- 1). Place the foot of the South Bend 1122 in the reel seat of the fly rod. Secure the reel in place on the rod with the adjustable locking rings.
- 2). Pull the end of fly line backing from a filler spool. Pull the free end of the backing line around the spool of the 1122 reel. Attach the line to the spool with an Arbor knot. Pull the knot down tightly against the spool and trim off excess line with scissors.
- 3). Wind backing line onto the South Bend reel by turning the reel handle. Apply slight tension to the line in front of the spool and guide the backing line evenly back and forth across the spool face. Fill the spool no more than 1/8 full with backing line. Cut the backing line free from the filler spool with scissors.
- 4). Attach the end of a 5-weight fly line to the backing line with an Albright knot. Pull the knot down tightly and trim excess backing line and fly line from the knot with scissors.
- 5). Apply tension to the fly line in front of the spool and evenly wind the entire spool of fly line onto the South Bend reel.
Source...