Spool Line Holder - DIY Style

Finished Product on Reel

I have always wanted to do this when I started freshwater luring. As usually the fishing starts at day break, thus the night before I will tied all the necessary terminal tackles and will be almost ready to go when I reached the fishing ground.

However, I didn't get to start doing it until recently where the past couple of trips, for various reason, I needed to setup fast and time is wasted for me to tied the terminal tackles.

Initially wanted to buy off the shelf, but when I see the stuff available and the price, I rather put my money to better use. Taking those commercially available as a reference, thought of a few design and finally decided to get it done once and for all.

Made to Measure, this one fits a 1000 sized reel

There is a couple of design swimming in my head when I am shopping for the stuff required, but decided on this for a few reason.
1. It is cheap
2. I have no idea how long can the elastic band last, so doesn't want to waste money on velco strips to make it adjustable.
3. As mentioned, as it is cheap, I can basically make one for every single reel that I have, so no need for it to be adjustable.
4. Purely for vanity reason, I can customized it with my nickname, instead of doing free advertisement for others.

The design and production is so simple that I am kind of embarrassed to put it up, had I managed to get the elastic bands in black or red, I believe it would look better. Anyway, the concept of this design is from the fingers guards that I used when I played basketball donkeys years ago.

Item Required
Elastic Band (I am using one with 15mm width for this, use one that fits your spool)
SuperGlue
Flat Pliers
Cig Ligther

Even the Super Glue I use is a cheap one.

Work out the circumference of your spool (if you have forgotten it is 2πr)
Cut elastic band to this length.
Use the lighter to burn off those frayed ends.
Apply Super Glue to one end of the elastic band at about 1cm width.
Put the 2 ends together, with the Super Glued side in contact with the other end. Overlap at appox 1cm.
Use a flat plier and apply pressure to the overlapped portion, avoid using fingers as the glue might get onto your fingers.
Viola, it is done and ready to use when it dries.


Now, based on how what it described above, and using a very complicated mathematics calculations, you will find that the finished elastic band about 1 cm smaller then the spool circumference. The smaller diameter of the elastic band is to keep the line in place and is not too difficult to put it on as well.


Of course if you are doing for a much bigger reel, you might want to get a thicker elastic band. But for Shimano 1000 to 2500 sized reels, I find that 1.5cm is just about right.