Good to Spool Your Own Reels! Rely On Your Own Skills:)

[@Clive]

Ironically this thread has become the most replied to and interesting thread Scuba Chris has ever started so that could be counter productive for everyone.

He might be creating his next video; 'How I bag up with silvers on the GUC'

 

[Scuba Chris]

How fascinating Suba Chris, I imagine your life/world is totally different from most of us. Maybe some just cannot understand that. Personally I think you add a bit of flavour, diversity and flair to the forum and I don't care what or how you make your money, but that's just me and it is none of my business, everyone is entitled to their opinion and observations but I have enjoyed your posts over the years, sitting here in grey dull old England in a flat with the rain and wind stopping me going fishing it is something for me to read and imagine your world for a little spell in the mornings and good luck with your recovery.
I have a question for you, in this video you mentioned you found you caught less fish with a yellow line, I have a yellow line on one of my reels, never been sure about it myself. British waters are generally dirty but clear out in the summer, the line needs changing anyway, what colour would you recommend, I fish mainly for mullet, bass and mackerel occasionally but flatties or anything else that are in season..I don't mind if you recommend a brand, if it is not available here maybe I could find something similar but it is more a question of colour for now...thanks.

I like to fish estuary areas nowadays. Many feel with the mixed salinity & lower visibility that it's a poor choice. But these waters are nurseries for many fish from Jacks to Bonefish that leave & return for mating. Plus the predators know that as well. Right now there's hardly anything off the mangroves but latter this month the new brood will start appearing with the predators in tow. I park in the trees far away & hike in. The wild dogs always run but the peacocks are amazingly aggressive! And i steer away from the occasional wild hogs. In this area i bring different spools to test out my line types & colors. Bright yellow scares away even the hardy tilapias! But the dark green for braid works the best. In mono it's the brown that is my "secret" producing line as it really blends in.

But the yellow braid does work in clear open water whereas the brown mono doesn't. This may differ from fresh to salt in different localities. Years ago i did participate in a study of colored braided line at depth. We found that white was surprisingly the best color for clear open water, then green & blue. We held-up home-made stringer boards with colored line on each stringer, like a miniature harpsicord. We videoed for days at set depths. But the results are mixed as human perception of color may not be the same as fish. Also the angles viewed will always be different. I feel that every area needs a certain type or color of line. Comes down to experience over science. I'd rather fish the way a local expert recommends over the stats of a company. They're the ones with the localized knowledge. But if you're unsure bring extra spools with you. I bring a clear mono, a darker braid & a lighter color. Just 3 spools. For inside i use 2.5/3's & outside 4/5K's in the areas i frequent. Nowadays i just stick to my 9'6" spinning rod w/a 4K w/20lb dark green braid. With that rig i can catch fish around 1/2lb to a 27lb GT. Thx.

 

[no-one in particular]

I like to fish estuary areas nowadays. Many feel with the mixed salinity & lower visibility that it's a poor choice. But these waters are nurseries for many fish from Jacks to Bonefish that leave & return for mating. Plus the predators know that as well. Right now there's hardly anything off the mangroves but latter this month the new brood will start appearing with the predators in tow. I park in the trees far away & hike in. The wild dogs always run but the peacocks are amazingly aggressive! And i steer away from the occasional wild hogs. In this area i bring different spools to test out my line types & colors. Bright yellow scares away even the hardy tilapias! But the dark green for braid works the best. In mono it's the brown that is my "secret" producing line as it really blends in.

But the yellow braid does work in clear open water whereas the brown mono doesn't. This may differ from fresh to salt in different localities. Years ago i did participate in a study of colored braided line at depth. We found that white was surprisingly the best color for clear open water, then green & blue. We held-up home-made stringer boards with colored line on each stringer, like a miniature harpsicord. We videoed for days at set depths. But the results are mixed as human perception of color may not be the same as fish. Also the angles viewed will always be different. I feel that every area needs a certain type or color of line. Comes down to experience over science. I'd rather fish the way a local expert recommends over the stats of a company. They're the ones with the localized knowledge. But if you're unsure bring extra spools with you. I bring a clear mono, a darker braid & a lighter color. Just 3 spools. For inside i use 2.5/3's & outside 4/5K's in the areas i frequent. Nowadays i just stick to my 9'6" spinning rod w/a 4K w/20lb dark green braid. With that rig i can catch fish around 1/2lb to a 27lb GT. Thx.

Thanks, when I change my line on all my reels this year I will give colour a bit more thought than usual, I think on balance reading your reply yellow is best avoided and the old fashioned green would probably be best. It used to be green all the time but then yellow and red lines started to be all the rage.
Thanks for your help, all the best...

 

[markcw]

Twice I have seen 100000 members mentioned , Where are they ?
I don't think I've seen a total of a 90 on here . and that includes the 10 regular posters and the rest are guests .
As far as I am aware a member can come on as a guest . Or a non member comes on as a guest like I did before I joined ,
I read various posts but could not comment . What's to say these guests are not reading scuba Chris posts ?
I have had a good discussion with him regarding a Shimano reel . Both the same model but mine was for the European market and only a handful made it into the UK , and yes I got mine off a Shimano dealer.
I noticed the Daiwa LT reels are mentioned in threads . I have not read them yet but it will be interesting to see if they are the same as the reels over here .
I have seen a Daiwa certate spooled by hand, no gadgets involved . across a tackle shop and the line lay was perfect
I for one like reading the reel reviews .
How many on here have picked a reel up , spun the handle to check for balance ,also weight. Liked it and bought . No try before you buy . And then recommended the same reel to someone . Surely that's another sort of a review.
Keep posting Chris , some on here like what you post . As for those who don't I'm sure there is an ignore function somewhere on here .

 

[Scuba Chris]

Twice I have seen 100000 members mentioned , Where are they ?
I don't think I've seen a total of a 90 on here . and that includes the 10 regular posters and the rest are guests .
As far as I am aware a member can come on as a guest . Or a non member comes on as a guest like I did before I joined ,
I read various posts but could not comment . What's to say these guests are not reading scuba Chris posts ?
I have had a good discussion with him regarding a Shimano reel . Both the same model but mine was for the European market and only a handful made it into the UK , and yes I got mine off a Shimano dealer.
I noticed the Daiwa LT reels are mentioned in threads . I have not read them yet but it will be interesting to see if they are the same as the reels over here .
I have seen a Daiwa certate spooled by hand, no gadgets involved . across a tackle shop and the line lay was perfect
I for one like reading the reel reviews .
How many on here have picked a reel up , spun the handle to check for balance ,also weight. Liked it and bought . No try before you buy . And then recommended the same reel to someone . Surely that's another sort of a review.
Keep posting Chris , some on here like what you post . As for those who don't I'm sure there is an ignore function somewhere on here .

Thank you. Even here in the US theirs a clash of fishing ideologies as the species differ & the equipment employed must match-up with different terrains & weather hardships. Going to Alaska was a great learning experience. I learned so much from those hard core anglers. Almost every country i visit i learn something new. Thanks

 

[markcw]

How fascinating Suba Chris, I imagine your life/world is totally different from most of us. Maybe some just cannot understand that. Personally I think you add a bit of flavour, diversity and flair to the forum and I don't care what or how you make your money, but that's just me and it is none of my business, everyone is entitled to their opinion and observations but I have enjoyed your posts over the years, sitting here in grey dull old England in a flat with the rain and wind stopping me going fishing it is something for me to read and imagine your world for a little spell in the mornings and good luck with your recovery.
I have a question for you, in this video you mentioned you found you caught less fish with a yellow line, I have a yellow line on one of my reels, never been sure about it myself. British waters are generally dirty but clear out in the summer, the line needs changing anyway, what colour would you recommend, I fish mainly for mullet, bass and mackerel occasionally but flatties or anything else that are in season..I don't mind if you recommend a brand, if it is not available here maybe I could find something similar but it is more a question of colour for now...thanks.

I have a dark blue line on one of my reels , I think it is a Preston innovations line, now discontinued as far as I am aware , the colour has changed slightly on the newer spools , it's still blue but not as dark .
It's not affected my catch rate.
A friend of mine uses a red line , again his catch rate is good .
I think at one time you could get camouflaged line but I can't recall the brand.
One trick I have used if margin fishing near rushes or fronds of weed , is to open up a length of green garden twine and loosely put the filamented length along your rig line .it helps to disguise your rig . .

 

[Keith M]

One of the best lines that I’ve used when trotting for decent sized fish in the streams and rivers that I fish was a very pale Pinkish blue which seemed to merge with the sky above it while also being fairly good at merging in with the bottom as it was a line that didn’t stand out too much under water and took on the colours around it fairly well.

Unfortunately it’s no longer available

Another line that’s no longer available and was my favourite line for non-float methods was a pale greenish colour (Pro Gold), it was also a very supple line with excellent abrasion resistance, and didn’t have too much memory so didn’t spring off of the reel like some other lines do.

Keith

 

[no-one in particular]

I have a dark blue line on one of my reels , I think it is a Preston innovations line, now discontinued as far as I am aware , the colour has changed slightly on the newer spools , it's still blue but not as dark .
It's not affected my catch rate.
A friend of mine uses a red line , again his catch rate is good .
I think at one time you could get camouflaged line but I can't recall the brand.
One trick I have used if margin fishing near rushes or fronds of weed , is to open up a length of green garden twine and loosely put the filamented length along your rig line .it helps to disguise your rig . .

There are a lot of red and yellow lines about these days in sea fishing. I have often worried just a tad about it. It is good knowing where your line is, drifting towards rocks and spinning being able to see where your going. However, I think how much do fish see the line, as Scuba pointed out, different seas, light, ect. For me it is more about fishing in clear sea in the summer, yellow and red lines must cut a visible movement in the water. Anyway, I will avoid these fancy colours in the future go back to the old greeny/bluey camouflaged lines.
Course fishing, all my lines are a brown colour, I don't know if that is the best but I have a big spool to get through so it will stay for now, good tip about the garden twine, I was thinking maybe green wool might do the same

 

[mikench]

Mark look at the Forum statistics on the right of the main forum page.

 

[markcw]

Mark look at the Forum statistics on the right of the main forum page.

I know but that is for all the worldwide forums ,not just this one .

 

[mikench]

Well I don’t know then. I assumed the figure related to our forum.

 

[markcw]

Well I don’t know then. I assumed the figure related to our forum.

It's across all the sites .
Could you imagine if the majority all decided to post at same time , would take a week to read one thread

 

[@Clive]

There are a lot of red and yellow lines about these days in sea fishing. I have often worried just a tad about it. It is good knowing where your line is, drifting towards rocks and spinning being able to see where your going. However, I think how much do fish see the line, as Scuba pointed out, different seas, light, ect. For me it is more about fishing in clear sea in the summer, yellow and red lines must cut a visible movement in the water. Anyway, I will avoid these fancy colours in the future go back to the old greeny/bluey camouflaged lines.
Course fishing, all my lines are a brown colour, I don't know if that is the best but I have a big spool to get through so it will stay for now, good tip about the garden twine, I was thinking maybe green wool might do the same

One of the earliest known book on fishing in England was compiled using anonymous manuscripts dating from the early 15th century. The manuscripts contain recipes for dyeing horse hair fishing lines. The anglers back then favoured using different coloured hook lengths dependent on time of year and the conditions.

 

[no-one in particular]

One of the earliest known book on fishing in England was compiled using anonymous manuscripts dating from the early 15th century. The manuscripts contain recipes for dyeing horse hair fishing lines. The anglers back then favoured using different coloured hook lengths dependent on time of year and the conditions.

Which probably still stands, I am thinking more these days not of just hook lengths and what fish see near a bait laying on the sea bed but the effect of a brightly coloured line being wound through a clear sea and by extension a clear river or lake maybe. It must dance up and down left and right a bit when you are constantly reeling it in and be very scary for a fish especially if it is a bright yellow or red. Does it scare any shoal of small fry in the vicinity alerting all fish that something unnatural is around. I don't know but the thought has occured to me and Scuba did point out how visible yellow is against blue/green. I know when I am winding my yellow line in in a clear sea it is very visible too me especially as it is moving about a lot, does it scare fish generally? Anyway, just thinking aloud but I am going to give it more consideration this summer, I will ditch the fancy colours and go for something more camouflaged. Especially when I am lure fishing in a clear sea as I do off jetties and piers, I cant say I have been that successful and maybe the yellow line is not helping my cause, I also have a bright red line on another rod, I inherited this from a mate who bough it as a cheap package for beginners so have not used it much but I will change that line as well.

 

[@Clive]

Don't worry about it. Any colour main line could scare fish as they are more likely to be spooked by movement imo. They don't register colours like we do. That's all marketing hype. The only bit that is important is the hook length and how the bait is presented.

 

[Alan Whitty]

How can someone review any product without some usage, as for pl71, as Kev says, get on and review something mate, good luck, because as far as I'm concerned Scuba Chris's reviews have very little credence, because you would probably need 3 months minimum to know if it developed issues, also havent heard much criticism of these reels, must be perfect, not, as has been said a sponsored salesman who gets away with murder on this forum because he plays a careful game within the rules...

 

[Scuba Chris]

How can someone review any product without some usage, as for pl71, as Kev says, get on and review something mate, good luck, because as far as I'm concerned Scuba Chris's reviews have very little credence, because you would probably need 3 months minimum to know if it developed issues, also havent heard much criticism of these reels, must be perfect, not, as has been said a sponsored salesman who gets away with murder on this forum because he plays a careful game within the rules...

Hi Alan,
Of course i revue the items i use, sometimes for over a year before posting. On the 7 reels i purchased with my own funds i've been using that DK brand for over a year when nobody else was & knew nothing of them. They were so cheap it scared everyone away. So i bought a pair of each size they were that cheap. Started using the 3K and got over a year on it. Still works. All of them. I purchase everything on my own so when i was done i re-spooled all the reels & sent the lot to Lahaina to help out those that lost their equipment. My friend has been taking his boat there so i donated bulkier items like coolers to rods to include with other items for him to include. I try not to answer to many of these questions as nobody seems to take responsibility for false accusations when they find out they were wrong. I live a very modest life with roomates in a small house. My chihuahua survived a stroke a week ago & have unknown issues w/my Honda Pilot now. I get no royalties from products i endorse for years now. I started off as an instructor teaching & i will end it the same way. Everything that i purchase on my own is for sharing with the public. After the Lahaina fire i decided to send them some of the gear as they suffered a lot. I personally lost a good friend there when her store burned down. I own very little in terms of fishing gear for myself. I live a modest lifestyle but there are some out there that tend to blow-up everything with no idea or remorse of the harm they're doing. I started off reviewing products & even introduced ideas that companies followed. I submitted my travel surf rod that caught on. What did the company paid me? Zero. My friend there pushed to have them send me my own finished copies as i gave away the prototypes to good friends that also helped the company as well. I have a little corner in back of my tv that doesn't work with my favorite rigs in the back. That's it. I've revue 100's of items over the years. Paid for gas to travel around to do so. But i enjoy what i do. Always been a teacher & instructor. Still i don't appreciate all the back stabbing from individuals who don't know what's going on. I just finished doing a revue on the Inspira from Okuma. I've had nothing to do with Okuma for years but i still purchase their items on my dime. Their Inspira just won the IF Design Award for 2024. Congrats to them. Now they'll be more idiots out there thinking i was given that reel to follow-up on this. Except now i purchase everything off Amazon & now can show pics of their receipts as proof when before i was on eBay purchasing from individuals. It's because of certain individuals that know nothing but think they know everything that makes this an empty project for me. The only thing that still holds true is my faith in God & that there is still good intentions out there. The Admin of this group with most of their membership is proof of that. Thank you!

(I'll post a pic of my so-called stash of fishing goods behind my broken TV for some of those that still don't believe that i do my reviews on my own dime & use me cell phone in my garage to post them).

 

[Scuba Chris]

What a lazy lot you have in your part of the world Chris.

I think you will find that almost every Angler in the UK spools line onto their reels themselves.

I have a nice gadget to make the job a little easier for me now (like the one in the link) but in the past I used my wife to hold the line spool under a slight tension for me; or used a bucket full of water to hold the line spool and a telephone directory to give a slight pressure on the line as I wound the line onto a reel; making sure that I minimised any line twist by turning the spool around if and when it was needed.

Fishing Line Winder Reel Line Spooler Spooling Winding System Tackle | eBay

1 x Fishing Line Winder System. Application: fishing line winding. Strong vacuum suction cup, can be fixed to glass table, marble face to operate;. Material: aluminum alloy. Product weight: 120g. If item is defective after 3 months, you can still send it back to us.

www.ebay.co.uk

Keith

Hi Keith,
I used to put a wooden chopstick between my toes, put my feet out & reel the spooled line in. My toes kept the tension tight. My grandpa showed me that years ago as he was a fisherman from Okinawa. When i was in Easter Island shore-popping tunas at night i had to do this a lot. A lot of sharp rocks off Hanga Roa. This was back in the late 80's before the place had cars. Back then it was bikes & horses. Most anglers do their own on Oahu where i live as well. Just in Honolulu there's over a million living here. Seems everyone has their own system.

 

[markcw]

Hi Keith,
I used to put a wooden chopstick between my toes, put my feet out & reel the spooled line in. My toes kept the tension tight. My grandpa showed me that years ago as he was a fisherman from Okinawa. When i was in Easter Island shore-popping tunas at night i had to do this a lot. A lot of sharp rocks off Hanga Roa. This was back in the late 80's before the place had cars. Back then it was bikes & horses. Most anglers do their own on Oahu where i live as well. Just in Honolulu there's over a million living here. Seems everyone has their own system.

Some people use those plastic sandals with holes in called Crocs over here .
Put a pencil through the spool and into a hole in each croc . Similar to your toes method
You Can adjust the tension by stretching your legs out a little bit .

 

[@Clive]

Hi Alan,
Of course i revue the items i use, sometimes for over a year before posting. On the 7 reels i purchased with my own funds i've been using that DK brand for over a year when nobody else was & knew nothing of them. They were so cheap it scared everyone away. So i bought a pair of each size they were that cheap. Started using the 3K and got over a year on it. Still works. All of them. I purchase everything on my own so when i was done i re-spooled all the reels & sent the lot to Lahaina to help out those that lost their equipment. My friend has been taking his boat there so i donated bulkier items like coolers to rods to include with other items for him to include. I try not to answer to many of these questions as nobody seems to take responsibility for false accusations when they find out they were wrong. I live a very modest life with roomates in a small house. My chihuahua survived a stroke a week ago & have unknown issues w/my Honda Pilot now. I get no royalties from products i endorse for years now. I started off as an instructor teaching & i will end it the same way. Everything that i purchase on my own is for sharing with the public. After the Lahaina fire i decided to send them some of the gear as they suffered a lot. I personally lost a good friend there when her store burned down. I own very little in terms of fishing gear for myself. I live a modest lifestyle but there are some out there that tend to blow-up everything with no idea or remorse of the harm they're doing. I started off reviewing products & even introduced ideas that companies followed. I submitted my travel surf rod that caught on. What did the company paid me? Zero. My friend there pushed to have them send me my own finished copies as i gave away the prototypes to good friends that also helped the company as well. I have a little corner in back of my tv that doesn't work with my favorite rigs in the back. That's it. I've revue 100's of items over the years. Paid for gas to travel around to do so. But i enjoy what i do. Always been a teacher & instructor. Still i don't appreciate all the back stabbing from individuals who don't know what's going on. I just finished doing a revue on the Inspira from Okuma. I've had nothing to do with Okuma for years but i still purchase their items on my dime. Their Inspira just won the IF Design Award for 2024. Congrats to them. Now they'll be more idiots out there thinking i was given that reel to follow-up on this. Except now i purchase everything off Amazon & now can show pics of their receipts as proof when before i was on eBay purchasing from individuals. It's because of certain individuals that know nothing but think they know everything that makes this an empty project for me. The only thing that still holds true is my faith in God & that there is still good intentions out there. The Admin of this group with most of their membership is proof of that. Thank you!

(I'll post a pic of my so-called stash of fishing goods behind my broken TV for some of those that still don't believe that i do my reviews on my own dime & use me cell phone in my garage to post them).

I have just looked back at some of your posts. On the first page I looked at I found three reviews that were either at a manufacturer's demo day or items that you said had just arrived. Some of your other posts are headed with "First online review of xxxxxx"

You are recommending tackle that you have not had the chance of using for any length of time.