Close bail manually?

[billmac]

Do you spinning tackle aficionados close the bail manually before you start to reel, or do you close it by reeling?  The latter is one of the things I hate about spinning reels. 

[Derek1]

I close it by hand cause someone told me long ago it helps with line twist.  I honestly don’t know if it’s true or not, but I’ve been doing it ever since. 

[TBAG]

2 hours ago, Derek1 said:

I close it by hand cause someone told me long ago it helps with line twist.  I honestly don’t know if it’s true or not, but I’ve been doing it ever since. 

Same here, growing up learning to fish on a spinning reel I always just started reeling but now I always close it by hand when I fish a spinning reel. 

[NHBull]

Flip by hand and run the hand up a couple inches to ensure the line is taunt on the spool.  I had a good father?

[Mr Swim Jig]

Close by hand...

[PersicoTrotaVA]

I don’t like the auto close on most spinning reels so I have always done it by hand. 

[Choporoz]

I grew up with Mitchell 300's and didn't know any better until reading here about manual closing a few years ago.   After a long time retraining myself, its mostly second nature.  It kind of upset me because it was such an integral design element to spinning reels. 

Manually flipping the bail doesn't reduce twist.  But it does reduce likelihood of introducing loops on your spool (from twisted line)....which is where the reel trouble starts. 

[MN Fisher]

I always flipped the bail back manually...except on my old Pflueger 640 - look at pic below

See the notch in the upper right of the bail holder? See the little piece on the left side of the bail holder? That piece is a lever that locks the bail open, you HAD to turn the handle as it was an internal mechanism that lifted that lever out of the notch to let the bail close.

[Bluebasser86]

I flip it by hand, it's easier on the reel if nothing else. 

[flyfisher]

always do because most times i am feathering the line as it comes off the spool and it is a natural thing for me now since i have been doing it for pretty much ever.  

[offsidewing]

The trigger fire spinning reels you can close by reeling.  All others close by hand.

[Boomstick]

There's three potential reasons to close it by hand:

 

1. On some reels, I find you have to reel pretty hard tot get the bail to auto close, so it's much easier and quicker to just close it by hand.
2. I've been told that the auto-close feature puts strain on the reel and may eventually shorten the life of the reel. I think there's at least some truth to this although how much I'm not sure.
3. I've also been told that closing it by hand helps prevent line twist, but I haven't really noticed an issue not closing it by hand, so I think this might be false.

[OnthePotomac]

When I retired and got into bass fishing 19 years ago, our daughter gifted me with a day on the Potomac with a popular river guide and all I had was two spinning outfits at the time.  After about two casts he turned to me and said, "take my advice and close the bail by hand and it will save you problems down the road".  He didn't expound on why, but I figured he knows a lot more than I so I have always done it.

[ike8120]

I close it by hand whenever I can remember, sucks to get old LOL

[waymont]

You should alway close by hand.

-Helps prevent line twist

-It's less rough on your reel. Spinning the handle puts undue pressure on the gears, rotor, and bail

 by continually banging closed.

-It also helps preventing getting loops in you line.

[GreenPig]

43 minutes ago, flyfisher said:

always do because most times i am feathering the line as it comes off the spool and it is a natural thing for me now since i have been doing it for pretty much ever.  

X2 my other hands already there

[Log Catcher]

I close mine by hand and pull the line tight against the reel and start reeling. When I first started using a spinning reel I got so frustrated with line twist problems I quit using them for a long time. I finally talked to a guy in our local tackle shop about it. He told me about the differences the types of line can make. He also said to close the bail by hand and use a barrel swivel and a leader to help stop line twist. Problems have been very rare since I started doing these things.

[LionHeart]

I closed mine by turning the handle for years with no problem.  I now close mine by hand just to be on the safe side.  It has become second nature. 

 

Does closing the bale by turning the handle damage anything?  Probably not.  If so, I'd like to see verified proof instead of 'well I heard this from...'

[MIbassyaker]

8 hours ago, NHBull said:

Flip by hand and run the hand up a couple inches to ensure the line is taunt on the spool.

Yup.

6 hours ago, Choporoz said:

Manually flipping the bail doesn't reduce twist.  But it does reduce likelihood of introducing loops on your spool (from twisted line)....which is where the reel trouble starts. 

Yup.

6 hours ago, flyfisher said:

always do because most times i am feathering the line as it comes off the spool and it is a natural thing for me now since i have been doing it for pretty much ever.  

Yup.

 

?

[Vilas15]

Used to crank until it closed, now I do it manually and avoid knots on the spool.

[onenutinthewater]

Hand. I read it on the internet so it must be better! Sometimes i hate the internet.

No reason really just second nature.

[NYWayfarer]

Used to close the bail by turning the handle. I have retrained myself to close it by hand.

 

I can imagine that it saves wear and tear on the bail spring. 

[Hammer 4]

Once my bait hits the water, my index finger is on the line, when the bait settles on the bottom, or where ever I want it, then I close the bail by hand. I stay in contact with the line on the fall, as a bass may grab it then..

[TOXIC]

Always, always, always by hand.  There's a few reasons many of which have been mentioned.  My main reasons are because when I cast I am controlling the cast with my free hand for accuracy distance wise.  I am also stopping over run after my bait hits the water but I still want it to fall on a free line but not with 5-10 extra loops of line feeding out.  Same thing if it is windy.  In all of these situations, my hand is right there so it's easy to flip the bail closed manually. I am a firm believer it saves some wear and tear on your reel.   

[Troy85]

Always close by hand.