Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

Trying to learn this sport and came up with a new problem Casting small crankbaits on a spinning rod kept tangling the line on front treble. How to keep this from happening? Does a baitcaster or snap take care of this? Thanks for any help.

1st you need to understand how a spinning reel functions. The spinning reel spool is fixed and doesn’t rotate. The line is wrapped around the fixed spool via a bail rotor creating one twist in the line with every rotation unless the line can untwist. Your crank bait prevents the line from untwisting. Your choice using a spinning reel is learning to manage the line twist.
Bait casting reels have a rotating spool where the line is guided on and wrapped onto without twisting the line.
You can add a small Spro swivel to the crankbait split ring to help untwist the line, however the added swivel may affect the lures action.
The front hook gets snagged when the lure tumbles in flight after casting. The right power/action rod will help launch the lure without it tumbling.
Casting crank baits 3/8- 1/4 oz with a bait casting outfit requires lots of skill and the proper rod/reel/line combo. It’s not a budget driven solution.
Tom

Thanks Tom, I have a med/lite casting rig for 3/16 - 1/4 oz tex worms I'll try. Figured it was the tumbling, tried sidearm, underhand and overhand casts to minimize it. Any suggestions on rods and reels? I know that opens a whole can of worms.

Loomis PR845C popping rod originally designed for bone fishing casting floats with/live bait works perfectly for small cranks and is an ideal structure spoon rod. Very flexible tip to smoothly launch light weight crankbaits with 5 power lower half to control big bass.
I used Sunline Armillo 11 lb Nylon line, smooth casting small aD yet not so limp to tangle when casting.
Tom

Thanks again Tom. Will give that a look. Hopefully down the line I'll be able to pass on some wisdom.

That popping rod is the most versatile of the Loomis fleet in my opinion.