Get the most out of braided fishing line

Guide tells how to use a spool twice

I love braid. It’s tough. It’s got zero stretch. It doesn’t have memory. It’s got a very small diameter. You feel every tap.

And when a fish is hooked, the fight is just awesome.

But it’s costs more than mono, and if you fish a lot it can seem like you’re throwing money down the drain staying in fresh line.

Just imagine if you were a guide, taking customers on the water every day.

But Capt. Brent Roy of Venice Charters Unlimited uses a single spool twice — and it’s a simple trick that is one of those “why didn’t I think of that” ideas.

Roy starts like all of us, heading to Bowie Outfitters, Academy, Cabelas or wherever. But he doesn’t just pick up one spool.

“Go get you four spools of that $20 Power-Pro and spool it on your reels,” he said.

OK, so that’s not any different that many of us do, right?

Well, after about three months of daily use, the braid is getting a bit on used side.

That doesn’t mean Roy snatches it off and throws it in the garbage can, thought. Nope, that’s when the veteran guide does something we all should have thought about.

“You take an empty reel, and you spool the line from one of your full reels onto the second reel,” he explained.

Yep, he just flip-flops the line from one reel to the next, and now the line that has been sawing back and forth through the eyes of Roy’s rods is buried near the spool.

“That line that’s down there by the spool (of the original reel) is getting used now,” Roy said. “It’s brand new line, just like it’s been sitting on a spool on the shelf.”

And that simple tactic has a big impact on his bottom line.

“That $20 spool of line just turned into a $9.99 spool of line because you’re using it twice,” Roy said.

About Andy Crawford 863 Articles
Andy Crawford has spent nearly his entire career writing about and photographing Louisiana’s hunting and fishing community. While he has written for national publications, even spending four years as a senior writer for B.A.S.S., Crawford never strayed far from the pages of Louisiana Sportsman. Learn more about his work at www.AndyCrawford.Photography.