On a Boat (still water)

Take all the terminal tackle off the line. Feed out as much line as you can into the water (100 feet would be good). Drag the line behind your boat slowly, after a few minutes all the twist should be worked out of the line. Retrieve it slowly and keep a little tension on the line as you spool it back on the reel; pinch it between your forefinger and your thumb to do this.

On a River or Other Moving Water:

Take all the terminal tackle off the line, and feed out line into the river a few feet past the twisted part. Let the current drag the line out for a few minutes then reel it in slowly while keeping a little tension on the line (use your thumb and forefinger.)

On Land:

Find a grassy spot where you can let your line and it will get tangled or be abraded. Take all the terminal tackle off the line and slowly walk all the line out of your real. Returned to your rod and slowly retrieved the line while holding it tightly between your thumb and your forefinger to work out the line twist.

Tree Method: take all the terminal tackle off the line and replace it with a swivel. Type the swivel to a tree or nail it to a fence and then walk backwards allowing the line to spin off the reel. Every 10 feet allow some slack in the line to see if you twists. If it’s still twisting then keep walking backwards and letting more line out. You have left enough line out when you test it and there’s no twisting. Now slowly, while keeping tension on the line reel in the line and walk towards the swivel; the swivel will turn and take the twist out of the line.

• improperly loading the line on your reel (please refer to How to Load line on a Spinning Reel)
• an imbalanced fishing outfit (please refer to “How will you know if you are a buying a balanced outfit?” Scroll down the post.)

If your line is loaded correctly and your outfit is properly balanced then look to the following line twist culprits:

Swivel Problems

• Swivel Too Big
  Your swivel wire diameter should be about the same as main line on the the reel. If the swivel is too big for your main line, then the line cannot produce enough torque to turn it.
• Cheap Swivel
  Use a high quality ball-bearing swivel – some cheap swivels just don’t swivel smoothly or at all.
• Using Swivel as a Stopper
  A common mistake is to use and oversized swivel as a stopper. You would do better to use the correct sized swivel and a glass or plastic bead between the main line and the swivel to keep your sinker from moving up the line.

Retrieve Problems

• Retrieve to Fast
  If you are using a spoon or a spinner, remember that they are designed to wobble from side to side to varying degrees. They should not be spinning widely. If you retrieve these too fast, the rotation of the lure will be too much for the swivel to cope. It only takes a few of these casts to quickly twist your line deep into your reel. Test the retrieval speed before you start fishing. If you are trolling on a boat, run your lures next the boat so you can see how the lure react to your speed. If you are on the bank, retrieve horizontally to the bank a few times and watch the lure until you figure out how to elicit the right action.
• Snagged Debris
  Check your lure for debris after every cast – Weeds, bark or other debris caught on your lure will cause your lure to stop running properly and start to spin widely. If you pay close attention to the feel of your retrieve and watch the rod tip carefully, you can usually tell when something has interfered with the lure. Remove it immediately.

Bad Technique

• Turning the Reel When a Fish is Running
  You must never reel in against the drag when a fish is taking out line. If you turn that handle when a fish is taking line out you can expect to put 4 to 6 twists in the line per turn before the fish breaks off (and it will break off.)
• Engaging the Bail Automatically
  Always use your hand to close the bail. When you are ready to retrieve use the index finger of the line holding the rod to capture the line between your finger and the rod. Then use your free hand to manually close the bail and turn the handle until the line gets on the bail roller. Now you’re ready to retrieve. Do not use the handle to engage the bail. This usually reduces line twist significantly.

If you find this helpful, leave a comment and let me know.