I've noticed the last couple trips that randomly when bow and arrowing crankbaits free from snags, the spool will disengage for a second and give me a backlash. The handle will then feel looser or less connected to the gears.

Any ideas?

It sounds like maybe the heel of your hand is pressing on the thumb bar just enough to disengage the pinion from the spool and then the handle turns easy until it seats itself again. There is nothing about the method you're using to unsnag yourself that would cause the problem.

Yeah maybe, saw that other thread after posting this one. I just never had it happen before.