should learn to tie your knot quickly, smoothly, and adequately so that you may save your time, fish, and hard work. Because if your knot breaks or opens mid-fishing, you will lose your fish and lose your precious bait and the hook.

Here are a few things to take care of when you tie your knot for fishing:

• Choose the right knot according to the line. Some knots are specifically made for different types of lines. It would be best if you learned which knot goes with which line.
• Tie the knots which have a strength of 90%. Your fishing line is only as strong as your knot. So, ensure that your knot can carry at least 90% of what is coming towards it.
• Stick with the knot that works for you. It is not every day that we find something that sets with our style of fishing. So, I suggest that you find one type of knot and then stick to tying it every time.
• Lubricate your knots well. Lubrication ensures that there is no chance of abrasion or breaking of the knot due to heat. This way, your knot will maintain the tension, and you can fish smoothly.
• Inspect the knot before casting the reel. Even if you are a pro at tying knots, it doesn’t mean that you can’t make a mistake. I have made mistakes while tying knots more times than I can remember. So the best way to avoid any mishaps is by checking the knot after you tie it.

Step By Step Guide To Reel Your Baitcaster

Step 1: Locate Your Line Correctly

When you have a baitcaster reel at hand, you need to feed the reel through the line guide. I do this before moving forward with the spooling to distribute the reel on the line evenly. You can do this manually, but that process is very time-consuming.

Step 2: Loop the Line around the Spool of Reel

This is a harder step as compared to other steps, but not that hard once you get the hang of it. If your baitcaster reel has holes, then thread the line through those holes and quickly twist the handle so that the line wraps around the spool.

However, if you don’t have holes in the reel, you will have to work it around the rod to completely get the line around it.

Step 3: Tie a Knot

You have to tie two knots. The knots are simple to tie, but you have to tie them tightly to generate friction. A loose tie might cause loops to form on the line.

To learn whether or not your line is tight enough, you should start spooling. As soon as you begin spooling, you will know if it is tight enough or needs tightening up.

Step 4: Pinch Line to Create Tension While Reeling

Maintaining tension is necessary to ensure that the spool works correctly. Tweak your line from the front to start reeling but, tweak it enough to keep the line tight but not too tight (you know what I mean, right?).

If this is confusing for you, then just stretch the line enough so that it won’t get loose loops.

Step 5: Reel In the Line

When you create tension, reel in the line when there is only 1/8 part left between the outside of the spool and line. This is what ‘full’ means while spooling. Now run the line through the rod, giving you many feet of the line by the last end of the tip.

Step 6: Tie A Hook or Lure At the End of Line

The whole point of learning how to spool a baitcaster is to create enough tension on the line while stopping it from going back inside the reel. I usually tie a small hook at the end of the line, which works well enough for me; you can do the same.

These were the steps to spool a baitcaster. They were pretty easy, right?