Jay Chan wrote:
On May 6, 8:10 pm, edfardos wrote:
I recently got back into fishing and was having problems with my
spinning reel such that the bail closes by itself mid cast. It was a
cheap reel, so I got a new shimano reel ($40 range), and sure enough,
it snaps shut during a cast now and then. Is this a bad technique?
Does it have something to do with the position of the crank during the
cast, whereas the snap action makes the crank turn and the bail
closes? Is there anything I could adjust mechanically to help keep
the bail open during a cast?

I just got a baitcasting reel, but I want to be able to use both
reliably.

any hints?

--edfardos

I have exactly the same problem with one of my old-style Penn
sal****er reel. If I position the crank to point forward (toward the
rod tip), I will 100% sure the bail will close during casting. This
can be very bad if I use heavy lure or sinker because the line will
break and I will see the lure to fly away and never return. The
workaround is to position the crank to point backward before casting.
One way to find out if your reel has this problem or not is by simply
positioning the crank pointing forward, casting, and then checking the
crank position afterward to see how far it has turned.

I don't know if there is a permanent fix of this problem or not. I
have got used to it. But my new version of Penn sal****er reel
doesn't have this problem. May be you can return it and get something
else that doesn't have this problem.

Hope this helps.

Jay Chan


If your line is breaking from the weight of the tackle you probably need
heavier line.