Calibrating line counter reels

[Dee F]

See who can explain this. I use okuma line counters. They are not accurate, so I use a cheat sheet i made by pulling my line out and measuring it with a tape, and then comparing it to what the reels says ,or mark line to know how much I actually have out and know my depth, etc.

I had a guy here at work tell me I needed to calibrate them? He said you do it by adding 20' or removing 20' at a time until your true line length is equal to your measured length?? Anyone ever done this. Seems it would be nice if the reel was calibrated and accurate ??

How do you know where to start?

Example: one of my reels will show 84' and actually will only have 65' out??

[BigBlue]

Not 100% sure bout how to calibrate them but how accurate they are does depend on the amount of line on the reel.. Hopefully an expert can help 'us' both out..

[Rees Guide]

I just use 10 lb mono and keep my spools full. It is a guesstimate anyway instead of an exact, more to duplicate. With that said tho, using 10 lb mono mine seem to be dead on with the Bandit chart.

[oleblue]

They are designed to have a full spool and as long as you fill them up you will be close enuf you don't need to know exactly how much line is out just the ability to duplicate what your doing.

[Dee F]

Mine all have the same amount and diameter line on each of them, but each reel is different when it comes to its number of line vs. what's actually out. It ain't no big problem to do it the way I do now, I's just wondering the exact way to start on this calibration process. Seems like if it's showing more than is out I should add line ????

[Gator_1]

They are designed to have a full spool and as long as you fill them up you will be close enuf you don't need to know exactly how much line is out just the ability to duplicate what your doing.

Hit the nail on the head! Oleblue is exactly right. The line counter is most accurate when full.
Using the line counter put the same amount of line on each reel. Then all of your reels will read the same. The deeper you get on the spool the less amount of line per foot you read. Because the counter is not proportional to the spool diameter.
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[wilbur]

Before I cut the line off the filler spool I mark off 50ft. in the driveway and then check the counter. If it reads high I put more line on it if low I wind some back on the filler spool. The counter works off of revolutions of the spool. The more line on it makes its diameter bigger which will let out more line per revolution.

[jimp]

saw a utube video on how to calibrate one, but don't remember how the guy did other than he measured the line with a tape measure and made adjustments accordingly

[BigRiverMarine]

They are designed to have a full spool and as long as you fill them up you will be close enuf you don't need to know exactly how much line is out just the ability to duplicate what your doing.

That is the truth. Very well explained. Simple and to the point!!!


Big River Marine
Bill Burnett
870-635-0202

[majflyboy]

Bill, let's have a talk at 'butla about that.