Line Lay on 18K SW

[Andre van Wyk]

Hey Guys,

Recieved my new 18K SW yesterday....amazing reel, and amazed at how light it is compered with my 10K FA with 20K spool...

Anyway, I got set to spooling it with PE10 Varivas GT, and noticed that by the time the spool was "full" the line lay on the reel had caused the line to build up very "straight" if you know what I mean....
This meant that the braid was at capacity at the top of the spool, but still with a fair amount of space at the base of the spool. Is this optimal?

It feels like if I could get the line lay to be more like this - /    \ 
Rather than like it is now - |   |

Then I would get possibly another 50 odd metres at least of line on....

Can anyone advise me on how to adjust the line lay using the washers provided? I've never had to do this before as all my other Stellas and spinning reels spool perfectly...

Many Thanks for any help, or if you could point me in the direction of a link to educate me, I'd appreciate it.

Also, would anyone have any idea how much PE 10 Varivas GT would fit on the 18K SW?

Many Thanks
Dre

[Luke Wyrsta]

Straight line lay is ideal for 08 STL SW

[Andy Rowe]

Hi Andre,

If you want line lay like / \ add a washer or 2. Like \ / take off washers.

I have added at least 2 more washers to each of my 18K's to get it like | | and packed on nice and tight i get 250 m of PE10 Varivas.

Cheers
Andy

[Andre van Wyk]

Cheers guys, appreciated the advice.

Monster - So the straight is best in your opinion? Am I not losing capacity and potential casting distance with it straightv rather than very slightly /   \ shape?

Andy - Thanks mate, I might well go with just one additonal washer... when looking at the reel it almost seems like its every so slightly \     / shape rather than perfectly |    | ....

Thyanks for the advise guys.

Cheers
Dre

[Andy Rowe]

Dre,

I had one of my 18's serviced and on re-spooling it was noticably creating a more severe \ / shaped line lay.

My second 18 started doing the same thing though less severely after a couple of trips, I'm just about out of washers... though both reels now have nice parallel line lay.

[David Sharples]

That washer thing is such a ball ache I seem to get different line lay every time I fish and am constantly changing washers and trying to remember whether I need to add or subtract... Annoying...

[Andre van Wyk]

I seem to get different line lay every time I fish

Why does this not surprise me Sharpie? 

I'm gonna run all the line off the spool, and respool and see how it lays again before changing anything....

[Chris Leong]

Dre,

U need to start going fishing and not worrying about line lay!

[Andrew Colefax]

i'd be a bit nervous making the line lay in / \ as the larger loops of line at the base of the spool could easily slip down while casting, resulting in big tangles. daiwa reverse taper their spools (call it ABS i think) intentionally to combat this.

[Jay Burgess]

My 10000FA for some reason out of the box had a crazy \  / line lay so I added a washer, re spooled and it was fine. My 18000s are sweet with |  | straight line lay out of the box which is the way I prefer it.

[David Sharples]

I seem to get different line lay every time I fish

Why does this not surprise me Sharpie? 

I'm gonna run all the line off the spool, and respool and see how it lays again before changing anything....

It's because I catch so much. The braid shape on the spool just can't take the heat. 

[Lars Nielsen]

i'd be a bit nervous making the line lay in / \ as the larger loops of line at the base of the spool could easily slip down while casting, resulting in big tangles. daiwa reverse taper their spools (call it ABS i think) intentionally to combat this.

Exactly.

/  \ would put you in windknot hell. Go for straight |   |, but if you experience windknots, hand wind the first meter or so of line towards the top of the spool to get a very, very slight  \  /. Removing a washer results in too much change in line lay.