Getting rid of line twist on a spinning reel from the bank?

[JFlynn97]

Hey all, after throwing some cheap inline spinners for a while my line is incredibly twisted (I'm using 8lb power pro braid) and I'm looking for a way to fix it. Everyone says the best way is to let your line out behind your boat while you're moving then reel it in with pressure on the line and it'll get the twist out. Unfortunately I don't have a boat to do this so I'm looking for other options! One idea I had was to, instead of moving with a boat, toss my line into a moving creek or river and let the water carry my line out then reel it back in while keeping my fingers pinched on the line above the reel so it goes back on straight. Anyone tried this before and had any luck? The other option I've heard about is to tie a barrel swivel to the end of your line and connect it to something like a fence, walk backwards to let your line out, then slowly reel in as you make your way back towards the fence and the swivel will spin so your line goes back on straight. Problem is, I'm super cheap and don't have barrel swivels and I'm not sure if I want to go out and buy a pack just for this reason 

 

I'd appreciate any tips!

[fin]

Do you have access to a tall bridge or balcony, tall building, etc.? Tie something to the end of your line like a ballpoint pen and let it hang. It will start spinning either clockwise or counter clockwise. Keep watching until it stops spinning. It will start spinning in opposite direction once it's untwisted.

 

Another option is to remove the line from the reel and swap ends.

[Team9nine]

Most braid twist, or at least the worst of it, gets restricted to the last lengths of line. Simply prop your rod/reel and open the bail and pull off line until you see the twist mostly clear. It's usually pretty obvious, and almost always within the first 10-20 ft. Then close the bail, and simply use your fingers squeezed on the line to slide most of the twist out of it by walking it off or pulling it through your fingers. You may  need to do this a couple times. You can also literally twist/spin the line from the very end in the direction opposite that it twisted to return it to normal. There will usually be a small section (2-3') at the end when done that will need to be cut off. I do this as needed all year long and go years with the same braided line spooled on my reels.

[OCdockskipper]

32 minutes ago, fin said:

Do you have access to a tall bridge or balcony, tall building, etc.? Tie something to the end of your line like a ballpoint pen and let it hang...

When I read that first sentence, I was afraid you were going to tell the OP he is out of luck & might as well just jump off the bridge or balcony...

[Jig Man]

You can open your bail and pull the line out down the street or a park.  Then within a few feet of the rod put your line in a book and close it.  The pressure of the closed book should straighten out the kinks as you rewind.  No cost providing you have a book.

[jimmyjoe]

  In the first place, if you're too cheap to use a good swivel, then that's 99% of your problem with spinners. Use a good ball-bearing swivel. One good idea is attach a good swivel, like VMC #0 or 1, then a 12-16" leader of mono. Seems to help compared to a snap swivel.

   I used 8 lb PowerPro on a Nasci 1000 reel. I hated it. And that's putting it mildly. I had another spool of Fireline Ultra 8, and that was a little better. You might consider changing your brand of braid.

   Anyway .... to your immediate problem. I let out 20 -30 feet, kinda like @Team9nine said, and then drag it through high weeds. That provides the friction necessary to straighten out the twist.Grass didn't work. Water didn't work. If  I needed more friction, I wrapped the line around a tall weed and then drug the line rather strongly, to say the least. Try it.

   Another idea I tried: look carefully at the line to see whether it needs to be back-twisted clockwise or counter-clockwise. Stuff the end in a cordless drill using paper to wad the line inside the chuck, and turn the drill the appropriate direction. This works really well, but you need to remember one thing: braid is made up of interconnected filaments that rub against each other. Once it takes a set from being twisted in one direction, you can straighten it out but it will re-twist very easily. I used to counter-twist the braid with the drill an judicious excess in the opposite direction needed, to remove this set. Didn't work. YMMV.

   But the BEST idea is to use mono. Period.    jj

  

[islandbass]

As mentioned you need to get a swivel. All of the inline spinners I make have one built in. 

 

This is only a band aid for your situation from one bank angler to another. It should curb the line twist. 

 

After every 8-10 cast or so, depending on how twisted your line is, I will let out enough line at or just passed the rod’s

length and let the line “rest”. If you was close enough, you will see the line spin back and forth about the y (vertical) axis. The is the line untwisting itself. 

 

If if you see a lot of untwisting say more than 15 seconds (warning - can feel like an eternity, lol) then you line was really twisted.  

 

Carry on fishing. I do this when fishing anything that can acquire line twist. 

 

BAM - the shorebound anglers band aid, lol

[Darren.]

3 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Most braid twist, or at least the worst of it, gets restricted to the last lengths of line. Simply prop your rod/reel and open the bail and pull off line until you see the twist mostly clear. It's usually pretty obvious, and almost always within the first 10-20 ft. Then close the bail, and simply use your fingers squeezed on the line to slide most of the twist out of it by walking it off or pulling it through your fingers. You may  need to do this a couple times. You can also literally twist/spin the line from the very end in the direction opposite that it twisted to return it to normal. There will usually be a small section (2-3') at the end when done that will need to be cut off. I do this as needed all year long and go years with the same braided line spooled on my reels.

This is what I typically do, even when I'm in my kayak I'll do

similar casting as far as I can and running line through my 

fingers slowly so as not to get burned.

[Yumeya]

5 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Most braid twist, or at least the worst of it, gets restricted to the last lengths of line. Simply prop your rod/reel and open the bail and pull off line until you see the twist mostly clear. It's usually pretty obvious, and almost always within the first 10-20 ft. Then close the bail, and simply use your fingers squeezed on the line to slide most of the twist out of it by walking it off or pulling it through your fingers. You may  need to do this a couple times. You can also literally twist/spin the line from the very end in the direction opposite that it twisted to return it to normal. There will usually be a small section (2-3') at the end when done that will need to be cut off. I do this as needed all year long and go years with the same braided line spooled on my reels.

This 100%

 

 

[papajoe222]

Also, in the future, along with using a quality swivel close the bail by hand if you're using a spinning reel.  I dislike spinning reels because of the inherent line twist problems and although closing the bail by hand didn't eliminate line twist, it sure reduced it enough to get through a day of fishing without me swearing at the reel.

[jimmyjoe]

1 minute ago, papajoe222 said:

it sure reduced it enough to get through a day of fishing without me swearing at the reel.

   I admire you! When it comes to braid, it doesn't take very much at all to start me swearing.    jj

[OCdockskipper]

17 hours ago, jimmyjoe said:

   But the BEST idea is to use mono. Period.    jj

  

I disagree 100%.  Mono reacts to the inherent twist of spinning reels in a worse fashion than braid or other made-for-spinning-reels line.  Mono will ball up, often in a mess that needs to be cut out whereas other lines will just be twisted and not stop you from fishing.

 

I use Berkley Nanofil on my spinning reels, with a fluoro or mono leader depending on what bait I am throwing. Not only does it render twist as a non factor while fishing, it outcasts mono by a mile.

[jimmyjoe]

1 hour ago, OCdockskipper said:

.... other lines will just be twisted and not stop you from fishing.

   Obviously you've never had the kind of wind knots with braid that I have.       Not only do they stop me from fishing, but they    my  . That only happened with one particular brand of mono, which I quit using. As for Nanofil, that's what I used for 5 or 6 years. Then I got 2 spools of 12 lb. in a row with dropouts in the middle, and I gave up on it. Otherwise, it was OK, although I wouldn't say that twist was a "non-factor", exactly.   jj

[Mikeltee]

Get a good reel and line and dont worry about it. Or better yet, get a finesse baitcaster rig.

[JustJames]

If you fish in a pond that small enough to walk to the other side, then let the line out in water while walking to other side. There you can start reeling in with line pinched. That should take care some of twist out. I’m lucky to have 100’ long dock where I can let line out from one end and walk to the other end and start reeling.

[NYWayfarer]

Another option is to ditch the cheap in-line spinners. Get a Panther Martin Classic.

 

Might be my imagination but I get a lot less line twist with that spinner than any other. 

[Log Catcher]

I use a barrel swivel and about a 2' leader then tie my lure on. This has helped stop a lot of line twist problems for me.

[Bass Junke]

On 8/10/2019 at 3:46 PM, Team9nine said:

Most braid twist, or at least the worst of it, gets restricted to the last lengths of line. Simply prop your rod/reel and open the bail and pull off line until you see the twist mostly clear. It's usually pretty obvious, and almost always within the first 10-20 ft. Then close the bail, and simply use your fingers squeezed on the line to slide most of the twist out of it by walking it off or pulling it through your fingers. You may  need to do this a couple times. You can also literally twist/spin the line from the very end in the direction opposite that it twisted to return it to normal. There will usually be a small section (2-3') at the end when done that will need to be cut off. I do this as needed all year long and go years with the same braided line spooled on my reels.

I have also been doing this all season. Although I have removed the braid from my spinning reel and spooled up some co-polymer because it was so great on my bait caster. Horrible line management issues. had to do ^^^^ after every outing. It was constantly wrapping around my tip. Finally gave up and went to straight floro. The floro is actually better(8lb sunline sniper), I still do ^^^^ after every outing. Helps with line management and makes it real easy to feel a nick or kink. 

[Glenn]

Best thing to do, is to prevent line twist in the first place. I never have line twist problems, regardless of the type of line I'm using. Here's how I do it:

 

 

[govallis]

I did untwist in a park, I did not like the way. This is what I do now: use an empty reel from a used spool; spool from the spinning reel to this used reel; every while, turn the used reel to untwist the line; once all line is on the used reel, spool the line back from the used reel to the spinning reel; turn the used reel to untwist the line every while. Worked well for mono line, I don't use braid.