When loading a spinning or baitcasting reel with fishing line, make sure the line comes off the top of the spool (as shown), and not the bottom. Improperly spooling fishing line onto a reel creates many problems.
By Lee McClelland, Kentucky Afield Outdoors
A family member bought you a nice spinning outfit for Christmas. Despite the cold, your desire to cast the new rod into water propels you to a local Fishing in Neighborhoods (FINs) lake to try to fool some winter rainbow trout.
Dutifully spooling on some fresh 4-pound test monofilament, you cast a red and silver in-line spinner a few times. As you move to a new spot and shoot a cast, you hear a sound similar to a flushing covey of quail and see a ball of spaghetti moving up the rod.
You now have a bird’s nest of epic proportions, requiring cutting off the mess, pulling out the loops and retying the lure. You curse the brand of line you bought.
In all likelihood...