Fishing Forum

I have been getting ready for the ice for the last couple of weeks. It has kinda slowed down for me out in the shop so I have been in the house playing with my ice fishing gear. (driving my wife nuts) Of course if something doesn't pass inspection I put a new hook on or line. Every time I put a new line on I always seem to get twists, so last week when I was in Sportsmans Warehouse I let the pros put line on a new reel I just bought, no twists.
I checked one setup and the line broke easily, time to respool. I watched a few you tube videos and it didn't matter how I put the line on, after a few cranks on the reel, birds nest city. I stripped the line back off, took the spool off the reel and took it apart so I could put a nail through the middle of it, then I got a short piece of rubber fuel line and put on the side of the spool the nail head wasn't on and stuck it in my cordless drill and tightened the chuck while pushing the nail towards the drill, compressing the piece of fuel line between the drill chuck and spool. Figured out the right way to have the drill turning and respooled my first reel ever without any twists or tangles.[] The spool wasn't quite centered so it moved up and down just a little, but it worked great. I did have to have my wife put a pencil in the line I was respooling from and hold it while I was guiding the line on the spool with my free hand and putting pressure on it. Oh I did use a paper towel between my fingers and the line to keep it from cutting me. Hope this helps someone else.
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FS,

Thanks for the tip.

I have been using my drill and old spools that I collected from sporting goods stores for several years using a similar idea but not quite with your spin on it (ha-ha). I am too cheap to throw away line that was still good but just the wrong size for my target fish. To save it, I tape one of the old spools on my sanding disk and attach it to my drill. I tape the entire rod-reel combination onto my old utility trailer for stability and convenience.. I tie the end of the line onto the old spool and fire up the drill and go slow at first but at times put some pretty good rpms to it. I use my left hand to guide the line and produce my own level wind procedure. Both hands are gloved and I slow the drill down as I approach the end of the line. So far I have not lost any fingers nor sustained any equipment damage.

To re-spool from the old line, I either use the wife and pencil idea or just throw the spool in a weighted paper bag and let the spool bounce around. I have not had the bird's nest problem that you had but it sounds like your procedure would cure that for spinning reels. I am not sure that I want to take my level-wind reels apart but since there is no spool to spool inherent twist, I logically won't have to.

FR
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With all that effort you should consider getting this published! You deserve quite a few big fsh with the amount of preperation you have put in!

OvidCreek
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I usually put the line under a foot to put pressure on the line as I spool it up, keeps it from rat nesting. Then after I get it loaded before I fish with it I will tie a hook on and hook it to the bumper of my truck. walk down the block and get all the line off the reel, then put a bit of pressure on the line and wind it back up with rod having the same bow as it would with a decent fish on. Gets the line wound nice and tight. Since I started doing this I very very rarely have any problems with backlash.
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