I use a lot of Minima's on spinning rods with 4# to 8# mono, but run a ceramic tip top. Seems every time I experiment with the Minima top I get a lot of line twist/curling. I know I have asked this type of question before, but just want to re-check with you guys, as it's a little frustrating.

With braid they are fine. Any comments welcome.

Thousands of rods in use every day with Minima tips with no issue using mono.

I wonder if possibly it could be the brand mono that you are using. You are not getting twisting from your reel are you? Do you continue to turn the reel, even when the spool is not turning? If that happens, you will be putting twists in your line.

Be safe

Thanks Roger,

No issue with cranking while the drag is turning. Actually a lot of the issue is with lite and UL rods for panfish, where the drag doesn't even go out when bringing in fish.

Do you use the chrome finish M4's or darker black finish M4's, or other? Wonder if it makes a difference?

For mono, I use a lot of Stren, Trilene XT, and a few others.

I had twisting of my line that put large loops in it when reeling in
On a UL rod and found that with a small swivel the twist went away The lure was turning in the water when I reeled in The swivel stopped it ????

Bill - willierods.com

I have this problem with UL rods, also. The swivel is a quick, easy way to fix it. I personally didn't want to mess with it due to my personal preference (being stubborn mainly). I found that every few cast (depending on the bait) I let a few feet of line dangle and let the bait spin around in the air. Then I stop it with my hand a few times until it stops spinning, it's about a 5-10 second process.

Seemed to help me enough to omit messing with a swivel, which is still probably a better option then what I do.

Marc,
If you are fishing from a boat, any time that you notice twists in your line, remove everything from the end of the line, and with the boat moving slowly forward, let all of the line off of the reel so that it is dragging behind the boat. Let it drag for a while and the dragging action of the line in the water will remove all of the twists and loops in the line. Then, slow the boat and with light pressure on the line reel the line back in. You will be good to go for a while with no more twists.

Any time that a reel is freshly filled with line, I always do the line behind the boat before ever fishing with it the first time. This action removes a lot of potential problems with twist in the line on a spinning reel.

By the way, I have used both the chrome, as well as the dark Tich finish and have no issues with line twist.

Good luck

Spinning reels twist the line per every rotation of the bail. Generally, the twist tends to come out as the line is pulled across the tiptop. If there is little tension on the line, as with Ultra-Light rods when no fish is being pulled in, the twist doesn't come out but slip across and down onto the spool. Braid is a little less slick than mono so it tends to "grip" the tiptop (or vice versa) and untwist on the way in.

The larger surface area of the ceramic tiptop may also help unwind the line and this may be why the ultra thin Minima ring is just letting the twist slip over and past and onto the spool

................

Reel spool size and the diameter of the tip-top determine the amount of "twist" imparted to your line. You can go with science or ask a true believer.

I have line twisting with minima top, and not UL rod, its actually MH rod. Its more like last few feet of line get "coils", not really twist. And yes, its only with minima top. Was using mono, p line cx or cxx, cannot remember. Never buthered me though, since i usually cut few feet of line after day of fishing anyway. Someone told me its not a tip top problem, but more of a line problem, particularly pline , which is a copolymer

Yes - it seems to be more of a curling problem. I can't link it to a brand of mono either. It just seems to be a lot less with a ceramic tip. Using 4# Fireline it's no problem at all.

I'd say it's a lot more curling than line twist.

Are you guys using mono and it just fishes good - no issues? If so I may give them another shot.

Thanks - Marc

Keep it simple - that's all I can handle!

Marc,
If I get any issues with line curling or twisting, I never give it a thought. I just let the line all off of the reel and pull it behind the boat for a time. When I reel the line back in; the line is straight and free of coils.

Be safe

Roger;
"Thousands of rods in use every day with Minima tips with no issue using mono".
did those thousands of rod owners tell you that?

I have been using minima tops on all my own rods for about three years now with zero problems.
Now I put them on most rods I build, none have came back so far.

Marc,
Many variables can be at play here:
Line choice
Bait
The reel (roller bearing, spool size, etc.)
Age of line

When it comes to spinning reels, line management can be a really big pain, especially when spooling new line on it. When I put new line on, I have someone hold the spool of line on a pencil and keep slight pressure on it. The as I wind the line on the reels spool, I hold the line below the first guide to keep another spot of tension. Most suggest filling to an 1/8" away from the lip of the spool, depending on the reel/line I will do that; or if I know it's a "tougher" line I will stop at 3/16" from the spool lip.

Once done, I bring out to the yard and pull out 1.5-2 cast lengths of line, drop it in the grass, and reel the line up keeping tension it my hand below the first guide. This helps get rid of twist that naturally occur from going to a big spool you buy the line on, to a smaller spool the reel has. Letting the new line sit on the reels spool a few days helps it get the memory of the spool as well. I've had tons of issues with spooling new line right before I hit the water, and this had helped cure a lot of my issues.

Trilene XT is a tough line, I don't like using it on spinning outfits. I would suggest looking at Trilene XL, and avoid Pline(amazing brand don't get me wrong) because it tends to be tough on most of their products. Stren original is good, you didn't mention which Stren product you're using; so I'm hoping it's their magnathin or one of their lines that tend to be tough as well. Cause if it is then it might be that these tougher lines tend to be frustrating on spinning outfits.

Hopefully this gives you some useful info to help cure the issue!

Don't get me wrong - I like Minima's. Weight reduction is great, they are tough, and not even close to any issues when using braid. Here is the specific application I was using last season, best I can recall.

6'2" ultra lite or lite spinning rod, Size 20 or 25 Pfleuger spinning reel, 4# or 6# Mono, jigging crappie with usually 1/32 to 1/16 jig and straight plastics - Cubby type - no curly tails. I use a variety of mono - Stren Original, Stren Crappie (really good stuff) and Trilene XL and XT.

After fishing an hour line would be curled in the section that would swing in the tip while casting.

Noticed a lot less issue when using a ceramic tip.

Wondring if this applys to the same concept of using SiC over standard ceramics - lower friction?

Thanks - Marc

Keep it simple - that's all I can handle!

Miles,
Although you can fill a spinning reel spool by taking line straight off the side of a filler spool and then winding onto a spinning reel spool, but it will be pretty sure to end up with twists in the line.

Yes, I know that this is exactly the way that fishing stores across the country sell fishing line, and that is the way that they fill the spools. But, this method does pretty well insure that the line will end up in twists after a bunch of casting.

Rather, if you lay the filler spool on edge, and then use the spinning reel to fill the spool from the edge of the filler spool, with the filler spool remaining stationary. Then, check from time to time to see if twists are developing on the fill line. If you see a twist developing, flip the filler spool over and fill from the opposite side of the spool.

I believe that the reason that this method works better is because you are basically taking a wrap of line off of the filler spool, and putting that same wrap back onto the spinning reel spool in the same way as it was on the filler spool.

--------------------------
I had made a line filler which was essentially identical to the line fillers that are used commercially in fishing and bait stores. I filled a couple hundred spinning reel spools. I found that after use by myself and friends that I had filled, that in virtually every case, severe twists and coils showed up quite quickly after using the spool of line for a while.

But, then, if we took off all terminal tackle, let all of the line off of the spool and dragged it in the water behind a slow moving boat for a while and then reeled the line back in using the tension from the water drag - that the coils, twists and other issues would be removed from the line. Then, the line would be good for a considerable amount of time before twists began again.

I never found any relationship to line twisting and the rod that was casting the line.

The only specific relationship that I found to be true 100% of the time was the way that the spinning reel spool was filled. If filled with a typical commercial line filler, the line would twist 100% of the time. However, if filled off the side of the spool, the twist was reduced by a significant amount. But, in both cases, all of the twists would be removed by dragging a line with nothing on the end, through the water for a while and then wound back on the spool using the spinning reel.


Good luck