Whether you’re a beginner in putting a fishing line on a reel or are frustrated with the tiring process of setting up and learning how to use your spinning rod and reel?

If so, we are here to your rescue!

How to Put Line on a Spinning Reel:

Step 1: Gather Your Equipment

Before you go ahead with anything at all, you have to ensure that you have all the equipment to make your experience a successful one.

You would need the following things:

● Spinning Reel: Before buying the reel, research your needs and determine which one would suit you the best.

● Spinning Rod: Very often the spinning rods are designed according to the

specific reels so that they can go the best match your needs.

● Fishing line: The choice of buying the type of fishing line depends on the type of

fish you are fishing for.

● Bait/Hook: The type of bait you would be used also depends on what kind of

fish you are fishing for.

Step 2: Understand the Important Parts of the Equipment

After collecting all the equipment, you have to be aware of how to use and know which part of the equipment works for which purpose. For that, you need to be aware of the important parts of the different tools in use. In the reel, it’s important to know about the spool which is what is used to put the wound around the fishing line. The handle in the reel is important because once that turns, the line is forced back into the reel, the bail and the reel foot are also important. The use of

Drag Knob and Line Roller are also crucial to know.

In the rod, the rod tip is the thinnest part which helps to feel when a fish bites, the Guides are present to keep the line close to the rod. The reel seat and the handle are the parts of the rod that are a little tricky to use.

Step 3: Connect the Reel to the Rod

After understanding the different segments of the tools, the next step comes to connecting the reel to the rod. To do the same, you have to start off with loosening the reel seat(on the rod). You can make the seat of the reel big enough so that the reel foot can be fitted properly. After that, the second step is to place the reel food into the reel seat and lastly tighten the real seat. A pro tip is that if you feel the reel wobbling in the reel fastener, you have to repeat these steps until the reel is sturdy.

Step 4: Spool the Reel

This step is very crucial and is called spooling or putting the line on the reel and if not done properly, can lead to many forms of difficulties. To learn to do this properly, you have to start with opening the bail and placing the line around the reel once. This should then further lead to the division of the line into 2 pieces even though they are still connected around the reel. Move on to tying a standard knot or what is called an Overhand knot using these two pieces, tie another knot with the resulting piece of line, and then cut the remaining piece of line approximately about ¼’ away from the reel. Close the bail and firmly hold the line a foot away from the reel which will avert the line from getting tangled once the line is put on the reel. Decide on the amount of line you would like on the reel and then turn the reel. The amount of line usually depends on the kind of reel and line you’re using. Some reels have a line cap marked on the sides which mention the maximum amount of line for the given reel.

Step 5: String the Rod

The next step asks you to grab the tip of the line and open the bail arm with your other hand, and finally place the line through each of the rod guides.

Step 6: Tie the Knot

In this step, you have to tie a basic fishing knot. The use of this knot is that it’s simple and takes a minimal amount of time to complete it even though it’s not a durable strong knot which can loosen over time which gives the fishes a chance to pull out of the knot. If you’re fishing for fishes over 15 lbs, there are other types of knots that you would have to learn like Palomar, the

Clinch knot, etc which will stay forever.

Step 7: Set the Drag Knob

To set the Drag Knob, you have to turn it clockwise to tighten it or anticlockwise to loosen it. To determine how the drag has been affected, pull the line from your reel. Repeat these steps until the drag is set at a desirable amount.

Step 8: Cast the Bait

This is the interesting part when you get to cast the bait. To do the same, allow about 1 or 1.5 feet of line to hang from the tip of the rod, then hold the rod a few inches above the base of the reel and with the opposite hand open the bail. Hold the base of the rod, lean the rod backward and away from the target and finally quickly swing the rod towards your target and release your hand at the top of your cast. You can watch some videos to understand this step in a better manner.

Step 9: Reel in the Line

There are many ways of reeling in the line. The speed, the up & down movement or you can try jerking the bait in fast. There is no perfect way of doing it, but the basic way is the following. You can start off by closing the bait, placing the line in the line roller, and finally turning the reel handle.

Step 10: Catch Some Fishes

All your equipment is ready, and so are you. Happy Fishing !