GoingFishing Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 I recently purchased a shimano tld50. It came prespooled with 800m of 50lb mono. First time using it i noticed that when winding the line in it inly winds over the centre. Creating a thicker section in the middle Tried fiddling about with various settings and parts but cant work it out. Am i missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Yes mate!! With all game gear you need to thumb the spool. In other words, you need to manually move the line as you are winding it in from side to side to stop it gathering in the one spot!! This is very important as any nick on that line and you’ll lose your fish! I hope I explained that ok! Cheers scratchie!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Scratchie said: Yes mate!! With all game gear you need to thumb the spool. In other words, you need to manually move the line as you are winding it in from side to side to stop it gathering in the one spot!! This is very important as any nick on that line and you’ll lose your fish! I hope I explained that ok! Cheers scratchie!!! Holy crap.......asif fighting gamefish is not hard enough as it is. How does one thumb the line to get the line to come back on evenly? So one hand cranking the handle, the other hand on the rod......where do i get an extra thumb to "thumb" the spool Edited January 31, 2019 by GoingFishing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fragmeister Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 (edited) You do it with your thumb on an overhead... and yes , it needs to be practised a lot to make it second nature. Alvey side cast users probably have a head start on this as it is something you also need to do on a side cast except it is underneath the reel generally with a pointer or index finger or both. On a game reel the even placement is not so critical because you are not casting. You can sort of compensation to some degree if it is building up on one side and favour the other side of the spool. There is a tool you can buy to help but its more about saving your finger from line burn with a fish on and under pressure. Edited January 31, 2019 by fragmeister 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingie chaser Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Because those dudes that designed it thought you'd be sitting in a chair! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xerotao Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Gotta use your thumb to level the line when winding in. Game reels arent built with level wind because they would just get destroyed by big game fish. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berleyguts Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 1 hour ago, GoingFishing said: Holy crap.......asif fighting gamefish is not hard enough as it is. How does one thumb the line to get the line to come back on evenly? So one hand cranking the handle, the other hand on the rod......where do i get an extra thumb to "thumb" the spool You hold the rod with your left hand and the thumb on the left hand moves backwards and forwards (well, left to right, right to left) to layer the line on evenly. It’s pretty easy once you get used to it. If you have novices on board using your gear, it can be a bit of a struggle getting them to do it right. I bought a Shimano Charter Special, which has a level wind and my family has no problem with it. I’m only running 6kg mono on it but it will handle 10. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scratchie Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 9 hours ago, GoingFishing said: Holy crap.......asif fighting gamefish is not hard enough as it is. How does one thumb the line to get the line to come back on evenly? So one hand cranking the handle, the other hand on the rod......where do i get an extra thumb to "thumb" the spool Haha! Level winding is where you crank with the right hand, hold the rod with your left and lift your thumb to guide the line onto the spool. Lots to think about ay??? Normally in the mayhem of a strike and fight there’s small things we don’t think about but just stay calm and communicate and it will all fall into place! Cheers scratchie!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted January 31, 2019 Author Share Posted January 31, 2019 Thanks fellas for the feedback and clarification. Seems like the next step is to get some practice! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickmarlin62 Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 once hooked up to a fish with harness on put your left hand on top of reel and level the line out.....if set up properly you use your legs to pump and wind not your left arm....in general use as scratchie said lift your left thumb up and push line from side to side simplesness 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Spanner Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 As mentioned by everyone above, guide it with your left thumb. It becomes second nature very quickly. We used to bottom bash with TLDs years ago and you get used to it, and that was with braid. These days i have to concentrate not to guide the line with my thumb when i am using a reel with a level wind. If your reel if filled to the max capacity wise it is critical to wind it on evenly so as not to hit the top. If you keep bulking it and hitting the top then strip some line off (50m) and see how you go. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddyT Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 50 size reels are pretty hard to level wind when hooked up and under pressure without a harness, you just got to practice, 25 odd years of throwing metal off the stones with an overhead kind of gets you lots of practice. Get a decent harness set up and practice with that- Black Magic or Braid are the way to go 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lakelad Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 On 1/31/2019 at 7:28 PM, GoingFishing said: Holy crap.......asif fighting gamefish is not hard enough as it is. This made me laugh 😂, you're right! For smaller overheads for bottom bashing and light trolling I have a couple of Shimano Charter Specials, they have levelwind, only small reels though.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaddyT Posted February 13, 2019 Share Posted February 13, 2019 14 hours ago, lakelad said: This made me laugh 😂, you're right! For smaller overheads for bottom bashing and light trolling I have a couple of Shimano Charter Specials, they have levelwind, only small reels though.. Not exactly suited to gamefishing, level winds wont hack it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoingFishing Posted February 14, 2019 Author Share Posted February 14, 2019 Thanks everyone for the feedback - i will need to get out there and practise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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