How To Avoid Tangles On Your Spining Reel

Do you often get your line tangle on your reel while you cast? Have you ever experience how frustrated it can be to free your line when it gets stuck or tangled?

Spinning reels often get bird's nests and tangles, which are usually caused by one of few mistakes.

1. The line is twisted (nothing a swivel tied to the end of your line can't fix)

2. The line is not tight against the spool

3. Putting the line on the reel improperly. The line should go onto the reel the same way it comes off the spool, taking advantage of the curve the line has memorized from being stored on the spool. Lay the spool FLAT on the ground (do NOT hold it vertically) and start winding the reel. If tangles begin, turn the spool over. The tangling should stop and your reel should be tangle free for the future, as long as you don't make the other two mistakes.

4. Mistakenly overfilling the spool. Spinning reels should never be filled past the front spool lip, or too much line will come out during casting and -POOF!- you'll have a big mess of tangles.

5. The most common mistake is to crank the reel while a fish is taking out line. While it's OK to crank a baitcaster while a fish makes a run, a spinning reel is not designed for such a mistake. During the fish's run, cranking a spinning reel literally twirls the line around and around, twisting it up like a rubber band and resulting in lots of kinks and tangles.


Here are the steps to tighten the line onto the spool:

1) Go to a large field such as a football field

2) Tie the end of your line to something stationary such as a light pole or small tree etc.

3) Open the bail and walk away. The line will come off the spool as you walk. Be sure to walk off all the line

4) Once all the line is off the spool start cranking the line back on while keeping tension on the line. Make sure the rod has a small bend as you crank in the line.