So I bought a new rod/reel and had it spooled for me at the store. I currently bobber fish with it using a rocket bobber, but after about 50 casts I start getting line twists that are really bad that I have to cut off about 20feet of line and start new. My question is was the line put on backwards or is this common?
Fishing Equipment
Line twist
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How you close the bail makes no difference. I fished for 50 years with older spinning reels that didn't even have the option of manual closing of the bail and never had a line-twist in all that time. Even with modern reels, I seldom close the bail manually, and still never an issue with line twist. I could explain why it makes no difference, but that would make this post REALLY long.
You say that the twist becomes a problem after about 50 casts. That tells you that this has nothing to do with how the line was put on the spool, and everything to do with something that is happening while you are retrieving your bait. If it was a problem with how the line was spooled, the problem would be there right from the start instead of getting worse over time.
Someone mentioned that live baits will often spin when retrieved rapidly. That's true, but your bobber will normally prevent that because it normally won't spin. If not, the suggestion for using a swivel would solve that problem, or just avoid those high-speed retrieves.
You said the drag slips a lot when reeling in fish. I think that nails it. You must NOT turn the handle on a spinning reel when the drag is slipping. I would make a guess that your drag is looser than it needs to be. Most spinning rigs can't "realistically" pull with more than about three pounds of force anyway, and much less if it's a light-duty rig (anyone can test this themselves, before complaining that this is incorrect, by trying to lift a known amount of weight off the ground with your spinning rig).
If your drag setting is okay, then here's what to do. You need to "pump" your rod when bringing in those fish. Lift the rod tip over and over again, cranking in line when the tension is less as you are lowering the rod tip. You can pull much harder on the line by lifting the rod tip than by cranking the reel anyway, but the more important reason in this case is to avoid causing the drag to slip while cranking the reel. Follow this advice and it will END your line-twist troubles.
A fishing buddy of mine swore by letting most of his line out behind the boat, with no lure or anything on the end, to remove the line twist once it's there on the whole reel. I've never done it, however, cause I put my own line on, and make sure it goes on correctly to eliminate the twist. Good you tubes available to get it right, but it's not hard at all.
I avoid it by using a swivel somewhere on the line, dependant on what I'm fishing with. Sometimes reeling in a crawler for gills creates a twist also. I just let the line untwist when I bring it in, dangling 6 ft of line above the water. Seems to eliminate most of it, but probably not all, but it helps.
Closing the bail manually versus letting the reel close it automatically may help some. Some reels will have one full revolution before closing automatically, this revolution with the bail open can put a twist in the line. Over time these twists can accumulate and cause problems. Drag slippage will cause more twist than anything else.
Your line twist problem's could be because of the way it was put on at the store. If whoever spooled it on for you didn't spool the line on opposite of your reel's spool rotation, that can sometime's cause line twisting. Example, most spinning reels spools and bail turn clockwise, so putting line on you'd want the line to come off counter clockwise of the line spool(filler).
Line twist can occur also from a reels drag. If you have your drag set light and you or a fished peels out line on too light of a drag, that can twist your line also.
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