Line to use on older reels

[jurelometer]

Dumb question from me...Alan what direction clockwise or counterclockwise...

Jurelometer,I'd  like to stay with braid but I quest some not all of these older spinners should be used with mono or fluorocarbon...

The direction of the coil tells you the direction of the twist.  If in doubt, twist it  clockwise between your fingers  and see if it gets better or worse.

Twisting is how the spinner retrieves the line.  It is price you have to pay to fish the eggbeater.  I have actually found less headaches with braid vs. mono  on  a spinner if I am not hucking it hard, but I don't fish spinners very much.  Just don't overfill the spool. 

Dragging behind the boat with no terminal rigging is best when line twists get real bad as Alan has noted, but a short leader and a good swivel can often be enough to keep bad twisting at bay.

Personally, I think that a spinner is a specialized niche tool that people tend to use in more situations than they need to because spnners are more common and familiar, and cause less backlash anxiety.  Meh...

-J

[bluesnart]

All your information is greatly appreciated...and well taken...about 80%of my fishing is for bass in urban lakes...some surf and bay fishing
I use spinning reels in order to fish as light a presentation as possible, open water, very little rough cover...and baitcasters when I feel I need more torque, as an example when frog fishing in the thickess cover or in among the tullies..although I can substitute one for the other depending on the environment I am fishing and the fish I am after...(I have used plenty of light tackle presentations with baitcasters) and whichever I feel like fishing with that day..I'm comfortable using either
I use braided line with both spinning and baitcaster reels 90% of the time with a top knot and will continue with that but with the info given add a swivel...I don't do much hard lure fishing usually all varieties of plastics but a few hard baits
I have learned quite a bit today and will incorporate many of the ideas and conclusions given...although I don't think I'll be dangling my line over many bridges here in LA...LOL
I'll keep you guys guys posted
One of the things I enjoy about this site is the ability to go back over comments and information after some time has past
Thank you all again...Juan

[happyhooker]

Mitchell 320 is a medium size reel.  Does have a plastic spool.  It would not be the only plastic spool spinning reel to have cracking issues if straight mono is wound all the way on to the spool.

Frank

[JasonGotaProblem]

I fish PE braid exclusively on all my reels. I used to be on team "mono only" but then I started fishing with braid and I love and prefer it now.

When I fish old spinners I decide what diameter braid best matches the type of fishing i want to do, and compare that to the known drag capabilities of tue target reel.

Example: my penn 750SS. I use it for sharks and other big stuff in the surf. I was initially advised to use 65# braid on it because it would spool better. At that point i didn't have the opinion-driving experience or knowledge I have now so I tried it. I hated the crappy casting. I settled on 40# and it's much better. Casts farther, I don't think it spools any worse, and the 40# braid is still plenty strong enough that if I feel the need to crank down Bryan's 5-stack for a tough opponent, i can.

To sum it up, choose the line by the type of fishing you wanna do with that reel. If it just won't work no matter how you shim it, you may have the wrong reel for the given use.

[Midway Tommy]

I only use 6# Clear Trilene XL mono w/ a dacron backing on my ULs & without a swivel so that it doesn't affect lure action. All I ever  have to do if I get a little line twist is attach the hook to a tree and walk out 50 or 60 yds of line and stretch it to get rid of the loops or twist. You sure can't do that with braid.

I can't stand braid, BTW.

[Squidder Bidder]

Personally, I think that a spinner is a specialized niche tool that people tend to use in more situations than they need to because spnners are more common and familiar, and cause less backlash anxiety.  Meh...

If you only had enough money for one quality reel, it would make sense to get a spinning reel. Most people can learn to cast a spinner well fairly easily. You can also very easily change spools and fish different line classes from the same reel. So within a given range of drag and line strength you have one reel that can "do it all." At least where I came up (New Jersey saltwater fishing), a Penn 450ss-550ss could do anything from casting in the surf, casting from a small boat, vertical style jigging, to inshore bottom fishing for the usual suspects (fluke/sea bass/weaksfish etc.).

That said, generally speaking now if I can use a conventional reel for an application I will choose it every time. I just think that spinners became popular because of their versatility and thereby their economy where they tend to be jacks of all trades and admittedly masters of one.

[JasonGotaProblem]

A spinner is like an automatic transmission, a conventional is like a manual. I learned on a spinner first, and I learned how to drive on an auto transmission. I later learned manual and conventional casting on my own. If you started with a manual and a conventional this analogy might not make as much sense.

You can pick up a spinner that had just been used by someone else and throw a cast into the wind at night without needing to wonder about the spool tension or mag (if applicable) settings, or whether you can even see it hit the water. And it'll be fine.

But for those who have mastered the conventional, there's way more control over almost every aspect of the cast and the fight, and some prefer precision. But similar to a manual transmission, there's a learning curve.

A good friend of mine who only drives manuals and doesnt wanna try a baitcaster (but fishes spinners) really hates that analogy. But frankly that makes me feel like it's a good analogy.

[Midway Tommy]

I had a 5 gal bucket of lashers that I threw over the side of the boat in N Central MN back in the mid 70s. Probably were some collectibles in that bucket, but oh well. I also gave an early ABU 5000 to a friend for free. I decided back then I wanted to spend my relaxation time fishing and not untangling. Haven't used a lasher for over 50 years and I too old & stubborn to start now.

[bluesnart]

As I said I use both types of reels depending on the fish environment there in ect.
I fished Trilene LT for many years and like it very much...my go to mono if I choose to use it...I'm not a fan of fluorocarbon, to stiff, but it has its uses...I began using braid and like it for it's sensitivity and strength...
I'll work through the twist issues and enjoy every day on the water

[bluesnart]

An update on tangles and wind knots using braid on my vintage spinner
While trying to solve this issue I noticed the line was not lying flat on the spool...line did not fill bottom portion of spool...after more research I added a shim under the spool now line is even through out...I believe this may have caused line to come off the spool unevenly causing tangles and line around spool when cast...also line not up to 1/8" of lip...I'm adding line and testing it out soon...but so far while lawn fishing no problems
Juan

[bluesnart]

Ok...to close this out...after several attempts to match line to reel...what seems to have cleared the problem was loading the line correctly...viewing from behind the reel matched the rotation of the spool...in this case counter clockwise...with how the line came off the line spool...brought the line down the edge of the lip to approx 1/8 inch...and lastly loaded with mono...Berkeley XL...so far so good
Thanks for all the input Juan