Line fouling on the tip of heavy-duty spinning rods is annoying. In extreme cases, lines can break, lose expensive lures, or damage or dislodge guides.

Wind knots are inherent to heavy casting rods, but it’s not as common on lighter spinning rods because of the guide size.   A lighter saltwater spinning rod usually starts with a size 25 or 30 stripper and ends with a size 10 or 12. On a heavy Tuna/GT spinning rod, the stripper guide is size 40 and ends with a size 16, which is necessary because of the heavier leader.

When line comes out of a spinning reel, they shoot out spiraling.   Although the stripper and secondary guides will choke the line to a certain degree, it is impossible to eradicate line spiral entirely.    These spirals form loops, coupled with other factors like wind or incorrect lure/rod match, which can cause the line to entangle on the rod/guide, commonly known as wind knots.  

How are wind knots formed?  – when the speed of the projectile (lure) is lesser than the speed of line expelling from the rod. This occurs when casting into the wind or when the rod/line/lure is mismatched. The angler’s casting technique can also become a factor.     So when the line travels slower than the projectile, this will allow loops to form, which can get entangled with the guides/rods, resulting in a wind knot.   Conversely, if the projectile travels faster than the line’s speed, loops will not form because the projectile will be “straightening the line.”