Shoreline Tech

Question: My friend gave me a bait needle with no gap to attach your line. How do you use this? How do you attach the loop?

Answer: Your friend has got the right stuff! Closed eye needles are the only ones I carry at my store and I could never go back to an open eye one myself. Ever notice how your open eye needle catches some of the fish’s eye tissue as it passes through? That gap hooks some flesh along the way and that’s not good for your bait. Closed eye needles pass through easily with much less tissue damage. It’s faster too, causing much less trauma to your fish.

You use the closed eye needle much in the same way as an open eyed one. The only difference is that instead of hooking the loop onto the gap, you double up the loop by folding it and placing it folded through the eye. You only need be mindful that the loop will be pulled back through the eye on the side that does not have the tied knot. To make it even simpler, I store my needle with the line already looped through in a small plastic tube. I just take it out, pass it through the fish, hold the tied knot while the loop continues through the eye and it’s done. Nothing’s faster! 

Question: I have a Newell reel that I just overhauled with new brakes and bearings. I know how to repair a reel but now my reel seems to have some drag resistance even backed off all the way. Is that a problem?

Answer: That’s a good question and the answer is… it depends. The problem you have encountered is actually pretty common and may not truly be a problem at all. You may see this happen after a drag or a component change, like replacing a new side plate. This can happen with any manufacturer’s reel but is most common on a Newell. What is happening is that the drag stack is now taller than it used to be and is now making enough contact to have resistance when the drag star is fully backed off. In the case of a side plate change, Newells have quite a difference in tolerances between parts, and again, the stack is lacking enough space to “fully back off”. The reason you see this after a drag change is that most local casters do not replace their Newell drag washers with stock ones. They usually have some aftermarket version, trying to get more resistance and the new washers may not be the same height.

Another reason this might be happening is that the drag washers may not be fully seated within the gear cup. This will of course make the drag stack higher, causing the aforementioned problem. You will notice that as you place the metal and fiber washers in the gear cup, two of the metal washers have tabs or what I like to call “ears” on them. During assembly, should the washers move out of the cup, even slightly, the eared washers may not fall back into the cup correctly causing the stack to sit higher. This will also cause the reel to have a very limited total drag regardless of how tight the star is turned. This is usually the first sign that the reel is not assembled correctly. If the drag pressure does not become substantial when the star is tightened, you will have to disassemble the reel and start again. To avoid this problem, do not hold the side plate with its handle side down until the drag star is attached and has resistance on it. Your stack may fall out and not fall back in properly.

So getting back to your problem, it’s really not a problem unless the resistance is too high. In fact some resistance will be desirable. If you are like most casters, myself included, you string your rod with the reel in gear, drag backed off. If it’s too hard to pull while you’re setting up then that would be something you will want to address. The solution is to decrease the amount or type of washers under or above the star wheel. You may want to take out one of the spacing washers above the spacing sleeve if you have one, [some do not] or maybe even remove the Belleville washer. Please be aware that removing too many washers will cause excessive play in the drag stack when the drag is completely backed off causing your eared drag washers to fail you.

Today’s Tip:

Don’t get frustrated if your Newell reel seems to have parts missing. Unlike any other reel, not all Newells have the same parts! Yes, you read that correctly, they may not all be the same. This is because varying tolerances within reel components sometimes necessitate the addition of spacers, washers and shims to get the reel working correctly. So if you have two 454s and they don’t look the same internally, don’t panic. Everything is probably OK.