Uneven Spooling on Spinning Reel

[thediscochef]

Again...this looks totally normal to me, all of my regals look like this and never knot in the guides or birdsnest unless I overwind it with too much mainline. You don't want the spools to be wound perfectly straight on the regal reels. The line crosses itself on purpose to avoid braid dig-ins during snags or heavy fish. Your reel is fine. Take 5-10 yards off and you're good. 

[RDB]

39 minutes ago, fin said:

11 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Did it seem to hesitate at the top where-as when it hit bottom it immediately started traveling up again? It can be subtle, but that's a sign that a shim is needed.

Yep. It wrapped several times right at the top, but at the bottom, not even once.

It looks to me like you have diagnosed your problem.  The spool is pausing in the down position which is adding extra wraps at the top of the spool…it’s a shim problem.

 

Your line catching is a different problem…that is likely the knot.  Like you, I also use longer leaders but your knot becomes critical if you reel into the spool.  You said you feel comfortable leaving some tag but if you reel the knot in the reel, you are not going to be able to have it both ways.  You need a small, strong, unobtrusive knot.  I use an FG with zero tag and no edges to catch.

[thediscochef]

Here's a couple photos. One is an example of how much lip should be exposed on a full reel.

The other is my *overfilled* 3000cxh. I use it on calm days so I don't have to use as much casting force. The overwinding can help with distance on calm days but if you have to cast with force it will knot in the guides. 

Your reel is fine. If you're having issues with your leader knot getting stuck...it's either the braid used, the knot used, or not clipping the knot close enough. I use almost these exact same line types and sizes and I only get issues when I don't clip my double uni neatly.

[fin]

The first washer I had added was .01”. I added a .04” washer to that, and that did the trick. The spooling is perfectly even all the way down now.

 

The range of turn in the drag is pretty limited now though, for better or worse. I can go from having the drag too tight to having the drag knob fall off in a few turns. It used to be like 15 turns from tight to coming off.

 

I have a .02” washer I might try with the .01” to find a happy medium.

 

In my experience, trimming the knot close is a mistake. Today I got snagged and lost a lure, and the mono broke right at the leader knot. That never happens to me. The mono usually breaks close to the lure. I think in this case it might just be because of too much wear on the line at that point. It’s not like the knot slipped, which is the danger when you trim the knot too close.

 

7 hours ago, thediscochef said:

You don't want the spools to be wound perfectly straight on the regal reels. The line crosses itself on purpose to avoid braid dig-ins during snags or heavy fish. Your reel is fine. Take 5-10 yards off and you're good. 

 

I hear you. The way it was spooled, it was too close to the edge. I think your solution of removing line is just as correct as the other solution of adding a washer. I noticed that after getting the spooling even, it didn’t seem to cast as smoothly. The braid felt like it was sticking a little more. It makes sense that this is due to the ABS/tapered spooling, but I don’t know. Your point about criss-crossing is lost on me though. If anything, the line is less criss-crossed when the rotor continues to wrap around the spool at the high end rather than returning towards the bottom of the spool.

 

Anyway, I have the solution, thanks for the help, everybody!

[Hammer 4]

If you have a Diawa spinning reel, they were designed to have a tapered line lay. So trying to get to where the line lay is 90 degrees isn't the best way to go. Mine has a slight taper going from smaller at the bottom to maybe 2 degrees larger at the top of the spool. 

[fin]

So a .03" total shim did the trick. There's still a little taper, but you can see the line is now well below the edge without trimming any line off. The drag range is just about right now.

 

After:

Before ^

[MN Fisher]

25 minutes ago, fin said:

So a .03" total shim did the trick. There's still a little taper, but you can see the line is now well below the edge without trimming any line off. The drag range is just about right now.

Glad we could help you out.

[RDB]

35 minutes ago, fin said:

So a .03" total shim did the trick. There's still a little taper, but you can see the line is now well below the edge without trimming any line off. The drag range is just about right now.

 

After:

Before ^

That looks good.  The easiest tell on what the problem was is your original picture and the second above shows the line swelling out on the top 1/3 of the spool.  That means you are getting too many winds at the top.  Whether it lays 90 degrees or has a taper, you shouldn’t get that swell.

[mrpao]

Adding another shim might flatten the line out even more. On some of my reels, I've had to add two to three shims to smooth out the line.

Sometimes, certain lines have more issues than others. I've had to add and subtract shims depending on the line i put on the spool.

[cyclops2]

I have completely switched over to using..... 2 Improved Trilene knots....... to join the lines. The tighter you pull each one. The smaller they get. I have lots of main line over them. No knot catches. I hand wind the knot to the back of the spool with 2 wraps.

[thediscochef]

On 1/10/2022 at 12:04 AM, Hammer 4 said:

If you have a Diawa spinning reel, they were designed to have a tapered line lay. So trying to get to where the line lay is 90 degrees isn't the best way to go. Mine has a slight taper going from smaller at the bottom to maybe 2 degrees larger at the top of the spool. 

This. So much this.

[bulldog1935]

Here's a new Twin Power that required a shim from the box today. 

Had to wind about 30 yards to see it, reduced the drag, backed the line onto the source spool, shimmed the spool and started over.  A lot of people may complain about the result, but I've fished these reels enough to know that the line flush with the bottom of the line-keeper groove as felt by your fingernail is perfection. 

The C3000MHG also came with a perfect braid spool - that's just under 200 yds 20-lb X-braid, same diameter as 8-lb Sufix 832.  The Japanese just don't send the good braid spools to USM.  This reel also has better drag than my large-frame Stradic. It shares the Stradic forged aluminum body, and adds forged aluminum rotor. 

[cyclops2]

Bingo on new reels having jerky drags. Been there. Company made good with a tech support person.