Lots of things can contribute to it:
- The mechanics of the spinning reel. Remedy, close bail manually and pull loose loops out of the spool before cranking.
- Not enough line tension from lure to pack line down as you crank. Remedy, change to a heavier lure or put more angle on rod tip to increase line tension.
- Cheap lines. Some lines have more memory and will simply twists more. Remedy, buy better lines or replace line more often.
- Cheap equipment. Some reels do a poor job of line management on the spool. They bulge on the spool or lay uneven. They bury lines underneat other lines. Remedy, buy better reels.
- Repeated casts of same distance. The lines underneath merely builds line twists and when loosen, they will uncoil and wind knot on you. Remedy, do a long casts once in a while to clear out the bad spot.
- Lure induced twists. Some lures will spin to create line twists. Remedy, put a quality swivel on line to take that from the lure.

Other things that may help are:
Use a line conditioner.
Pull line off of reel and do a prestrech to clear some line memory and/or line twists. Drop line behind of boat downstream or walk it on a field.

Lots of things can contribute to it:
- The mechanics of the spinning reel. Remedy, close bail manually and pull loose loops out of the spool before cranking.
- Not enough line tension from lure to pack line down as you crank. Remedy, change to a heavier lure or put more angle on rod tip to increase line tension.
- Cheap lines. Some lines have more memory and will simply twists more. Remedy, buy better lines or replace line more often.
- Cheap equipment. Some reels do a poor job of line management on the spool. They bulge on the spool or lay uneven. They bury lines underneat other lines. Remedy, buy better reels.
- Repeated casts of same distance. The lines underneath merely builds line twists and when loosen, they will uncoil and wind knot on you. Remedy, do a long casts once in a while to clear out the bad spot.
- Lure induced twists. Some lures will spin to create line twists. Remedy, put a quality swivel on line to take that from the lure.

Other things that may help are:
Use a line conditioner.
Pull line off of reel and do a prestrech to clear some line memory and/or line twists. Drop line behind of boat downstream or walk it on a field.

Wow I had no idea it could get that involved. I can't afford a new reel right now . But I think I'll try a new line with the use of a line conditioner. Then if I run into the same problem I'll try some of your other suggestions. I can't thank you enough slipperybob not only for the advice for taking the time to put together such a lengthy answer. I appreciate it very much, will let you know how I made out Thanks !                  Walt

Thanks, but I forgot that filling your spool with less line can also help out to some degree. It works to help keep more line tension and prevent the line from springing off the spool on the cast.

See I hate reading all the complaints about some of the fees for membership or anything for that matter. The information I just got from you is priceless and would have been hard to find anywhere else, which is why joining this club was the best thing I could've done to improve my fishing skills. Thanks again Walt

SB forgot one of the most common causes of line twist on spinning reels: cranking against the drag. Time and again I have watched fishermen do this and next cast they have a mess. Easy to avoid, just let the fish stop running! Tom

Walt: I use KVD line and lure conditioner in conjunction with manuely closing the bail and it has helped make my mono memory free, just spray it on the night before and the memory is gone even works on floro. You could also have put too much line on the reel as that will cause it to do what you have described. Hope this helps.

Yep, I always forget that one that Tom always remind us all of.

I still laugh at one of my former fishing buddy who has his drag set fairly loose and is constantly cranking against the drag on a crappie during the whole fight. Three fishes later, he's tossing out a rat's nest of a line and dealing with a bird's nest on his spool.

This is great! I'm a new fisherman . And I'm always worried that I'm doing something that really shows how wet behind the ears I am. So I'm guessing that this problem happens to other people to. Another thing I'm learning about fishing is that if I'm making a mistake or doing something wrong a more experienced fisherman will offer up some help or give good advice and NOT laugh or poke fun at me. I really appreciate all the help from all of you, thanks guys. I can't wait to put the suggestions to good use.And if and when I have another problem I know where to go. thanks to all. Walt

I will still laugh, only becuase those things happenned to me too.

Don't get me wrong, fishing buddies will always enjoy a good laugh at each other's mishaps. I'm just saying if I was having a genuine problem, I like how guys like yourself and other club members are there to offer up a hand.

I also do a lot of trolling on a small lake and get tons of line twist even with using ball bearing swivels. A old timer once told me you can troll around the lake and drag your line behind the boat without anything attached to it. It will loose a lot of the built up twist in the line. I does help but if you use cheep line there is no remedy.

When it comes to trolling and cheap line, what happens when the there's tension on the line is that it begins to flatten out. Problem is that line is usually spooled and twists into a spiral pattern, so the flattening out effect will just spiral around the line that in the water. What happens when you get a ribbon going in water, it twists. So to the effect the same thing can happen to the line too. Consequently it's far better to troll with round baitcasting trolling reels, rather than spinning reels.

Some lines work better when you troll to let line out and put a heavy drag item to stretch the line to clear out some line memory. I ice fish and doing the line stretch and drop it down the ice hole with a swivel and sinker works really well to clear line memory coils and line twists.

The old hands will always chuckle at some of the "rookie mistakes". No one is laughing at you, they are remembering when the same thing happened to them! Tom

Thanks Tom , thats good to know. I can see I have alot to learn . I would've never thought my line could require that much attention, I thought for sure ther was something wrong with the way I was casting that was causing me to send these rats nests out onto the water. Walt

Hello watwood. for alot of years I was more concerned with what lure or bait to use than I was about my equipment and other tackle. after many instances of having the same problem as you have described I figured out that items like line selection and the way you treat it were a big factor including the knots you use. I still have problems with my knots because it seems I just have a hard time learning how to tie some of them that are useful for certain lines such as braid. I wish I had the resources that fellow members provide many years ago. for instance it was alot of years until I realized that manually closing the bail on a spinning reel helped with line twist and ultimatly rats nests. Tom said "The old hands will always chuckle at some of the "rookie mistakes". No one is laughing at you, they are remembering when the same thing happened to them" how true. we all find out that the more we learn about fishing the more we find out that we do not know, Thats why it is a sport to last a lifetime.

Brian

Well said Brian! That is where I am right now , more concerned with what bait I'm using, rather than paying more attention to my gear. But I'm learning , thank s to good guys like yourself and everyone else who's offered up the advice I need. As far as knots go,thats another problem I have. I have one knot and I'm probably not doing that one right lol. But I'll save that problem for another time I don't want to be too much trouble on here. Walt

after posting on this article I received my life time member reel from the fishing club here. Not having time to put the line on the reel myself before heading to the trailer up north I had Gander Mtn. fill the spool for me sinceI had to replace a few lures I had lost this summer. Needless to say the guy there wasn't the most experienced one they have and he overfilled the spool. the third cast I made I ended up with a birds nest going out with the line when I casted. Wouldn't you know it as the lure hit the water a 18" bas**** it Grrrrr. needless to say I had to bring it in hand over hand and strip some line off the reel so it would cast properly. The guy at gander probably meant well buy filling the spool up all the way but after a few casts the line wasn't on the spool as tight as he winded it and then it slipped past the lip on the spool.

Actually that is very common with having a line spooled on a machine vs the line manually spooled by the reel. Each wraps the line totally different. The machine doing a very efficient job of packing the line down, will have too much line on. It will practically have to fill the spool short, but most customers will probably complain about it looking cheated of line. Most people will not be able to keep track of how each reel will wrap line differently and how will behave vs all other reels out there. The customer will always have to tell how much line they want on it. Say something like fill it only 3/4 full or 2/3 full only. If you don't tell them, you can expect the reel to be filled to 80-90% of spool capacity and then only find too much line on it. When you get those Shimano Propulsion spools, it's better if you fill them to 80-90% of spool. That 1/8th inch or 1/4 inch rule just doesn't apply to those spools.