No More Frustration With a Tangled Mess When Changing Out Your Fly Lines

I have a gift for turning a simple task into a tangled nightmare. Something as easy as replacing fly line becomes an ordeal of knots and bird nests.

Fly line care maintains high performance in your fly line. | photo by Ken Baldwin

You would think after more than 20 years of replacing and changing out fly line on my reels, I’d be able to do it without ending up in a tangled mess. Most of the time, I manage just fine. But when I get lazy or lose focus, I wind up with a big, fat "cat ball" of a tangle. I stare at it, wondering, "How did this even happen?"

In Search of the Perfect Fly Line Remover

Fly line is expensive. You don’t just throw it away when frustration sets in—though I’ve come close. I’ve seen plenty of gadgets and tools that claim to make fly line removal and storage easy , and I’ve bought a few. Some helped a little, but nothing really impressed me.

What I needed was a tool that was simple to use, helped with both spooling and removing fly line, kept my line organized, and didn’t take up a ton of space.

Ready to be fished. | photo by Ken Baldwin

Gonex Fishing Line Spooler: Cheap Plastic or Legit Tool?

Recently, an Instagram ad caught my eye. It showed a spinning reel mounted on an apparatus designed to help spool fishing line. The brand was Gonex, and right away, it looked like a solid idea. The more I studied it, the more I thought it could work for a fly reel too.

But I hesitated. I know this is a Chinese product, and I've been burned by these ads before—the ones that make a product look amazing, only for it to arrive as cheap plastic junk that barely works. The price was reasonable, but the real question was: does it work?

The Gonex line spooler. Simple and functional. | photo by Ken Baldwin

Not only does the Gonex Line Spooler work, but it works exceptionally well. To my surprise, it’s not some flimsy piece of plastic. It has a sturdy build with a bit of weight to it. This is a real tool—a mix of metal and plastic—that does exactly what it promises.

If you also fish with spinning reels or baitcasters, it works for those too.

Ending the Tangled Line Struggle

I’m done sitting in a pile of tangled fly line the night before a fishing trip. Now, I have a tool that makes the whole process easy. It’s not fancy, but it’s functional.

Now I finally have an organized collection of fly line, and for once, I’m not dreading the next time I need to swap some out. KB

“The gods do not deduct from man’s allotted span the hours spent in fishing.” - Herbert Hoover

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The gear reviewed in this article was provided to me at no cost for evaluation. The views and assessments presented are my own.