New horror, how to prevent line twist on spinning rod?

[Ksam1234]

Went out today and had to cut off so much like bc of line twist and no idea how to fix it. Any thoughts while I’m on the water would rly help! Thank you. 

[Russ E]

if you are in a boat let the line out behind the boat and idle in a straight line for a while. it will remove most of the twist..

[stepup]

Braid with a fluoro leader is the answer you are looking for.  Also close the bail by hand will help alot.  I can fish mono on a spinning reel you just really have to pay attention when you are putting it on there.  

[flyfisher]

Use braid, problem solved.  Closing the bail manually and using KVD line conditioner will also help for non braid applications or at least it has for me.  You may have also overfilled the spool which can leave wraps loose and start wind knots aka the backlash of spinning rods.  

[NHBull]

If spooled properly, the only way to get rid of twist is letting it out while trolling with no lure attached.

Close the bail by hand 

Look at going braid to leader, or braid only.

 

[MIbassyaker]

There is no way to prevent line twist on spinning reels -- with the lure stationary (not rotating), one additional full twist will be put into the line every time the bail goes around as you reel.  The more reeling you do, the more twist there will be.

 

You can do some things to make twist more manageable, however:

--Lower diameter line accommodates twist better than high-diameter line. For mono/copoly/Fluoro don't go above 8#.  In most cases, 6# is better. 

--Always close the bail by hand and give the line a pull to remove any loops before reeling.

--Line can be untwisted by letting out a length of it (with a free end -- nothing tied on) behind the boat/craft and dragging it through the water for a little while, then reeling it back up.

--Braid remains easy-going while twisted, so switching to braid eliminates most twist problems, at least for a while (but you do have to watch out for wind-knots)

 

I am actually not convinced that direction you spool line onto the reel has much effect on line twist. Probably some. But even if you spool it correctly, after making several casts and reeling back in, you will already have put more twist in the line just by reeling than you would have by spooling the "wrong way".

[MickD]

1 minute ago, MIbassyaker said:

one additional full twist will be put into the line every time the bail goes around as you reel.  The more reeling you do, the more twist there will be.

Yes, but for every loop of line that goes out with the cast, or by letting the bail move as in letting line out while trolling or back reeling when fighting a fish, a full twist will be taken out.  

 

If you reel while the spool is moving, as with a fish taking drag, that will put lots of twist on fast.  Even if you don't reel while a fish it taking drag, it will put twist on because the bail is not moving but the spool is.  My first example is the worst, of course.

 

Using spinners like in-line spinners will twist the line , even if swivels are used.  Regular swivels, IMHO, do not prevent line twist.  I even doubt if ball bearing swivels, except for the very finest (and really expensive), will prevent line twist from aggressive spinning lures like in-line spinners.

 

I do believe that how the line is put onto the reel affects initial twist.  I put it on so that it comes off the end of the source spool opposite of how it goes onto the reel spool.  i.e. if the bail is putting it on clockwise (looking at the end of the reel spool) it should come off the source spool  counterclockwise.

 

But. . . some twist is inevitable, and as reported above, braid is less affected by it, the heavier monos and FC's are affected the most by it, dragging the line will get rid of it.

 

 

Bottom line is there is a lot going on that can affect twist, and if you do most of it right, twist should not be a horror.

[Scott F]

23 minutes ago, MickD said:

Using spinners like in-line spinners will twist the line , even if swivels are used.  Regular swivels, IMHO, do not prevent line twist.  I even doubt if ball bearing swivels, except for the very finest (and really expensive), will prevent line twist from aggressive spinning lures like in-line spinners.

The only spinners that cause line twist are defective ones. With properly running spinners, only the blade spins, not the entire lure. So they don’t twist line any more than any other bait. If your spinners are twisting your line, buy better quality baits.

[MIbassyaker]

32 minutes ago, MickD said:

Yes, but for every loop of line that goes out with the cast, or by letting the bail move as in letting line out while trolling or back reeling when fighting a fish, a full twist will be taken out. 

 

Yeah, backreeling will take twist out, because it's just a reverse of the process by which the line was put on...but, of course, the twist comes back as the fish is reeled in! (unless the fish is also rotating with the bail) 

 

And for a regular cast, as loops come off the spool they will only untwist to the extent that the bait is rotating as the line is let out.

 

It all has to do with what are the sources of rotation, and at what point do they occur, and the movement of the bail is the principal source of rotation. If a bait is rotating in the water (say, an in-line spinner) it could, in principle, be adding to the twist or removing it, depending on what direction it rotates.

 

What's the deal with swivels?  My experience is similar to yours: they don't do much of anything to reduce line twist. It must be that the force required to rotate the swivel is more than the force needed to twist the line. So the line just twists more before the swivel starts going around.

[geo g]

All the comment are good helps.  Biggest thing is how the line was put on in the first place.  Usually if you lay the spool of line on the ground with the label face up it will go on correctly.  Some baits will cause line twist if not rigged correctly.  Good luck, we have all experienced this at least once.

[the reel ess]

While you can never completely eliminate line twist with spinning reels, I use a baitcast reel for the applications they excel at. If you're married to spinning reel, you're using it all the time. If you have 4 baitcast combos and one spinning combo, each combo dedicated to a particular use, you'll be using the spinning a lot less and therefore twisting the line much less. I mostly only use spinning for baits that are too hard to cast with BC gear, like the Trick Worm or light jerkbait.

 

In addition to the ground that has already been covered, spinning reels with larger diameter spools will twist line less than those with smaller spools. If you're using a bait like a weightless Trick worm, you can use a a good quality swivel at the end of the braid and use a leader of mono or fluoro. You can also stop at the end of your retrieve with several feet of line hanging and allow your bait to untwist as much as it will. Much of the twist gets concentrated at the end of the line.

[scaleface]

I learned as a kid that I could not spool up a spinning reel or spincast reel without creating line twist . So whenever I restring one of those reels I "always" walk it out in the grass afterwards and reel it back in . That removes the line twist .

[MickD]

2 hours ago, MIbassyaker said:

Yeah, backreeling will take twist out, because it's just a reverse of the process by which the line was put on...but, of course, the twist comes back as the fish is reeled in! (unless the fish is also rotating with the bail) 

 

And for a regular cast, as loops come off the spool they will only untwist to the extent that the bait is rotating as the line is let out.

 

I respectfully believe you are not really understanding what is going on.  If you start from putting the line on the reel, and let the line off the source spool by taking it off the edge, with the source spool turning to let out line, you will be putting one "twist" onto the line for every bail rotation.  If you then tie the line to something, then walk away, letting out line with the bail open, when you have let all the line off the reel,  the line will have no twist.  All the "twists" put on by reeling it on will be relieved by taking line off with the bail open.  If you take the line off the reel by "taking drag," then you will be removing no "twists." 

 

You can see what is going on by taking a long electrical cord, laying it out on the lawn, no twists, make sure the twists are gone, and then start looping it into coils by just laying them onto your hand.  This is what a spinning reel does.  What is the condition of the long electrical cord by the time you get it all into coils?  Same for garden hoses.

[greentrout]

 

[MickD]

Seems like this video on preventing line twist is more about fixing than preventing.  

[WRB]

When line cones off a spinning reel in a wade of loops it's because the reel was over filled or to high memory line for the reel size or spooled backwards or a combination of all 3.

What line? What reel?

Tom

[Ksam1234]

Just now, WRB said:

When line cones off a spinning reel in a wade of loops it's because the reel was over filled or to high memory line for the reel size or spooled backwards or a combination of all 3.

What line? What reel?

Tom

I was using sunline super FC sniper 8# test and using the new daiwa Procyon LT

[WRB]

6 minutes ago, Ksam1234 said:

I was using sunline super FC sniper 8# test and using the new daiwa Procyon LT

If the line was spooled backwards loops should start forming between the filler spool and rid tip during spooling if the spool was laid flat, flip the spool over.  Using a mandrel the line should come off the bottom of the spinning filling spool, not the top for spinning reels. Full spool should be about 2 penny thickness ( 1/8") below the rim.

Fishing from a boat run the line behind the boat without anything tied on about 75 DD's for a few minutes at walking speed and reel it back onto the reel, all twist are gone.

I don't use FC without a line conditioner, Tangle Free or KVD.

It sounds like over filled with loose line.

Tom

[Ksam1234]

18 minutes ago, WRB said:

If the line was spooled backwards loops should start forming between the filler spool and rid tip during spooling if the spool was laid flat, flip the spool over.  Using a mandrel the line should come off the bottom of the spinning filling spool, not the top for spinning reels. Full spool should be about 2 penny thickness ( 1/8") below the rim.

Fishing from a boat run the line behind the boat without anything tied on about 75 DD's for a few minutes at walking speed and reel it back onto the reel, all twist are gone.

I don't use FC without a line conditioner, Tangle Free or KVD.

It sounds like over filled with loose line.

Tom

I spoiled the line on vertically. I have one of those spool stations that clamps down on the table , should I have not used that and laid it down then 

[ZbestBassman]

Buy stren original if you like mono and if you can then spool it up like a baitcaster with the line coming off the spool straight on.

[WRB]

10 minutes ago, Ksam1234 said:

I spoiled the line on vertically. I have one of those spool stations that clamps down on the table , should I have not used that and laid it down then 

That is OK if the comes off the bottom of the spool spinning counter clockwise, off the top the spool spins in the opposite direction or clockwise.

Tom

[ZbestBassman]

10 hours ago, Russ E said:

if you are in a boat let the line out behind the boat and idle in a straight line for a while. it will remove most of the twist..

Yes but make sure you don't have a lure on just free line it all the way out and pinch the line in front of the reel with your fingers on the way in

[blckshirt98]

8lb fluoro is the absolute heaviest you should go with on a spinning reel, but even then it's dicey.  I'm in the braid w. fluoro leader camp on my spinning reels (unless it's 2-4# test for trout reels) and it removes line twist as an issue when fishing.

[Glenn]

 

[A-Jay]

On 5/11/2019 at 11:56 AM, Ksam1234 said:

Went out today and had to cut off so much like bc of line twist and no idea how to fix it. Any thoughts while I’m on the water would rly help! Thank you. 

Lots of intersting information already offered on the subject.   My version on line twist goes like this -

Braid is the way to go.

There will always be some line twist which will need to be relieved behind your rig periodically.

Don't over fill the spool.

Don't reel against the drag, fight the fish with the rod.

Close bail manually. 

Just like the occasional over run on revolving spool gear, spinners have this little deal we need to learn to manage.  The trick is to stay ahead of it BEFORE it becomes a problem.

A-Jay