Was bored and glancing through the Feather Craft catalog…noticed the “Reel E Good” winder…so I threw this together…was meaning to do it for some time…amazingly simple…I happened to have the wood platform sitting around so used it…but you can see how easy it would be to mount the reel seat…which is one I had on another winder set up I have…picked up the reel seat some time ago for less than $3…the axle is a sawed off BBQ rotary rod…it happens that the Rio line spool has one of the center holes that is square so the axle fits perfectly… mounts on 6 inch eye bolts.
Here is another one in case any new members have not seen it. I made up 2 of these. One for myself and one for a friend who fishes saltwater a lot. He really liked it because he can come in from fishing the saltwater and wind his fly line on it, hose it off with a water hose while on the line winder reel and then wind it back on the fly reel.
While Steelhead fishing with my buddy Ira (in pic) we need to switch some sink tips, some good old manual labor in a small cabin on a cold night keeps it fun.
All great ideas!!! thanks guys, I usually strip and clean my line and wrap it around an oatmeal can during the winter to keep it from setting in tight coils (read in Bergmans book that he did that with his silk lines) and thought it would be a good idea for regular line.
Here’s my winder/unwinder. The reel seat is off a broken spinning rod I found at the lake.
Add the backing:
Add the line:
Take the line off:
When removing, once I’m down to the backing, I can leave the backing attached to the line and take all off if I want or if I’m changing lines I can cut the backing, put a couple of twist ties on the line and it slides right off the pegs. Put the new spooled line on and load back up.
For those that made the big orange winders out of extension cord holder ,http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/readerscast/rc336.php >, how do you get the line off the winder once removed from the reel? Seems a bit counter productive if you then have to unwind it back off for storage.
Now these from Duck on ther hand…
The foam pipe insulation is very conducive for storing once removed. That seems nice and simple.
The the “Rube Goldberg” contraption on the other hand… Who needs the drill? Just put a hamster in the cage!!!
I f I didn’t know exactly where my line winder is, I would be tempted to charge you with THEFT! As it is, I may have to sue you for Patent Infringement!! Yours and mine are near identical. In my case, I used an all metal black Pac Bay fly rod seat that I had. Also, I did not make the wooden 4-point winder. I just use old line spools.
Bass Bug …I like the Hamster idea:cool:…and I like your winder:cool:
Also when I saw the wooden 4 point winder I thought they were going to fit in the 4 square holes in the Rio spool so you could use the empty spool.
How do you guys turn the 4 point winder?
BTW you are correct about the orange jobbie so I don’t use it for storage…in fact I hardly ever use it because these other ways are easier…if I do store or change I do as aged sage does… use an empty spool.
Duck,
I turn mine by hand. I hold the reel seat in my left hand with the jig pointing away from me, and use my right hand to turn one of the 4 pegs. It only takes minute to unwind a line.
A jig that holds the reel and spools together makes it real nice to load a new reel. It also reaaly useful for unloading, cleaning and reloading a reel. Clean as use unwind it and and condition the line as you wind it back on.
aged sage,
You got me curious about yours, would like see some pics when you can.
B_B…when you want to respool a line you have taken off and stored for awhile can you put it back on the 4 pegged spindle easily and respool it onto the reel?..or do you do it some other way?
[FONT=Tahoma]For any who might be interested, the frame on the large orange extension cord holders snaps together at the three ‘corners’ with fingers that work sort of like the side release buckles on lanyards, fanny packs, etc, can be taken apart with judicious use of a large screwdriver. Once you get it apart the first time, file or sand off the edges of the fingers so it comes apart with just a tug.
From that point on, you can unspool a line, pop the frame apart and lift the coiled line off easily (if you don’t spool it up under very much tension). Mine removes ~27" of line per turn, will unspool 90’ of line in a minute or less. Great for drying silk because an entire line will fit without touching, spool it back on the reel when dry; works well for modern line because 27" per turn generates ~8.5" dia coils for storage
duck,
I’ve actually never tried to put a line back on the pegs. The key though is not let it wind tightly on the pegs. You got me thinking though, that what it needs are 4 nylon spacer pegs (think thick straws) to slip over the wood pegs for taking the line off, then to load that line back, don’t use the spacers and the diameter of the coil should be bigger then the wood pegs. Does that make sense?
I did originally experiment with a line spool, and epoxied a peg on one edge to act as a handle. That worked but doesn’t store well.
Just in case it appeals to someone I’ll mention…another spool that can be used for storage are kite string spools …I got mine at the Dollar store …don’t know if they are still available…storing backing on mine.
Come on Frank, if there is anyone who is NOT technically challenged …it’s you:D
…and I like your winder:cool: