Among the biggest frustrations for fly fishers, common across all skill levels, is the coiled mass of fly line or running line that presents itself at the most inopportune time. Whether its the rising trout, jumping salmon, or tailing bonefish, the time comes for a critical shot and your cast dies in front of you due to a coil of fly line bunched at your feet, in your stripping basket, or against the stripping guide.

A number of suggestions have been made for how to avoid, or at least correct, line twist. You may have read about them in articles or heard them from fly shops or fishing guides. They include stretching the line before use, throwing tighter loops, and avoiding casts such as the Belgian cast that have changes in planes between backward and forward casts. You may have even been told to avoid fly lines from some manufacturers that are thought to be more prone to coiling.

Deneki Outdoors has a recent article that goes back to basics in terms of how to avoid fly line twist – and that involves how the line is first spooled onto the reel from the manufacturer’s plastic spool.

There are four tips to avoid line twist: always rig bottom to bottom; never rig top to bottom; never pass line around the outside of the spool; and, never remove fly line from the spool.

I’ve been guilty of number three – tying the line to the backing and putting the spool on the ground. Point taken. Next fly line goes around correctly.

You can read the article here.