Alex Bellissimo from Bellissimo Charters - Rock & Beach Fishing Guide & Tuition grabs a fresh spool of J-Thread Nylon and shows us the tips and tricks to best spool a spin reel.

Getting Threaded

Today we're going to be showing you how to nylon line onto a spinning wheel. The line I'm going to be using is J-Thread Nylon.

It is a great line. It's got abrasion resistance, great knot strength. It's a supple line, and it's got a low memory as well. Now it's very important to use a tough line, especially around structure, and as a rock fisherman, I need a tough line, and this is it. Works an absolute treat.

Now, I'm going to show you how to put this on. I'm just going to put this reel into some water in this bucket. You'll notice it's actually horizontal, as well, and I'm going to be putting on this Daiwa BG. Turn the bail arm over, and wrap it around at least a couple times. Now, there's many ways to tie on line. I'm just going to do a triple granny knot. One, two, three, and then just tighten it up, and then repeat it the other way around. One, two, and three, and then tighten it right up.

Getting Tagged

Now this tagging of line, which is the end of the line, you chop it off, and you chop it off quite short as well. You don't want the tagging getting in the way. Turn the bail arm over. Now before you start, you do have to drag it a little bit, because you need some tension. And you see how that's going backwards there? Get rid of that [inaudible] reverse, because you don't want that causing you problems as well. Now, hold the line with tension there. You notice that there's a fair bit of tension, so you don't want to wind on line loosely. You need it with some tension. Put your arm up at least 25 to 30 centimeters above the reel, and then start winding.

Getting Tight

You hear that? It's being wound under tension. Very, very important to wind it under tension. I'm going to keep winding up this line until the edge of that lip... It's only about one or two millimeters from the edge of the lip, and the reason being that will give you greater casting distance as well. You don't want a half-full spool like that. You'll end up with less casting distance, so it's very important to fill up your spool properly.

To the Top

You can feel it there with your finger, and you get, "Okay, it's roughly about 2 mils, 3 mils from the edge." A little bit more maximum. Now, just have a very, very close look at that. See how full it is. You can wind up a little bit more line, but I wouldn't really recommend it.

Now this clippy, get a close up of that clip. That's meant to put line underneath here, so you put your finger in there, and you push it underneath. Now all I'm going to do now, take the scissors, chop it off there, and there you have a beautifully filled up reel. Notice how tight that is as well. Wonderful. So I will have very few problems with that, simply because I wound on the line correctly.

The Finished Product

And by the way, when you're casting and retrieving, make sure the line goes back on tight as well. So there you have it. The J-Thread Nylon, and I've got nearly enough line there to be able to wind on that whole new spool as well. That took me about 150 meters. 15 pound would probably take about 200 or more, and anyway, that works an absolute treat. 

Meet Alex Bellisimo 
Rock and Beach Fishing Guide

A Sydney icon on the beach and rock fishing scene Alex knows the reefs, platforms and beaches of Sydney better than most and loves nothing more than share his passion and knowledge with those keen to feel the buzz of fishing the suds and waves.