Open Face Reel Rats Nest – How Does This Happen

I’ve been stream fishing for years and I still don’t understand who I end up with this line mess on my open faces spinning reel. I’ll make a cast and “all of a sudden” I’ve got what looks like line coming from three different places on my reel. At least one of the lines is usually buried under other spooled line. Does this have something to do with my leaving my rig always ready to backreel instead of relying on the drag? I feel fairly ignornate for having to ask, but I might just as well get to the bottom of this line/time wasting problem.
Thanks for any help.

no need for feeling ingnorant. I have been wanting to ask this very question. This happens to me ALL the time, especially when using light tackle.

I asked the guy at Cabela’s,and they said that I need to get a line that has little/no memory. WRONG!! Unless it is just operator error, the line with little memory at least for me is almost worse that anything else. I really hope you can get some answers to this question. It drives me nuts. I think I spend more time untwisting my line, than I actually do fishing.

Most spooling problems can be attributed to one thing…
Line Twist. It can get on the spools a couple of ways. The most common is when you spool up. Instructions in your line box mention watching the line after the first couple of turns, if it looks like there is a twist just flip the spool over and continue spooling. Another way it happens is if you reel against your drag. If a fish is ripping line out and you reel against, every revolution of the bail puts more twist in the line. The last and most obvious is the lure that you are using. Most lures don’t need swivels but there are some that absolutly do (spoons, live bait, in- line spinners, etc.)

One thing that works to get the coil out of your mono is before you tie up, troll the bulk of your spool behind the boat, that stretches the mono and straightens out the curl.

I have all but given up on mono on spinning gear. Superlines are great but they are not all created equal. Fireline has a ton of memory and often will coil just like mono. I have made a switch exclusively to Power Pro. It is amazing, the 2/10 and the 4/15 are about all you will ever need for bass and walleye. After it gets wet the 1st time from the box it stays perfectly limp, like sewing thread.
Comes in green and hi-viz, and is priced reasonably for the amount of fishing it will hold up to.

Dan

Hawg Hunters Guide Service

Thanks Dan,

I’ve heard that your should let your line out while trolling, but I’m on foot wading and I doubt that the current is strong enough to take care of my problem. I think I’ll switch line as you suggested. If I do that though, is my palomar knot still the best knot for the line?
Also, do I have to tie the Power Pro line to mono to get it started on my reel? Thanks again.

Palomar is the best knot for superlines, and you absolutely have to back it with mono, or the line will slide on the spool. I would suggest an Improved Blood Knot for the splice, and a similar size diameter mono, or the knot may inhibit your longer casts. We have done some testing on our bow scale at Trail’s End Pro Bass, the 2/10 actually breaks at about 17lbs, if you are using a lot of light stuff the 1/8 (1lb diameter/8lb test) is also an option, that broke at about 13lbs. I use it on my panfish gear, it is great to have the fishablity of 1lb diameter combined with 13lb test.

One other note with Power Pro, if you are ever snagged, do not use a bare hand to pull the line, you will get cut, and nothing is more annoying than a line slice on a finger.

Dan

Hawg Hunters Guide Service

Line twist can also be exaggerated by stream current combined with the type of lure or bait being fished. Swivels aren’t always effective in eliminating twist. It is worthwhile to occasionally remove all the terminal stuff, open the bail, release line downstream and re-spool.
Not certain this is the solution to the “helluva mess” problem, but it could help.

Good luck,
Charlie

Having your line put on by machine is one of the safest ways to eliminate line twist and a mess at the head of your reel.

I do have to agree and disagree with Dan. It works real well to stretch your line behind the boat. I do it if I have to. Make sure to find a section of water where no one will run behind your boat.

My disgreement comes with the comment where Fireline twists and coils like mono. I have never ever had that problem. That is why I like it so much on spinning tackle. I use fireline for fishing jigging raps in the winter,(that will certainly twist your line) but doesn’t w/ fireline. Also I use fireline for Bass and Panfish. Most of the Bass lures I throw will twist most mono line, but Fireline stays true. FYI, I use the 2/10lb size Fireline.

As far as lines go, to each their own. I’m very particular w/ the lines I use. For mono, I exclusively use P-Line, spinning tackle line, Fireline all the way, and for fishing Bass in heavy weed cover I choose Power Pro.

That’s just my 2 penny’s worth.

Another trick that will definitely help if you’re not already doing it, is to close your bail by hand instead of by turning the reel handle after you make a cast. Closing it with the reel handle will often times create a loop on the spool.
Thanks to Mr. Holst and Mr. Stewart for this little tip in the Mastering Plastics video.

Along the line of closing the bail by hand, I also like to give a light tug on the line after closing the bail before reeling, to make sure any slack is out of the line. I have had this problem in the past when trout fisihng with ultra light equipment. Another trick to eliminate twist if you can’t let line out behind the boat, is to attach a large swivel to end of line, and attach to a post or fixed object( or a stick and have a friend hold it), let the line out and reel back in letting the swivel take the twist out of the line. This can require a large open space like a football field if you carry a lot of line on the reel. Good luck!

Watch for a “hanging loop” on your spool. If you see a little section of line that isn’t tight up against the spool, then on your next cast the line will grab that loop and yank a bunch of line off the spool all at once. Presto, big mess!. I use mono on my spinning reels and don’t often have a problem as long as I keep checking for that dreaded loop. Now if someone can come up with a way to get the *&%^*^%^% cotton wood fuzz off my line, I’d be really happy. It was terrible last weekend (in the Buyck area). I had to clean my line every third or fourth cast.

I have to agree with Blue Fleck on Fireline. Been using it since it first came out on both spinning tackle and bait casting reels. I never use anything heavier that 8lb fireline on spinning reels.
I am going to disagree again with Stradic10 about using mono backing 100% of the time with superlines. (sorry Stradic10)
You can easily get away from using a mono-backing by putting a piece of masking tape over the first loop/knot on the spool. Then wind the rest of the superline on as you would normally. (Always try to wind superlines on as tight as possible) This will not slip under pressure and is a good way to get away from trying to splice mono to superlines. The only time I would recomend doing it this way is on ultra-light reels. If you do it with a regular size reel, your going to need two spools of superline to fill the spool up. You can save about $13.00 if you put a mono backing on.
JWB

I don’t mono back my supers and have never had a problem with slippage. I too use the tape. Fireline will twist for me. Cool thing is that it’s easily fixed by letting line out. Not all my Fireline twists so I think I’ve got a reel or two not spooling right with the “anti-twist”.

As the line gets old, I’ve been known to peel off all the superline and respool with the opposite end tied on the spool and then all that unused line gets a chance to serve some real purpose.

Always rember to close bail by hand as mentioned in other post.Spinning gear creates a half twist every time the reel is closed by handle. Stradic10 cover all things that can go wrong and what to do to fix.Also make sure your spool turns clock wise if it don’t it will effect your line if being done by machine.

Close the bail by hand. I have to re-spool client reels evry other day and the one I use once a month only because I run out of line from break-offs.

I use Fireline with no problems. I close the bail by hand.

In my fishing and Guiding experience I find that the “original” fireline can twist but the greatest cause of the “birdnest” is reeling line over a loose loop. The next cast catches the loop and now you have a bunch of line going out. The best way to fix this is to loosen the drag and pull the main line(not the loose loop) straight to the SIDE with the bail closed … not off the front of the reel , until you uncover the loose loop and carefully wind the line back on under tension. I do this several times a day with unexperienced clients and I get some DANDIES.

Letting out line behind the boat goes way back for me( the 1960s) to straighten and it will lay wonderfully even on most decent reels.

Lew, bird nests in my spinning reels typicly happen to me after I respool with new line. For me it seems to be a matter of finding the optimum amount of line for each reel. If a reel does that to me, I assume the spool has been overfilled and I start stripping out and clipping off hunks of line till it quits making those weird loops. Also I try not to reel in limp line. If I have alot of loose line out, before I start reeling it in I try it put somekind of tension on the line to get a more uniform wrap on the spool.
BTW, I love Trilene-XL (Extra-Limp).

Ahh it took me to the previous post to find someone else stating the main reason for me… 9 out of 10 times there is simply too much line on the reel, Normally I get mine spun on at gander mountain, I always tell them to leave off the last 10-20 yards of line, since they always put too much on, which I end up having to cut off on my next outing, basically I pull line of til it stays on the reel by itself. Sure lots of line on the reel makes it cast nice, but you pay for in in snarls.

It is also important that I run with swivels on my poles too, it seems to help.

I’ll also jump on the power pro bandwagon been using it for 2 years or so now, and it IMHO is the very best super line, but I do not like to use it for every occasion, bobber fishing on a lake just seems wrong with power pro YMMV.

Still with all this I reline my mono atleast twice a year, if not more. This is the easiest way I’ve found to deal with it.

In all honesty, the best defense I’ve learned for doing away with snarls on spinning gear is to become well versed with a baitcaster as well. Good gear and proper set ups will allow you to go pretty light and still zing those lures where you want them. Not that a caster can’t pose it’s challenges, it just seems to work better for me under a (small) number of circumstances.

Mn-RST, thanks for feedback.
How do you feel about manually closing the bail?
I don’t really buy it. The only time my line has ever broke at a point that was even remotely relatable to the bail wire was when I waited way past the usefull life span of that segment of the line itself. I believe manually closing the bail all the time will shorten the life of a reel. The hardened contact points were designed for auto closing.
Repeated manual overrides of bail mechanism may induce unanilized stress’ in some reels, leading to premature failure.
Main lesson: Keep the working end of the line in good shape.

Yeah I Haven’t put much into that theory yet, could be valid, I still close my bail most of the time with just the reel, although I do flip it close manually at time. Either way it would probably effect you line more if it were still moving, like using reel to stop your cast, I use my finger, to stop casts short. It might also be because you tend to pay more attention to the line, and make sure there isn’t snarl assisting slack, that I know I sometimes miss when I’m reeling the bail close. I’ve heard this theory many times, one would think there is some validity to the thought in some capacity anyways. Whatever way I’m doing it now seems to work fine.

Fresh line and not too much of it I think are the biggest keys. Of course IMHO.

jwellsy,

The main reason for closing the spool manually vs. with the handle is to prevent a loop from forming when the bail snaps shut and there is slack line. And it’s a proven fact that it happens.(at least for me) I don’t think I’ve ever heard or read anyone say that it causes your line to break though.

Crossin Eyes, I guess I misunderstood what was being said.
I still try to avoid manually closing the bail though.
If there is alot of excess line out, I pinch the line up towards the first eye to put some tension on the line.
I expect my reels to last a lifetime, so I choose to baby the reel even if I have to sacrifice some line.
If I expected to replace my reels every year or two and they were being used by folks that were not very proficient at casting I could see using the manual bail closing technique to reduce tangle hassles. But, for me it’s just not a good idea. What ever works, works. Thats what makes the world go round.