the spinning reel twist debate

[zooker]

every one talks about closing the bail by hand to prevent line twist. keep in mind braid, mono,and floro are a textile-like cotton or polyester- my good friend forrest told me this in a recent discussion on the line twist debate. forrest is every bit of 65 years old and a legendary salt water angler

"First, I need to introduce my credentials on this subject-- My lifetime occupation has been dealing with industrial water treatment. In the early 70's me and another idiot ( he was the smart one) held a novelty process patent for the development of chemical additives injected into textile air washer and humidity systems to blanket or neutralize static electricity which used to be and still is a major problem to control in the production of synthetic and blended textile yarns and fabric.

I am of the opinion that static electricity plays the major roll in the knotting and kinking problem. Variables are too numerous solve easily for fishing --the charges can drift in either direction plus or minus. Weather and humidity plays a major roll. Reel and rod construction components, metals, graphite,synthetic lines are all producers of current when you crank a reel or cast thru metal guides,etc.,they can produce small amounts of current--just like walking on a carpet and touching a metal object or trying to get saran wrap off your finger. All natural waters and especially salty are good conductors of current.

When I put new line on a reel I use fabric softener on a cotton ball or fabric softener sheets to apply pressure while loading reels.The rotation of a spinning reel bail will NOT twist mono( A couple Englishmen went five stories up and proved this by dropping and retrieving a lure from a window)"

nuff said

zooker

[Rebbasser]

Interesting-fabric softener. That one I hadn't heard.

[WTL]

Good, valuable post.

One thing I have been experimenting latlely with is lifting the rod tip when I flip the bail to make sure I don't get any slack loops to form on the reel. Those loops cause most of my problems. The static thing however, who can say what else I can do. I'll try the fabric sheets next time I spool one though.

[Deacon]

If you take off ALL the mono(leaving backing) and tie say 20lb braid(of your choice) and add a leader of floro(your brand of choice again) then it will 100% eliminate all the line twist problems forever! I also IMO find that it is way more sensitive and I dont worry as much with break-offs in some more of the thinker stuff!!!

Just my .02

[bcklash]

fabric softner---interesting

[Patrick Krueger, Jr.]

Since it came from you, I've got to give it a try.

[islandbass]

That is cool, but who gets line twist on a spinning reel?

I "never" get any line twist with my spinning reels.

j/j

That seems like a great tip. I will try it out. Thanks!

[bamabassman]

thank you zooker, very good idea there. will use the ol bounce next time. heck maybe it'll make that ol 10 pounder "bounce" on the lure. haha. really a great idea. will use it.

[zooker]

i have to amit i was given forrest a funny look when he told me too.. but he is right...

zooker

[Marty]

Static electricity or not, some reels will twist line regardless of what the angler does. Unfortunately, I've owned at least a half-dozen of them. These reels would twist line under identical circumstances that wouldn't twist on other reels I owned.

I forgot the details, but some years ago a reel manufacturer explained it to me, it had something to do with the line roller and angles.

I can't say your friend doesn't have a point, but I think he's wrong when he says rotation of a bail won't twist line, since that goes against what the manufacturer told me and my own personal experiences.

[BigBassin144]

Sounds intersting. The only thing I'd be worried about is the scent of the fabric softener on the line.

BB

[zooker]

Originally Posted by BigBassin144

Sounds intersting. The only thing I'd be worried about is the scent of the fabric softener on the line.

BB

what it is going to freshin up the stinky rod box and this is a bad thing??

zooker

[BigBassin144]

No I'm talking about another fish-related debate: scent. If you've got sunscreen on your hands or such then touch a bait, the fish can smell it. I'd think the same would go for putting fabric softener on the line. Just what I'd think though... and I'm wrong a lot so...



BB

[bothomas]

I think the scent could be an issue if your fishing slow....reaction bites I don't think it would make a difference really...( must not...I bet zook has a fish on a reel he spooled with fluffy or what ever he uses!haha) but.........on the bail thing, the reason for closing the bail with your hand and not just cranking the handle is to keep that first twist that falls off the bail after a cast from being reeled onto the spool. When I crappie fish with light tackle I lift my rod tip and close the bail at the same time and it pulls that first twist out every time.