Fresh Lines

I've been putting off the task of spooling up fresh line on a few reels, and decided it's time to get it done. So, after our return home from a few days in Santa Fe, I pulled out some contemporary and classic reels...and loaded up new fly lines on them, to be ready for this year's fishing adventures.

I must say, I really like the new lines with the loop at each end. It makes for an easy install on to the backing...the fewer knots I have to tie the better. Speaking of knots, after a few decades of spooling up reels, I have settled on the Uni Knot to attach the backing to the reel's arbor. It's easy and locks the knot tightly on the arbor. Much better than the Arbor Knot in my view. The steps to tying a Uni Knot are below:

1. Pass 6 to 8 inches of tag end around the spool arbor and form a crossing loop.
2. Wrap the tag around the standing line and top leg of the loop three to four times (see photo below).
3. Pull the tag to tighten the wraps around the standing line.
4. Pull the standing line until the knot is snug against the arbor.
5. Pull on the tag to seat the knot. Trim the tag.

Photo of the Uni Knot is below. This is definitely the knot to use for attaching backing to a reel's arbor.