How to Reline Fishing Reels

I have been fishing for over thirty years, and I really cannot offer much sage advice on this topic. Invariably, everything I touch eventually turns into a bird’s nest, unless a friend is there holding the spool on a pencil while it rolls off in the correct direction. As we all know, finding volunteers for this project is difficult: “Say, Frank, I bought a six pack of Bud Light. Come on over and hold my fishing line while I re-spool a half-dozen or so reels!” Yeah, right!

Well, I tried that once, and Frank was a no show. That leaves me with a spool of Stren laying flat on the floor while the line spins out of control onto my favorite spinning reel. Can anybody remember if it should come off clockwise or counter clockwise? I eventually get it loaded, but everything falls apart the first time on the creek. Within two casts, the line is tangled, and out comes the fingernail clippers. On an ultra light reel, one or two incidents can leave you with a half spool of line. After all, they only hold 60-80 yards in the first place!

Years ago, an old timer told me that you can “fix” a spool of twisted line by tying it to a tree and backing up until all of the line is off of the reel. Then you wind it back in while keeping the line relatively tight. I have done this many times over the years, too many times, and I’ve often thought there has to be another way. Well, the other day I found one.


For under $7 there is a little gizmo called the SpoolTool line spooler. It is a cheap-looking plastic implement that mounts on the rod and can be adjusted to the desired line tightness. Both large and small spools can be placed on the tool, and it successfully eliminates the need for our friend Frank and a trip to the local beer distributor. I have spooled several reels, both spinning and spincasting, and the results have been great. You may not be impressed when first seeing the SpoolTool, but results are what counts, and it delivers.