Full spool of Braid??

[summersoff]

I have done this too. The best thing to do is to strip it off into a box as it doesn't get tangled that way. It's a good thing to do while watching the boob tube.

Another way is to use a couple old conventionald, like old Penn 113’s. Just clamp them to the edge of the work bench, set the drag for tension when you’re respooling.

[john from md]

Damn, I never thought of that. I have given donated those for kids fishing events. I think I may have an old Garcia boat reel though, have to check it out.

[nhunter344]

Another way is to use a couple old conventionald, like old Penn 113’s. Just clamp them to the edge of the work bench, set the drag for tension when you’re respooling.

Thats an awesome idea! Im going to have to go search amazon for a cheap chinese conventional reel now.

[J.A. Veil]

I will offer a slightly different opinion. I used to use heavier braid, but for the fishing I do, 10-lb braid works fine. If you are targeting really heavy fish, like big blue catfish, carp, or you want to play around with a cownose ray, you may spool up with 20-lb or 30-lb.

I used to use a lot of mono backing, but found that sometimes the knot tying the mono to the braid would catch during a cast. This was really annoying. I decided to tie the braid directly to the spool. The first few times I tied directly on the polished metal spool. Later I was confused when I could not gain line when winding against pressure. I discovered that the entire braid bundle was spinning around the spool. Now I place a piece of masking tape around the spool to give the line something to bite into. Once I was out of town and had to respool a reel. I had no tape with me. I took two bandaids from my travel kit, trimmed them to fit the diameter of the spool, and attached the braid. It worked great.

I have heard the argument that it is too expensive to spool an entire spool with braid. I don't agree, unless you are using huge reels with large line capacity. Braid lasts a long time. Compared to all the other expenses we have relating to fishing, spending $10 on braid to spool a reel that will last for several seasons is a trivial cost. I had been buying my braid in smaller spools. Over the winter I ordered a 1,000-yard spool that will last me several seasons. All my reels are 1000, 2500, and 3000 series.

I don't like to fill the spool all the way to the lip with braid. I prefer to go to 80% to 90% of the way to the lip.

[john from md]

I don't like to fill the spool all the way to the lip with braid. I prefer to go to 80% to 90% of the way to the lip.

That is the same with me. When throwing lite lures and plugs, unless you tension the line every time you retrieve, it tends to bulk up. If you have loaded it too full, at some point you will cast and several yards will go out and tangle.