I read somewhere that if you lay the spool you are filling from on the floor, the line should come off in a counter clockwise (from left to right) direction. Once you have it tied onto the reel and coming off the spool, keep a slight tension on the line and fill the reel up. Don't over fill. A trick I found is to spray some silicone spray on the line after you have it on the reel. It makes the line come off a lot easier. I fish all day with very few line problems now. Use the lightest line you feel comfortable with. Two or Four pound is my preference.