Correct Uneven Line Lay on Spinning Reels! Use Shims!

[Scuba Chris]

How To Easily Install Shim Gears on Spinning Reels!

A lot of anglers aren't aware of uneven line height on spinning reels. Once discovered most don't know what to do. This is an issue that i never had to fix as i never suffer from uneven line lay. But recently a viewer to my channel was having issues of this on his spinners. I tried my best to explain what to do & realized i've never had to address this issue on my channel. Verbally. And it's hard to explain in words how to properly correct this issue.

So i decided to do a video explaining what causes this & how to easily work through it. Since i don't have any uneven reel spools around i had to improvise with a drawing. But i did open a new recent reel to point out exactly what to do in high resolution that seems to be lacking on addressing this issue currently on YouTube. I hope this'll help those new anglers out that are either just getting into fishing or have recently suffered similar line lay problems.

The anglers who suffer the most on this are the newbies who purchase used spinning reels without the original boxes that have the instructions & extra shims in them. Most tackle shops should have some generic shims. Or try eBay as Amazon seems to have only Penns. I hope this will help out the new anglers getting into our sport.

 

[mikench]

Unfortunately you only find out you need a shim after you have at least partially filled your spool. Adding a shim at this stage will not improve the poor line lay. You have to start again . Front drag reels are the worst in my experience.

 

[Scuba Chris]

This is probably the most common issue with the first time spinning reel user. Yes, you're right. You'd have to strip some or most of the line off when they figure out it's not spooling on correctly. Since Covid this has been an issue as most beginners are purchasing used cheaper models that the original box wasn't supplied with the used purchase. For days had this young kid, a beginner from a foreign country messaging me non-stop about this as he just started & couldn't figure this out. I wrote in detail what he needed to do but he couldn't figure out where the shim was & what it looked like. So it prompted me to do this & i'm now glad i did. Most of the info out there on this subject is old & the video quality quite poor on most.

 

[mikench]

In truth Chris, expensive reels shouldn’t need a shim. They should provide a perfect line lay straight from the box. I wish there was a way to find out if one was needed before I started to spool line. I have a number of rear drag Shimano which have perfect line lay.