# Stiff Bail Trip



## Excalibur (Oct 27, 2004)

Growing up, I always fished shimano spinning reels. Most were the lighter-weight plastic bodied reels and I'd use them for farm pond fishing. When fishing plastics, I'd cast and immediately start reeling which, in turn, would easily trip the bail arm over and begin the retrieve.

Flash forward 10+ years. I now fish out of a kayak mainly. One of my favorite go-to rods is a 6' shimano fx rod with a Shimano Sedona "metal body" spinning reel.

The reel has a much higher bearing count than what I used growing up so it's antireverse is instant.

What tends to drive me nuts about this reel is that I'll cast and wait for my lure to hit the water then want to start retrieving. My 'rhythm' gets all messed up because I constantly find that I need to manually close the bail before I start my retrieve. It takes a considerable cranking force to get the bail trip lever to pop over.

Is there any way to 'loosen' the bail trip lever spring so that it can easily be tripped automatically as I begin my retrieve and I don't have to constantly flip the bail arm over by hand ?


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## AbuMike (Sep 3, 2007)

Probably not the bail trip. More likely corrosion or grit between the bail arm and the rotor body. Sometimes an easy cleaning fix and sometimes not.


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## Oldmulletbreath (Jan 7, 2006)

It is a good habit to get into........... closing the bail by hand helps in stopping line twist.


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## OBX Jay (Sep 3, 2007)

Oldmulletbreath said:


> It is a good habit to get into........... closing the bail by hand helps in stopping line twist.


Agree 100%. I never use the auto bail trip, in fact I've removed it from all of my larger spinning reels.


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## Lipyourown (May 11, 2005)

You can take apart the bail and lube it but it is a pain. It sounds like you are ready for a baitcaster.


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## SmoothLures (Feb 13, 2008)

Always a big plus to close the bail yourself. No big deal once you do it a few times.


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## rattler (Jul 3, 2004)

Did you by a reel that does not auto trip? They do make those.


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## Excalibur (Oct 27, 2004)

No, it has an autotrip -- It might just be a little cruddy. I rinse it after every trip but will take it apart and see what's up.


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## Fishman (Apr 23, 2000)

I always close the bail on my spinners manually.


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## zztopsail (Jul 23, 2009)

From experience, once that spinner gets a good dunk in the surf and drug towards Spain by a big fish, or when one of the idiot novice buddies you took surf fishing with you lays the reel on the beach. the days of auto bail closing are numbered and I have never truly successfully cleaned it enough to fix it.


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