Prepping the Reel

• Open the reel. If using a baitcasting reel, turn the closed housing counterclockwise and pull it off the reel. For spin or open faced reels, the spools are already visible and ready for line. Pull off any old line, or if the line is no good, cut it off by slicing it right down the middle, like carving an orange.
  
  

Starting the Spool on the Reel

• Pull out the level-wind, a dial shaped knob on the end of the spool. Make a double loop with the end of the fishing line and slide them over the end of the level-wind. Take the end of the line and push it through the small thread hole on the top of the level-wind, and end of the spool. Pull this line through.
  
  

Knot and Reel

• Take the end of the line on the hole side and wrap it around the main line (where the double coils are attached to the level-wind) three to four times, then pass the end back through the coils. Pull it tight to make a tight and secure knot. Set the fishing line to be reeled onto the spool on a counter and start turning the handle of the reel. The line begins to coil around the spool. Push it up and down the spool to create an even set of coils. As a typical rule, spool up to 75 yards of line onto the spool.
  
  

Running the Line

• Close up the reel. If you have a baitcaster, take the end of the fishing line and thread it through the hole in the middle center of the housing. Push the housing back onto the reel, turn it clockwise and pull the thread all the way up the rod, going through each metal ring, known as the guides. For open reels, simply thread the line up through the guides to the end.
  
  

Lure or Hook

• Tie your lure or hook to the end of the line and open your reel's cast-bail (for baitcasters it is a thumb button; open reels half a semi-circle wire that gets pushed up). Cast out as normal and reel in for the retrieve.