Fishing Rods and Reels

How to Reel a Fishing Rod

The most common mistake you see with people using spinning reels is when they use them upside down and reel backwards. This is not the way it should be done. All you want to do when holding the spinning reel is to hold the reel face downward. You should be reeling forward a bit. 

With a conventional reel, you do want the reel facing up, but you will notice that with any type of fishing reel, you want the crank to be going forward. That is the biggest thing. You never want to be using a conventional reel with the crank going backwards. 

Another tip with conventional reels is to have your non reeling hand above the reel to give yourself the torque when fighting a fish. A lot of times you will see people having their non reeling hand below the reel, and this does not give you the torque you need to fight a big fish.  

With the spinning reel, you actually want to have your hand in between the reel seat, in between your pinky and your ring finger. This will give you the action you need to use the rod with one hand.