Most beginners tend to face difficulty in spooling baitcaster reel. But it really isn’t hard at all. You only need to get the technique down. It is very much like learning to tie your shoelaces. It doesn’t make sense at first. But once you’ve found your rhythm, it’s plain sailing.
If you are someone that struggles with this, then worry not. This article is all you need. Our step-by-step guide will tell you how you can spool a baitcaster with braid line. We use the braided line for our guide since it’s the most basic of lines. Without further ado, let’s begin.
Step #1: Prep the Spool
In order to have a nice spool, there’s a couple of things you must do. Instead of going straight to tying the line, you should first do the following:
Use a backing on the baitcaster spool
The braided line tends to slip a lot on the spool. To prevent this, you should coat the spool’s base with some sort of grippy material. The line will go over this backing.
Use monofilament for backing
Monofilament and fluorocarbon can be used for the backing but monofilament is recommended. A good practice is to tie the monofilament and braid with an Albright knot. Then you can spool the braid.
Step #2: Pass the line through the baitcaster
Once you have the spool ready, you need to pass the cord. There are a couple of ways to do this. But read below for the best one:
First through the rod guides
First pass the braided line through all the guides on the baitcaster. This will create the required tension in the line, so that loops don’t form.
Through the spool
Before passing the line through the spool, pass it through the reel’s level wind guide. Then wrap it around the spool and prepare to knot.
Step #3: Knot
Now for the most important part of the procedure. The knot decides how sturdy your baitcaster will be. A loose knot will slip and an overly tight one will break the line. The best knot for this is the Arbor knot.
Arbor knot
For this, you need to tie two overhand knots. One should be around the line on the spool. The other needs to be on the line’s tag end. Then pull the mainline to tighten up the knots.
Step #4: Reel the line
Once the knots are done, you just need to reel in the line. Here are a few considerations:
Keep tension on the line
This can be done by stretching the line using your fingers. Most people run the line through their thumb and forefinger.
Fill the spool
Now you just need to wrap the line around the spool. You mustn’t overdo it though. A good technique is to fill the spool until it only has one eight of an inch of clearance from the top.
Conclusion
There are many other ways to spool a baitcaster. The one mentioned here is one of the most efficient. We hope it helped you. If it did, then congratulations and best of luck to you and to those fishes out there
