Line should be loaded on to the reel so that it almost reaches the edge of the spool. A reel that is not loaded with enough line will be difficult to cast with, and reasonable distances will be hard to achieve.
Some reels have narrow spools that only need 100 metres of line to fill them, but others have deep spools and these need to be loaded with backing before attaching the fishing line. You can buy specialist backing, but any old line will do to fill out a spool if you have some.
An alternative to using backing or old line is to wrap self-adhesive tape around the spool, but if you do this, make sure that you apply the tape uniformly so the line will wind evenly on the spool.
Assembling a Rod
To anyone who has fished for any length of time, this piece of advice will seem so obvious that it hardly needs saying, but in my experience, unless told, many new Anglers just don’t think about it.
Many rods are made in three sections and have to be assembled before fishing. This involves pushing the different sections together and lining up the rod rings.
It is much easier to assemble the two thinnest sections first, and then connect these to the thickest or butt section, than assembling the two thickest sections first, as it avoids you having to ‘climb up the rod’ to attach the end section!
Threading line through the rod rings
When threading line through the rod rings, make sure the bale arm of the reel is open, and the anti-reverse is in the off position.
With long rods you will not be able to reach the reel once you have threaded line through half of the rings and the bale arm may close if a bank side obstruction causes it to flip over or turns the reel handle.
If this happens you should be able to finish threading the rings by gently pulling on the line to cause the reel handle to turn and give line.
Although this may seem unlikely to happen, you will be surprised how often it does!