How to fix a defective bail that won't fully trip 

This nearly-five-year-old-video is still helping get those old reels working properly. Had this problem with many reels, but didn't know the fix. Now I do! Thank you Sir!

Dennis your video was exactly what I needed for fixing my reels. Thank you.

Thank you partner, I was fiddling with my reel greasing, stretching the spring and figured parts were just worn. But with this video I have it working . 15 years with this reel

Amazing knowledge and experience! Thank you! Watching every video you’ve made. Please keep them coming.

Thanks for this video Dennis. I took your advise and looked at my Mitchell 406 again and yes you are right. Bent bail wire. And the new one that I bought also needed to be adjusted which I never would have thought. I just learned another valuable lesson from you! Thank you and stay safe!

Thanks for sharing another informative video Dennis. I have experienced this exact same problem before. Had I known at the time what the problem was and, the quick fix, I'd most likely still be using that reel. Thanks again for educating me (us) on how to keep our tackle running smoothly. Stan

Dennis your videos are great! Helped me a lot with rebuilding and maintaining my grandfather’s reels to continue the fishing traditions!!

Dennis I thank you... your video helped me so much.. I looked for hours for replacement parts and how to videos but yours was exactly what I needed.... THANK YOU...

Thank you Dennis for your superb video. Ive been having problems with one of my spinning reels and thanks to you I have fixed the issue. Thank you

thanks so much for this bail video. never thought about bail being bent as a cause. always thought it had to be a bail spring. john

THIS WORKED!!! My 25 year old Shimano Stradic bail was not always tripping (I've kept this smooth-as-silk workhorse in great condition and LOVE it) ....I was hunting on ebay to track down a spring....and came across this. It was almost an inch out ...thanks for this 100% effective fix!

Thank you so much for this, makes total sense, I'll try this on my Shimano bait runner, then all I need to figure out is how to stop the drag jamming.

Thank you for taking the time to make these videos. Fixed 2 4500a baitrunners watching this.

Thats it!! After many vids that didn't help, I found yours, perfect!! Thank you very much

You just saved me the repair costs on 3 reels! Thanks for the video!

I watched this video, and went and fixed my bale wire. Bent it to release the tension and voila, it works again. Thanks for the great video.

Thanks Dennis, that little work just saved on of my favorite reels.

Don't know why this video popped into my feed, been watching a lot of fishing videos but no fixing videos, but I needed exactly this for an old Shakespeare I have. Isn't 100% but it made a definite big improvement. Thanks.

Great explanation; simple and to the point. Thanks. Darlington, SC

just got someone comeing round to buy 2 reels of me on marketplace i was a bit worried got that problem on both reels followed your video both working good now great video

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! I kept thinking it was an internal problem with the spring mechanism. You're a lifesaver. (not for fish, though.)

This video fixed my Penn Battle 3 after I guess I bent the bail wire when I was servicing my reel. It's such an easy fix, I felt stupid after.

Again nice 1 Dennis you’ve fixed another 1 of my reel probs thank you

As others have stated, thank you for this simple fix. It worked well on my Penn Battle II. 👍 David

Thank you Dennis for your insight and skills!

Thanks Dennis, I always search for solutions to problems on your site first! Problem solved.

Great Advice! You help me get a non functional reel into a smooth running one.

I would like to say thank you sir, my son and I both had malfunctioning Presidential reals in through your video I was able to repair both

Brilliant. I was about to replace the spring. Thank you!

Wow, that was exactly my problem! I would have never thought of this, I assumed lube but I did this and it's fixed! Thank You!

Thank you sir for making this video. It saved me from buying a new reel !

You just helped me fix my reel. Thank you

It worked the first time. THANKS!

Thank you, Dennis. Now works perfectly🙂

Awesome fix. Took less than 2 minutes. Fixed my son's reel. #ProudMom

I was going to get rid of my old Mitchell 300, but this fixed it! Thanks!

In Five minutes after watching this video fixed my Daiwa Kastor 2000 and 5000 reels, in 4 minutes, Big Thanks 👍

Thank you Dennis. I have a 710 with that problem, gonna give it a go.

Thanks for posting this informative video. Now I'll try fixing my son's reel.

Brilliant and simple great video THANKS from th UK

Thanks for this information. I am a born tinkerer and I do reel repair as a hobbyist. I find your channel very helpful. Also, I just realized you are in the next town over. Kind of funny how I stumbled on your channel when you are only about 2 miles from me. lol.

Fixing that bent wire immediately fix the issue. Thank you!

Hours of frustration, solved by 30 seconds of bending the bail back to shape. Thks

Worked perfectly. Thank you!

Great videos you’ve helped me a lot with my old peen reels and Mitchell Garcias

Thanx boss🤝 It worked like a charm. You got a new subscriber.

Very good video. I appreciate the help.

BRILLIANT FIX

Thank you for this video. Very helpful.....

Thanks again another great video I need to do this to my penn captiva 2000

Great video! Worked for me.

Worked perfectly, thank you for saving me time, money and frustration.

Thanks this helped my reel and it needed a good cleaning

Fixed my favorite bail thank you!!!!!!

love this guy. saved so many of my reels. appreciated and recommended to all my fishing pals. godless

Good job fixing that ya your right I bought a reel that is all that was wrong with is easy fix got the reel for 5 dollars

Thanks. Your video helped me out with a cheapo reel i'm planning on giving to my nephew whose a green novice.

Nice thanks for teaching me...🙋‍♂️🙏

Thanks so much! I have a Quantum SE1 ultralight in which the bail stopped tripping. Instead of unscrewing the bail wire by where the roller is, I just re-bent the wire on the opposite side of the roller with the screw in place, and the bail started tripping again.

Good information, thank you

Thank you! I couldn’t figure out what was going on with an old Penn 716z that my grandpa gave me

Great information! Thanks!

Thanks! Worked on my reel.

Very helpful, Thanks!

Great tip , thanks 👍

Thanks worked for me !

Thank u so much it fixed mine just like that

That helped me so so much thank you VERY MUCH from the UK. All I need too do know is the 1 screw ont bail arm where your line does and you open it up and it has the washer and bearing so I can clean it too let the line run free. But the screw won't come loose any ideas that I could do too get a screw loose please, none of screwdrivers will work they just round it off???

Awesome info. TY soooo much. New sub!!

You are Sir just amazing

Very good vid I fixed my real in ten mins excellent

Great to know. I've had the problem but always thought it needed a new spring. Thanks!

helpful as hell!!

Thank you sir fixed it just right

Very helpful! I woulda run out n either returned the reel I have where the pin will not trip to release line. I watched a few videos an all of em replaced the spring, wire or entire spinning unit (cannot think of the name) lol. Thanks . Im fixing my own like the awesome chick Fisherman I am

Thanks for the video, My reel completes the trip except at one specific spot in the rotation. I am assuming the the mal-function is in the trip plunger? Very low use Pflueger Arbor, very nice reel and I don't mind tripping it manually. Unfortunately , I cracked the rotor trying the repair from this video,but it still works. Trying to decide if it's worth it to buy a new rotor and try to fix it as good as new.

Thanks a lot it works

👍 Great to know. Thanks

Thank you so very much for your informative and helpful video. I always simply assumed the problem was due to worn bail springs. What grease and oil do you like to use for your repairs and general maintenence? Thanks again

Just did this to my Okuma Avenger ABF65...Fixed it...was going to replace it for sticky bail...I like to crank mine shut others like to close it manually..Just my thing I guess...Thanks

Genius...I guarantee you some of them scholars at university wouldn't figure that out in a week... Brilliant 👍

THANKS SO MUCH!!!

I have two reals that do this. I will have to look to see if this was the problem. Crossing my fingers...Thank you!

Thanks, I have a Pfleuger President I bet this will fix.

I have two Lews speed spool reels both the same model, but the bail on one reel is hard to flip over while the other is easy so do you have any suggestions on a fix like modifying a part on the reel.

Thanks Dennis! I am restoring an old Mitchell 402 Saltwater that had a bail issue where the wire was striking the handle on every 2nd or 3rd turn. Found the issue was that the entire bail had been bent backwards toward the handle direction. It took some very careful effort but it works fine now. I tried putting a 302 bail on it since the part is the same but I’ve got to get one of those Mitchell saltwater size tools. It’s a pain to do w/o one. I’ve got to put a new bearing in it. I was lucky that the set screws moved easily so I could get the old bearing out. It’s going to be a nice reel. If I understand it right a 402 is the high speed version of the venerable 302. It’s another Mitchell for my collection I have 10 now. Still want a 498 PUM someday. That’s the only Mitchell I want to add at this point. Have you ever worked on the auto-bail on a Mitchell Ottomatic. I have a beautiful 330. It’s a lot of fun to fish with it but a real pain to work on. This was a very interesting video!

Does this go for new reels too? Is worth taking a look at a brand new reels an look at the bail and tweek it so it is perfect?

Dude I fucking love you, you saved me so much money

Sir, I hope to find you in good health. I have a shimano ci4 plus. I’m wondering why I can’t hear the clicking noise when the bail wire is in operation. The spring is in there but no clicking sound.

Nobody had made a video about spinning reels that get stuck due sand while surfing fishing. How can you prevent that from happening?🙏

Hey .. what's up.. I have a vintage Daiwa 7500..I can't put the bail spring back..I just don't get it right..help me.. thanks.

My problem is quite different. My Shimano Solstace 4000 with the Quickfire 2 trigger has the problem of a bail closing mid cast. I'll throw the lure and 20 yards later the bail closes shut. Also, there are times when the bait hits the water, I turn the handle to click close the bail and it remains open. That's not as bad, I should be manually closing the bail by hand anyway. I'm waiting to see my lure keep going one of these times when that bail slams shut mid cast! Any ideas?

What if the wire pulls out it keeps popping out. . Does that mean bail wire is bent. I have 070 shakespear real.

It's a little trickier if the reel has a bail trigger, like my 80's Shimanos, but I got it closing properly with a little bend.

i have a small reel with a pretty thick bail wire and got it brand new but notice it was quite stiff closing by reeling and i end up using my hand to flip it closed and i was getting upset i may have bought a junk reel and then i realised the factory set screws on either sides of the arms needed loosening and now it closes easily but again there is one position that sometimes gets stuck ,i think it is internal problem on the firing trip or possibly a design flaw found in most reels but not my shimano lol so idk what to do,i dont want to start taking it apart, although they say you should not use the reel arm to close bails but rather do it by hand but that is annoying

How about bail arm not close properly sir??? Many clearance when close bail arm...

How do you fix the switch on the bottom of the reel keep it from going backwards

Wish I'd seen this before taking the reel apart, and struggling to put it back together!

Any tips for a bail that opens with very minimal pressure. Always opens up when I’m reeling in a fish.

Hello, i want to ask you this, when i lift up my belt it locks, and when i put it down. It doesn't work on lock, what is the problem?