South Chatham’s Super Spooler 2009
The Super Spooler
After a sharp strike, you set the hook. Game on! Your adversary tugs line off the reel despite the dogged resistance of a heavy drag. Then, suddenly, the line digs into the spool and halts. Snap! Game off!
What happened? The underlying wraps on the reel’s spool were too loose, and the line under strain was pulled into them, snarling it much like a backlash. This hypothetical (though all too real to many anglers) situation is most likely to occur on a trophy, too, as larger fish put more pressure on the line and reel.
How to avoid such a situation? Spool your reels, especially those with braid, with the line under enough tension to pack it tightly on the spool. Tackle shops have a machine that can handle this with ease, but properly spooling reels is a bit more difficult for those doing it at home.
South Chatham Tackle’s Bob Earl has come up with several innovative products that make line spooling at home a non-issue, especially the South Chatham Tackle Super Spooler. The Super Spooler features a steel frame holding two threaded rods parallel to one another, and unlike the multitude of cheaper, plastic spooling devices on the market, it’s built to last, making it an excellent choice for charter and commercial fishermen.
To spool up a reel, slide a spool of line (the unit accommodates small filler spools all the way up to the largest bulk spools) onto the back rod, and then tighten a thumb screw to hold it in place. A tensioning wheel adjusts the tension of a spring-loaded cone against the inside of the spool.
The spooler in action.
On the front rod, the line goes through a pair of felt washers with another spring loaded tension adjustment, and this one is used to adjust how mush resistance the Super Spooler puts on the line going to the reel.
With the spool set up in the Super Spooler, all an angler needs to do is crank it onto the reel. The Super Spooler will accommodate just about any reel, from big game models used for tuna and marlin to the lightest freshwater gear. To make spooling your spinning reels even easier, South Chatham also offers a spinning reel spool adaptor that allows angler to mount a reel’s spool to an electric drill and use the drill’s motor to fill the spool in seconds.
Included with every Super Spooler is a South Chatham Super Stripper, a device that allows anglers to use the power of a drill to strip their reels as well. The stripper features a bolt allowing anglers to attach a plastic soda bottle to the drill and use it as a spool to quickly strip the line from a reel. In the event the line is to be reused (prudent with expensive braid), anglers can mount an empty spool onto the Super Spooler, then use the rubber coated side of the Super Stripper as a drive wheel on the flange of the empty spool. After stripping the reel, the line will be waiting on the spool for its next use.
Previously, the easiest way to spool line under tension was to get a friend to hold the sides of the spool as it spun on a pencil, but try selling a friend on that chore this time of year when you’re spooling your entire tackle collection for the upcoming fishing season. A Super Spooler eliminates the need for a friend, and it makes spooling tasks a breeze, whether it be one rod or a charter boat’s entire arsenal.
Super Spoolers retail for $64.95, and anglers can purchase them or find out more information at South Chatham’s website at www.southchathamtackle.com.
