Professional bass angler Tyler Berger is host of BassFishingHQ YouTube channel, and in the 14-minute YouTube video below, he explains the top five mistakes anglers make when using a spinning reel. (FYI: Berger spends the first part of the video talking about FINN Fishing clothing company, so fast-forward to the 1:05 mark if you want to skip right to the spinning reel advice.)

Before he reveals the five mistakes, he provides two basic tips (what he calls gimmies) that anglers should know about spinning reels. While almost all anglers will know the first gimmie, I’d argue that the vast majority of them don’t understand the second one.

I certainly agree with Berger’s top five spinning reel mistakes — or seven if you count his two gimmies — but I don’t avoid each of them in exactly the same way. For example, he feathers the line during the cast with his free hand. I don’t. Instead, I place the tip of my index finger (casting hand) near the edge of the spool and feather the line as it leaves the spool. With the tip of my finger, I can stop the line wherever I wish during the cast simply by touching the spool edge with enough force to prevent more line from exiting.

Berger does an excellent job explaining the top five mistakes and how to avoid them. Watch and learn.