Mitchell Reel Forum

How much Line do you put on a spool?
Not amount, but how much of spool do you fill spool.
Many say 1/8 of an inch from max capacity.
Does it depend on Reel?
All inputs greatly apreciated.

Hi Schrack, I'm no expert by any means, but I've found that " Many say 1/8 of an inch from max capacity" seems to work on just about any of the different spinning reels that I've used. I've noticed the line goes out smoother when it is near the top of the spool. Too much line on the spool has gotten me a birds nest on the first cast, so I tend to stop putting on line before the line is even with the outer edge of the spool. 1/8" to 1/16" from the outer edge is what I try to shoot for. The line slightly dragging over the outer rim of the spool seems to keep the line from bird nesting. Good Luck & tight lines. Ed

Thank you Sir, works for me also, doing it for years.
Read somewhere, to fill spool up, just did not sound right.
Imagine line would come off without much resistance causing mega birds nest.
Now days people put some strange stuff.

I normally fill it to the edge. Mitchell has literature and pictures on the proper amount and way to fill spools. Depends on how you are fishing. I drift fish a lot and let out around 200' of line in 30' - 40' of water. On our summer vacation this past August I fished that way. Big fish took my bait and ran with it. Reset the drag several times as not to lose it. Spooled my line to the last few wraps several times before I was able to reel some line back in. Finally after about 20 minutes wife and I netted it. Wasn't a walleye but a fresh water drum. Fished probably weighed 25 - 30 lbs. The line was 8 lb test. If I only went to 1/8 inch from spool edge the fish would have won the battle.
Kim

That makes sense, I use Colorado Spinner jig head and Berkley minnows, the 1/8 works great, if line was out to edge would get bird nests.
If I were doing bait thing it would not matter, just have to be careful casting.
Most of my spools have #12 Berkley Orange Big Game or Stern Orange Catfish Line.
Love that Orange, does not seem to bother fish.