Whats you favourite line lay on spinning reels and why?

[yellow door 1]

I always aim for "even" but I'm sure there are reasons to do otherwise - whats your preference?

[sevric]

Also run the even line lay and like you am unsure of the benefits of doing anything else. Hope others can supply input as to why they prefer the forward or rear loading of line on the spool.

[Green Hornet]

Every reel I've owned has been set up for an even line lay straight out of the box by the manufacturer.
Never had a problem, so see no reason to change.

[Bronco T]

Most of my reels came with a even lay, the odd couple that didn't were slightly top heavy. Never had a bottom heavy one that i remember.

[yellow door 1]

Yeah I think having a spool specifically designed to take advantage of different tapers would be a key factor. Especially with the bottom heavy taper

[nagz]

Even for sure

[jonnie]

I decided to use no line,catch rates have dropped

[Slazmo]

Just reminded me to add a paper thin adjustment shim. Won't make much of a difference but I like straight line taper, this is ever just so forward...

[Cortinaboy]

It’s good to see you back Slazmo.

[Slazmo]

Not back per se. Just dipped my toe into discussion.

But thanks for the words 👍🏻

[yellow door 1]

Originally Posted by Slazmo

Just reminded me to add a paper thin adjustment shim. Won't make much of a difference but I like straight line taper, this is ever just so forward...

What do you make your shims out of Slaz? - or do you use store bought?

The reason I ask, is last time I shimmed a reel, the factory shim was quite thick and made such a dramatic difference, I figured a thinner shim could come in handy.

(With my reel, a dramatic change was necessary but as you mention - a minor adjustment such as yours, requires thin shims)

[Slazmo]

When you've acquired as many reels as I have you come across a lot of spares.

Ive just got a bag of those OEM spool washers, they're just a mechanical plastic like Delrin and keyed to the spool shaft.

You could use Teflon as you did a while back and just 'thicken' them to your need via a sheet of wet and wet & dry - bit of a process; but having them in all thicknesses would be ideal.

With that 2500F pictured it's got the two thickest washers and now additionally one of the thinnest which will even the line out enough.

[yellow door 1]

Originally Posted by Slazmo

When you've acquired as many reels as I have you come across a lot of spares.

Ive just got a bag of those OEM spool washers, they're just a mechanical plastic like Delrin and keyed to the spool shaft.

You could use Teflon as you did a while back and just 'thicken' them to your need via a sheet of wet and wet & dry - bit of a process; but having them in all thicknesses would be ideal.

With that 2500F pictured it's got the two thickest washers and now additionally one of the thinnest which will even the line out enough.

Thanks Slaz - I've got a bit of a "reel graveyard" here - so I might just mine that for parts - I'll look into those OEM washers aswell

[grizzo]

I like a bit of B. Top heavy.

The reason is that if you have your line lay even, the line at the top of the spool, near the spool lip is restricted from coming off the spool MORE than the line down lower because it is closer the lip. This is due to the angle the line takes off the spool the closer it gets to the spool lip, so you will get a slightly reduced cast distance.

Spooled top heavy makes the line right near the lip to come off easier.

With line laying even, you could just fill the spool right up to the lip to make it come off easier, but then you get line "over filling" casting issues.

Edit. Those spools in the picture are overfilled.

[yellow door 1]

Originally Posted by grizzo

I like a bit of B. Top heavy.

The reason is that if you have your line lay even, the line at the top of the spool, near the spool lip is restricted from coming off the spool MORE than the line down lower because it is closer the lip. This is due to the angle the line takes off the spool the closer it gets to the spool lip, so you will get a slightly reduced cast distance.

Spooled top heavy makes the line right near the lip to come off easier.

With line laying even, you could just fill the spool right up to the lip to make it come off easier, but then you get line "over filling" casting issues.

Edit. Those spools in the picture are overfilled.

Yeah thats an interesting theory. Does your spool need to be specifically designed to handle this taper or can you do it with any reel.


And do you have any pics of your spools?