Is this a good, cheap idea or just a bad one?

[pauldconyers]

I am saving up for a boat for me and my 2 sons right now so my wife isn't going to approve of me spending a lot of personal fishing gear right now. I bought a Shimano SLX reel for the new Dobyns champion 734 I bought. While messing with the reel I popped the spool out and had a thought. Being on a budget I can't just buy 4 or 5 more rods and reels to match different presentations so could I buy another spool with a different type of line on it? I've got plenty of different rods that can handle a wide array of presentations easily enough and this particular reel is a 7:2 so I could do a lot of different stuff with it but in my eyes the problem is the line. Some presentations are much better with braid and some are much better with FC. Could I buy another spool and have one rigged up with braid and the other rigged up with FC?

 

Again, I am confident I am not the first person to have this idea but I would love some feedback here. Other than the "hassle" of having to cut off your existing bait, take out the current spool, pop the new one in, thread the line through the guides and retie a bait on is this a sound idea? This is all assuming I could find and buy an SLX spool at a price that makes this a reasonable idea. Obviously if money were not an issue I would not even consider this option. Thoughts?

[JustJames]

The SLX spool itself would cost you 28 plus shipping from Shimano. If you look around you can find SLX new or lightly use for around 80.

If you only buy a spool meaning you can only have one rig at time and a hassle  to cut the line tape spool/rubber band, change spool and re-rig. Spend 50 bucks more then you have two setup at any given time, you can switch back and forth or even change new lure new techniques quicker.

Another option for you is to use #10-12 hybrid and call it all around setup, forget about FC or braid. You might not be able to fish super finesse or pitch/flip in super heavy cover, but #10-12 hybrid should cover enough from weightless Senko, to 1/2oz jig/Texas rig plus all moving bait like crank chatterbait spinner even some topwater. You don’t have to use all techniques known to man to become a great bass angler. 

Dont forget more techniques you wanna fish, more lures and more tackles you need to buy. 

Look who talking here, a guy who bought too many rods/reels even though he doesn’t need it lol.

BTW after you save up enough for boat, then you gonna want even more gears, more varieties or lure and plastic. BOAT  = Bring on another thousand, it will never end.

[pauldconyers]

Well I will have to think about this a bit. Besides the "hassle" I assume this would work fine in theory? Are all SLX spools the same? Meaning are they all the exact same spec and would work flawlessly in the 6:3, 7:2 or 8:2 reel?

 

Looking online I could not see to find a specific link to order from, do you have a URL I could check out?

[fishwizzard]

I have multiple spools for a lot of my reels but I almost never try to switch them out while I’m on the water. Spools are quite fragile and a single drop from waist-high onto any surface that isn’t a featherbed is likely going to damage/destroy it. 

[zell_pop1]

I'd buy 2 more Slx reels,  and use a good copoly line like Gamma, McCoys, Siege, Hybrid.  Have 1 med rod with say 8lb for light lures, 2 medhvy rods but have one with a Mod-fast tip for treble lures/blade baits with 10lb test, and finally one with 12lb test for bigger lures. If you fish places with alot of slop maybe the last rod/reel have a spare spool with braid you change out before you go.

[Deleted account]

Having an extra spool is a good idea if you only have one rod in case you have a fatal backlash or the like, or for different lines on different outings. But changing out during the day for different presentations, while possible, will get old in a hurry, and it's more of a hassle than it's worth. IMNSHO.

[JustJames]

4 hours ago, pauldconyers said:

Well I will have to think about this a bit. Besides the "hassle" I assume this would work fine in theory? Are all SLX spools the same? Meaning are they all the exact same spec and would work flawlessly in the 6:3, 7:2 or 8:2 reel?

 

Looking online I could not see to find a specific link to order from, do you have a URL I could check out?

Yes they should be the same doesn’t matter gear ratio, part # BNT5959.

https://fishshop.shimano.com/collections/slx150hg

[pauldconyers]

4 minutes ago, JustJames said:

Yes they should be the same doesn’t matter gear ratio, part # BNT5959.

https://fishshop.shimano.com/collections/slx150hg

So "spool assembly" is the technical name for the part then?

[new2BC4bass]

3 hours ago, fishwizzard said:

I have multiple spools for a lot of my reels but I almost never try to switch them out while I’m on the water. Spools are quite fragile and a single drop from waist-high onto any surface that isn’t a featherbed is likely going to damage/destroy it. 

I have a few spare spools.  Have never taken one out of the house.  I'd rather change the reel.  Plus I don't want to take a chance of damaging or losing a spool.  Best of all is carry enough rod/reel combos that all you need to do is retie occasionally.    I am not fond of stringing a rod while on a boat...or even when fishing from a bank for that matter.

 

I realize not everyone can carry 20 rods (or more) with them.  I have 20, but never carry more than about 9-10 in the car (if by myself), or 5 (usually only 4 and that is too many) when on my brother-in-law's dinghy.

[pauldconyers]

I do not envision re-stringing while out on the boat. I could possibly see doing it before a session if I figured I would be doing more stuff that would work with the same rod and the same reel but may be more of a FC kind of thing or more of a braid deal. I could also see doing it if I wanted to evaluate a new line when I could just pop a new spool in or out. Again, just an idea I am kicking around. If I heard something like there is a technical reason it wouldn't work or would cost a lot I would not consider it. Again, just something I was thinking about.

[gilkeybr]

You could tie a piece of leader on to a braid mainline just as fast as you could swap the spools out of a reel.  Probably even faster.  To me that would be a better solution than carrying an extra spool full of FC or whatever backup line you'd be wanting.

[d-camarena]

Dont waste your money, you are never gonna use the extra spool. Dont over think it. you dont want another reel, you NEED another reel

[OnthePotomac]

 

Don't know if this will help, but when I retired 20 years ago (before braid and flouro were in vogue) and got into bass fishing I has three reels and each was spooled with 14lb mono and I caught lots of bass with a variety of baits and had a good time.