Spinning reel line twist

[Dark3]

Let me start by saying Ive been REAL busy and have more equipment at the house than I can barely keep up with. Ive always geeked out on high end reels. I took a break from fishing for a while and havent had this issue in the past. I have a couple shimano reels loaded with 12# big game for my wife/kids. I only use BC reels for myself. Been spending alot of valuable lake time dealing with their line twist bird nests, primarily half way up the rod and sometimes at the reel. I have been teaching them the importance of not allowing slack line and cupping the line above the reel in a cast. I have tried loading it different ways and conditioning the line. My next step is running the line out in the yard with nothing on the end and having a couple people cupping the line and using my fingers to apply tension goes on hoping for it to untwist. Any suggestions?


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[Princeton_Man]

Lighter lines and lines with less memory will make a big difference, a line conditioner will also help a lot, and braid will make a huge difference. Having a small swivel inline with some baits will also help reduce line twist.

How the line is spooled can make a difference. As gimmicky as it is, this line spooler will help put the line on so that it doesn't jump off.

[J.W.]

If it's twist from lures, I let my line out while I'm running the trolling motor, then reel it back in under tension. That said, I really never use mono anymore except on ultralights for bream.

[big g]

1). Never close the bail by cranking.  Always close the bail by using your hand first. 
2). Always have the label on the line spool facing up when spooling line on the reel, never the other way around.
3). After a cast, always glance down to make sure there is no loose line on the spool before closing the bail by hand.
4). Never reel if the fish is taking line on the drag, if you do it will create future loop issues.    Wait until the fish pauses, then crank like crazy.
5). Use a quality line, without much memory, I use braid a lot with spinning rods.

These simple things have eliminated any problems for me, and keep me from having any future problems.

[caddyjoe77]

a better line will help, second to that, turn the spool the opposite way, parallel instead of straight up and down when you put the line on a spinning reel. 

[ike8120]

I have been told that line going on a spinning reel should come the filler or bulk spool counterclockwise.

[Dark3]

I have been told that line going on a spinning reel should come the filler or bulk spool counterclockwise.

Yea the reel loads on clockwise. Ive tried both ways and label down was worse. I can't remember exactly but I think coming off counter clockwise was label up and was a lesser evil.


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[Dark3]

a better line will help, second to that, turn the spool the opposite way, parallel instead of straight up and down when you put the line on a spinning reel.

Thanks brother


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[Dark3]

Lighter lines and lines with less memory will make a big difference, a line conditioner will also help a lot, and braid will make a huge difference. Having a small swivel inline with some baits will also help reduce line twist.

How the line is spooled can make a difference. As gimmicky as it is, this line spooler will help put the line on so that it doesn't jump off.

Makes sense thank you.


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[caddyjoe77]

one thing i forgot to mention.  Better line doesnt necessarily mean more expensive.  check out K9 and viscious...reasonably priced flouro. 

[apenland01]

I primarily fish a spinning rod and 12 big game is actually like 16 pound diameter and won't work on a spinning reel.  12 pound super natural mono or better yet 10 pound with the drag set correctly would be worth an entire day of fishing with no birds nest on the spinning reel.

If using fluoro, 8 pounds is the limit or you'll be dealing with nests all day again...

[big g]

I primarily fish a spinning rod and 12 big game is actually like 16 pound diameter and won't work on a spinning reel.  12 pound super natural mono or better yet 10 pound with the drag set correctly would be worth an entire day of fishing with no birds nest on the spinning reel.

If using fluoro, 8 pounds is the limit or you'll be dealing with nests all day again...

I agree with this comment totally!

[NavyToad]

Close your bail by hand and then raise your rod tip to get the slack out of your line, then begin your retrieve.

[Pat Dilling]

Using 15-20 lb braided line, with a12 lb leader of fluorocarbon or mono leader, will make your life, and your wife/kids life so much better. Use a 6 to 12 foot leader. In the long run braid is cheaper, it will last a couple years. If you opt for yellow or high vis green they will be able to see it better. Another plus is they will feel more bites and catch more fish.  Look on YouTube for videos on tying an Alberto knot to join the braid to flouro or mono. Easy to learn and very strong.

[apenland01]

If you are using a spinning reel with braid and want to tie a leader on quickly and simply, just use the Lefty Kreh knot.  It's simple and even kids can do it on the first try...

[Pferox]

Lots of great information here, however the largest cause of line twist is the little bearing in the bail.  If it doesn't move, line will twist immediately every time.
Lines that are greater than the reel is rated for will be a big problem also, they will want to jump out of the spool because they are two stiff to make the coils tight enough, amongst other problems mentioned earlier.
I agree that braided line was, in my opinion, made for spinning reels, there are some mandated rules of taking care of it on the spool, if you can teach your family how to fish braid, then it might be a positive, however, if they are having problems with the more forgiving mono, then I would wait on the braid investment.

[Pat Dilling]

I agree that braided line was, in my opinion, made for spinning reels, there are some mandated rules of taking care of it on the spool, if you can teach your family how to fish braid, then it might be a positive, however, if they are having problems with the more forgiving mono, then I would wait on the braid investment.

Can you elaborate on your mandated rules?  Just curious.  I have had a number of rookies use braided line on spinning reels including my wife (no longer a rookie), daughter and several grand kids.  I taught them all to close the bail manually and take up slack before reeling.  Other than the occasional wind knot, they have had no trouble using braid.

[Pferox]

Spool the line tight, to begin with.
Set the drag and use it, this and a tight spool helps keep digging in to a minimum.
Keep the line tight, and close the bail by hand.
Don't overfill the reel.
There aren't many, but they are important when talking about braid, because it can be so unforgiving.

[Dark3]

Pretty sure a couple of you guys are right with the big game line diameter at 12# being too large and lower quality. I wanted to try fishing all mono this year for simplicity with the exception of a heavy rod with braid. It was a fail in this aspect, even my BC reels the line has alot of memory at 10-15#. Not alot of money wasted. As I get older I am putting less work into small details of things but Im going to have to dial this in. The wife and kids have been getting better about not allowing slack line so its helped with wind knots. I also had them fishing for pan fish more with very light jig heads/grubs which exacerbated the situation. Never had any luck with that and put them on bass with jerkbaits and spinnerbaits and that also helped. The fish had been very turned off here in upstate NY after ice out and only this last week seemed to turn on. Its been fun since then, but the weather has still been hard to find windows between fri-sun to get out there.



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[Pat Dilling]

Spool the line tight, to begin with.
Set the drag and use it, this and a tight spool helps keep digging in to a minimum.
Keep the line tight, and close the bail by hand.
Don't overfill the reel.
There aren't many, but they are important when talking about braid, because it can be so unforgiving.

Thanks, I agree with every one of those!

Dark3, glad you got out and caught some. Will just get better for several months now.

[Pferox]

Although I'm "still fishing" more now, I have spooled spinning reels with mono from 8lb to 40lb test with no problems.
Granted, I'm using the rated reels for the line, and insuring the diameters are close.
When I'm fishing almost daily, I'll change the line every couple of months, but that is because it gets pretty beat up where I fish.
Only time I ever got problems with coils and tangles was when I put too big of a line on a reel or I over spooled it. 
If I notice a lot of line twist, I check the bail bearing right away and it is usually the culprit.  I also use a quality swivel most of the time too.

[Hobious]

like my garden hose, the twist usually comes from the thing attached to the end of it all. i think it is the bait/lure spinning.

my friends that are 100% spinning, all use quality swivels.    not sure that would be a solution for myself, but it seems to work for themselves.  they do practice good spinning reel habits.  (see above)

in my opinion, a drop shot rig is dang near a cirque de soliel performer on the end of my line.  it can be a spinner!  expecially if a bass short strikes and twists up my bait.  on my kayak i can clip off the bait and drag the line way out to get the twist out.  i do it often.  from shore, i might consider a swivel. 

[Rusty63]

All of the information that has been provided here is great.I had to clean and lube the bail roller bearing to solve my issue like yours

[coldfront]

1). Never close the bail by cranking.  Always close the bail by using your hand first. 
2). Always have the label on the line spool facing up when spooling line on the reel, never the other way around.
3). After a cast, always glance down to make sure there is no loose line on the spool before closing the bail by hand.
4). Never reel if the fish is taking line on the drag, if you do it will create future loop issues.    Wait until the fish pauses, then crank like crazy.
5). Use a quality line, without much memory, I use braid a lot with spinning rods.

These simple things have eliminated any problems for me, and keep me from having any future problems.

this is all of it in a nutshell.
Number ! is for my money, the single most important part of the 'system'.

[Dark3]

Using 15-20 lb braided line, with a12 lb leader of fluorocarbon or mono leader, will make your life, and your wife/kids life so much better. Use a 6 to 12 foot leader. In the long run braid is cheaper, it will last a couple years. If you opt for yellow or high vis green they will be able to see it better. Another plus is they will feel more bites and catch more fish.  Look on YouTube for videos on tying an Alberto knot to join the braid to flouro or mono. Easy to learn and very strong.

Do you have any issues with the knot hitting the eyelets, especially on a micro guide rod? I think Im going to give this a try today. You fish like this for your BC reels also?


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