Braid Tangles on Spinning Gear?

[panfish12]

Hey guys, I recently spooled my new spinning reel with 20# power pro original and have been having some trouble with tangles. I was fishing with a weightless fluke by twitching it and reeling up the slack. Every once in a while when I made a cast a big tangle of line would come off the spool and I would have to pick it out carefully. I switched over to a small wakebait and with a straight steady retrieve I had no more problems (And caught quite a few fish). Is there any way to prevent tangles from happening when I am reeling up slack line?

[fishnkamp]

Take a look at the rod you are using, Is the weightless Fluke in the range of weight listed for that rod?  If the total weight of the bait and hook is less than what the rod rates for you can have this problem.  Lets say the rod is a 7 foot medium for example, maybe you need a 7 foot medium light.

Perhaps instead of fishing the Fluke try A Reaction Innovation or a Keitech if one is heavier.  I would  look at a Skinny Dipper but the Keitechs are nice as well 

[panfish12]

Hmm. That is something I hadn't thought of, but I just weighed the fluke, and it falls in the weight range for the rod (6'6'' medium action)

 

My only other thought is maybe I filled the spool too full. I left maybe a little less than an eighth of an inch of space on the spool, and did everything else correctly while spooling as far as I know. Maybe I just need to use it a bit more and figure out exactly what is happening.

[davecon]

Good start with not filling the spool too much. Should be a little less than with mono. Also, always close the bail with your hand, not by turning the reel handle. I learned this the hard way - believe me on this one.

[ib_of_the_damned]

Are you manually flipping the bail closed or using the handle to close it? Sometimes using the reel handle to close the bail can introduce twists in the braid and fishing a weightless fluke can sometimes spiral on the retrieve further compounding the twists in the line. 

[Scott F]

2 hours ago, ib_of_the_damned said:

Are you manually flipping the bail closed or using the handle to close it? Sometimes using the reel handle to close the bail can introduce twists in the braid and fishing a weightless fluke can sometimes spiral on the retrieve further compounding the twists in the line. 

There is no possible way closing the bail by turning the handle can introduce line twist more than closing it by hand. How does your line know what method was used to close the bail?  The problem panfish12 is having is that he gets a loose loop of line coming off the spool before he begins to reel. On the next cast, the line coming off the spool grabs that loose loop and causes what is usually called a "wind knot". To keep this from happening, when you close the bail, tug a bit on the line to be sure there are no loose loops that aren't snug on the spool before you start winding.

[panfish12]

I have been closing it by hand anyway, I am heading out for a short trip now, I will try that.

[davecon]

3 hours ago, Scott F said:

There is no possible way closing the bail by turning the handle can introduce line twist more than closing it by hand. How does your line know what method was used to close the bail?  The problem panfish12 is having is that he gets a loose loop of line coming off the spool before he begins to reel. On the next cast, the line coming off the spool grabs that loose loop and causes what is usually called a "wind knot". To keep this from happening, when you close the bail, tug a bit on the line to be sure there are no loose loops that aren't snug on the spool before you start winding.

 

I will respectfully disagree with you on this one. Have been using braid on spinning reels for over 15 years. Casting a heavier lure, not much difference, but on flukes it has been my personal experience that closing the bail by hand makes a tremendous difference. When fishing for Snook and reds have gone thru as many as four packs of flukes in one morning. Turning the reel handle to close the bail and you have MANY problems. As soon as I started closing the bail by hand the problem virtually disappeared. 

 

Take it as you will, just relaying first hand experience.

[Scott F]

1 minute ago, davecon said:

 

I will respectfully disagree with you on this one. Have been using braid on spinning reels for over 15 years. Casting a heavier lure, not much difference, but on flukes it has been my personal experience that closing the bail by hand makes a tremendous difference. When fishing for Snook and reds have gone thru as many as four packs of flukes in one morning. Turning the reel handle to close the bail and you have MANY problems. As soon as I started closing the bail by hand the problem virtually disappeared. 

 

Take it as you will, just relaying first hand experience.

OK, first off I was talking about line twist. Nothing else. Please explain what happens when you close the bail by turning the handle that explains why it will twist line but closing the bail by hand doesn't twist line.

[jr231]

I fish with braid on a cheap spinning reel all the time. 20 # power pro. I can seriously cast weightless flukes farther than I need to in calm conditions! 

 

I'm almost positive you have too much line on your reel . Simple as that. 

[davecon]

44 minutes ago, Scott F said:

OK, first off I was talking about line twist. Nothing else. Please explain what happens when you close the bail by turning the handle that explains why it will twist line but closing the bail by hand doesn't twist line.

 

My bad. Mistakenly was thinking wind knots. 

 

Have NEVER had the remotest problem with line twist. Using Power Pro 10/15/20 pound. Use it on both spinning and baitcasting.

[panfish12]

Didn't have any problems with it tonight, I'm guessing that it was a combination of what Scott F said and having a little to much line on the reel. Thanks for your help.

[The Bassman]

I've developed a habit of using my index finger to feather the line during the cast and close the bail in one smooth motion. A slight lift of the rod tip at  the same time and no problems.  I keep my spool as full as possible as it really helps with distance.