# Better way to take line off a spinning reel? and Vice versa without a partner?



## CrownOfKings (May 24, 2010)

Well my dads old fishing rods have really old crappy line from like the 90's. and they are like blue and green and are thick for no reason. 

The biggest fish we catch are bluefish and i've seen 3 lb blue fish and they are PRETTY FREAKING BIG. and i doubt fish like that are caught at Point lookout from the shore anyways. 

So i was thinking 20 lb mono line should be good for the my fishing rods. 

Should i use 10lb for my spot rods? 10lb seems soo thin for saltwater... 

Thing is this means i have to take line of of 6 reels... and i tell my sister to hold the spool and i just take the line off and wrap it around my elbow and hand like you would a long cord. And it takes FOREVER. I need a faster way to do this. 

And how would i put line on myself and make sure its taunt?
When i put line on a spinning rod if i just stick the spool of mono line on a stick or something and start reeling in, the line isn't tight and its wound up around the spoool loosely, if i put my finger on the line my skin just starts to burn. 


So i wondering if there are some tips/tricks for this. There has got to be an easier and more efficient way of doing this...


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## RuddeDogg (Mar 20, 2004)

For taking off the line, I use and empty spool with a wooden dowel set in a cordless drill. Works great. For spooling, Berkley makes a great spooling station for about 30 bucks and it also comes with a battery operated line stripper which work great as well. Or, if ya don't want to do that, get yourself some finger covers. You can pick them up at any local bait shop. Put one on your thumb and index finger, hold tension and spool that way. 

As for the line.....depending on your reels, 20 is good. I use 17lb and braid on my surf set ups and either 12lb or 15lb mono or braid on my smaller set ups. My boat rods are set up with 30lb mono.


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## Loki (Sep 26, 2010)

I agree with everything Ruddedog said. But what I use to spool up reels is I put a hard back book "about two inch thick" on the table and have the line pass though about half way though the book.
If you need more tention just put another small book on top. Works OK for me and its free.


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## CrownOfKings (May 24, 2010)

RuddeDogg said:


> For taking off the line, I use and empty spool with a wooden dowel set in a cordless drill. Works great. For spooling, Berkley makes a great spooling station for about 30 bucks and it also comes with a battery operated line stripper which work great as well. Or, if ya don't want to do that, get yourself some finger covers. You can pick them up at any local bait shop. Put one on your thumb and index finger, hold tension and spool that way.
> 
> As for the line.....depending on your reels, 20 is good. I use 17lb and braid on my surf set ups and either 12lb or 15lb mono or braid on my smaller set ups. My boat rods are set up with 30lb mono.


OH SNAP
i never thought about the drill thing

thanks! i think that solves everything! looool


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## CrownOfKings (May 24, 2010)

I'll give that a try. Thanks guys!


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## HStew (Jan 8, 2009)

And for putting line back on. Make sure the line is going on the spinning reel so as not to twist. Putting line on a fixed spool is a lot different from a free spool. You can do this by yourself. Keep reel on rod. Put spool on side and wind on. Give a little slack and if line twists flip the spool.


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## jspeps (Nov 14, 2007)

I use one of these. Works great. Comes apart with a wing nut to throw the line away, or leave it together and put the line back on after cleaning up the reel. I've seen the water bottle with the machine bolt sticking out of the cap to put into a cordless drill but have had the water bottle collapse trying to strip a TLD25 where I wanted to put the line back on afterwards. A lot of line wasted….$$$!

http://www.alltackle.com/line_off_line_stripper.htm


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## dsurf (Aug 5, 2003)

For putting line on your spinning reel, it's of supreme importance that the rotation of the spinning reel bale (rotor) matches the direction the line is coming off the spool. Some spinning reels have a clockwise rotation, others a counter clockwise rotation. To sync up rotations the best approach I've found is to lay the spool on a flat surface, and point the reel to the top of the spool. If the reel rotation is clockwise, then ensure the line is coming off the spool in a clockwise fashion. If not, then turn the spool over. Once you've sync'd rotations, you can mount reel on rod........it's actually quite easy to do all in one step by eyeballing rotations.


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## Oldmulletbreath (Jan 7, 2006)

Empty plastic water/soda bottle (20oz) on dill works good too.


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## Fishman (Apr 23, 2000)

I use this line remover

http://www.rapala.com/products/tools/line_remover/

It works well on both spinning and casting reels.


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## hengstthomas (Mar 11, 2006)

You think a 3 pound Bluefish is BIG ?


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## markedwards (Jan 29, 2001)

hengstthomas said:


> you think a 3 pound bluefish is big ?


lol


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## razor78016 (Dec 24, 2010)

I do the ole 20oz bottle and drill set. Also follow dsurf's tip om installing line on your reel.


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## markedwards (Jan 29, 2001)

i also do the cordless drill and water bottle line stripper. once you have taken all the line off fill the bottle with water and put it on another reel or as someone stated pass the line through a nice heavy book for braid i add a 10lb wieght and provides enough tension.


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## rattler (Jul 3, 2004)

what do you have to fish with? 20 is heavy


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## CrownOfKings (May 24, 2010)

hengstthomas said:


> You think a 3 pound Bluefish is BIG ?


Thanks everybody! i already got the line off the reels so i think this thread is over LOL
i used the drill + bottle it works great !

as for a 3lb bluefish, heck yea thats freaking big

i fish in the chesepeake bay, where the water is like 3-4 ft deep, i fish from the shore. 
a 3lb blue fish is pretty big, if i watch large mouth bass shows they catch fish that are 4 lbs, they are like 14-15 inches but they are a lot fatter and their girth is larger than bluefishes. So a 3lb bluefish would be like 16 inches or something. Thats big for where i go fish at. 

really i doubt anybody catches bluefish over 3 lbs... and i don't think rock fish even exist anymore... and there are zero red drum. just dinky spot and tiny croakers. 

Man i wen't to Jersey one man pulled up like a 28 inch rock fish, and he didn't even hesitate and just tossed it back in. omg that fish was huge if i caught there where i go, nobody would have thrown that back in. Freaking size for them in Jersey is like 32 or something! 

Some crazy inlet where the current is like 90 mph. and ppl mostly catch Tautog? with sand crabs? it was pretty fun, those fish are freaking strong n heavy + current. And man their fishing equipment shits out what i use for fishing... 

So yea... a 3lb bluefish is big.


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## Reelturner (Dec 24, 2003)

*Yes, right on*



dsurf said:


> For putting line on your spinning reel, it's of supreme importance that the rotation of the spinning reel bale (rotor) matches the direction the line is coming off the spool. Some spinning reels have a clockwise rotation, others a counter clockwise rotation. To sync up rotations the best approach I've found is to lay the spool on a flat surface, and point the reel to the top of the spool. If the reel rotation is clockwise, then ensure the line is coming off the spool in a clockwise fashion. If not, then turn the spool over. Once you've sync'd rotations, you can mount reel on rod........it's actually quite easy to do all in one step by eyeballing rotations.


What dsurf said is absolutely correct. I started doing it that way and have much better results. X2

RT


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## thebigman (Jun 4, 2008)

Make your own line stripper using a drill and a coke bottle - http://www.planetseafishing.com/tutorials/read/how-to-construct-a-super-fast-line-stripper/


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