I make these custom bail springs by hand in my workshop from stainless steel spring wire. I have been making bail springs for approximately 20 years for use in my various reels. They function like factory made ones and have essentially the same use life.  I’ve been selling bail springs on eBay since 2014. I’ve had a 99% plus rate of success with their quality. If you have an issue with the installation or function of a spring, please contact me immediately. I will work to make things right to your satisfaction.

FIND MY OTHER CUSTOM MADE BAIL SPRINGS BY CLICKING ON “See Other Items”.

BAIL SPRING INSTALLATION:   My recommendations for bail spring installation are as follows:

1.     Remove spool from reel.

2.     Loosen or remove bail trip screw and bail trip lever or bail stop mechanism.

3.     Remove bail screw and remove broken bail spring.

4.     Put new bail spring into slot in the rotating reel head.

5.     Rotate bail forward and engage bail spring tab into the bail.

6.     Bring the bail back into the normally closed position while keeping the bail spring engaged.

7.     Screw the bail screw back into the reel head.

8.     Tighten or re-install the bail trip lever screw and lever or bail stop mechanism.

9.     Test the bail to determine if it is working properly.

If the bail is not working properly, check for the following:

1.     The bail spring tab is not engaged in the bail. The bail will not have any spring action at all. Repeat the installation process.

2.     The tab that sticks up into the bail is too long and is scraping on the screw head. These springs have all been trimmed so that should not be an issue.

3.     The spring is pinned between the bail and the bail post. This is easy to do. I did this on about half of the installations I did with my Garcia Mitchell 408s. With this situation the bail will hardly move. The bail screw must be loosened and the process repeated.

The last situation is that the bail is sprung. With this situation the bail and the bail screw rub on each other and reduce the free play of the bail. Here is an easy way to determine if the bail is sprung. Loosen the bail screw several turns. If this frees up the movement of the bail, the bail is sprung.  If the bail is sprung, it will need to be re-sprung into a non-binding position.