Spinning Reel Handle Problem

[TacTac]

Hey ya’ll, so I recently bought my first spinning reel at Walmart, gimme a break im broke lol, and everything works fine except this one little quirks that I can’t figure out. 

 

When reeling in, the handle will sometimes get caught on the bail and I’ll have to give it a little tug to spring free. This happens about every 3rd or 4th rotation. 

 

I’ve read elsewhere that it could be a bent bail (which doesn’t seem to be the case, maybe) or there’s a missing buffer in the handle. 

 

Im an amateur at this kinda stuff and I have no clue if it’s a missing piece in the handle that gives it a buffer between the bail and the reel, or if the bail is bent more outwards than it should be. 

 

Any help is much appreciated! 

[JediAmoeba]

If you have a picture that would be helpful but it sounds like you may need to back the nut off the handle, make sure it is seated correctly and retighten it.  Also, being a cheap reel it may be flexing a lot and getting caught.

[TacTac]

6 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

If you have a picture that would be helpful but it sounds like you may need to back the nut off the handle, make sure it is seated correctly and retighten it.  Also, being a cheap reel it may be flexing a lot and getting caught.

Thanks for the reply, as soon as I stops raining, I’ll snap a pic of it resting and a pic of it caught on the bail. 

[TacTac]

[JediAmoeba]

Yeah dude, you have it tightened up wrong.  Loosen it up all the way until the joint on the handle side will bend out further...reseat it and then tighten up the nut again.

[TacTac]

10 minutes ago, JediAmoeba said:

Yeah dude, you have it tightened up wrong.  Loosen it up all the way until the joint on the handle side will bend put further...reseat it and then tighten up the nut again.

I’m an idiot. Didn’t know the handle was adjustable. Thanks for the help man! 

[JediAmoeba]

Just now, TacTac said:

I’m an idiot. Didn’t know the handle was adjustable. Thanks for the help man! 

No problem, it is adjustable so you can change it to a left or right hand retrieve!  Good luck!

[MickD]

The issue is not left or right retrieve, it is that the handle is a folding handle and it hasn't been "unfolded" to its working position.  Back off the nut on the other side so there is free play on the handle side and move it to get the finger grip to be pointing out, then tighten it back up.  It's designed to make the reel more compact for storage, especially when one has a bunch of rod/reels to fit into a small space.  I expect you've already figured this out.

[Log Catcher]

This has nothing to do with the handle. Since you are new to using a spinning reel I will tell you to close the bail by hand after you make a cast. This will help stop problems with line twist. Also when replacing the line fill it to about 1/8" below the top of the spool to avoid over filling it.

[islandbass]

1 hour ago, Log Catcher said:

This has nothing to do with the handle. Since you are new to using a spinning reel I will tell you to close the bail by hand after you make a cast. This will help stop problems with line twist. Also when replacing the line fill it to about 1/8" below the top of the spool to avoid over filling it.

You provided great advice, but that was not the problem. JediAmoeba called it right. 

 

It is clear that the arm of the handle was tightened up but not in the correct position. 

 

The handle should be pointing away from the reel when it is in the proper position. In the picture, the handle (paddle part the fingers hold during the retrieve) is actually parallel to the spinning with respect to the rod. 

 

The handle should look like this. Sorry I couldn’t post a pic. 

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=images+of+spinning+reels&t=iphone&iax=images&ia=images