Righty-O!
first, always close the bail with your hand - it will become second-nature to you after a while but it takes practice to build it into a habit if you've been used to cranking the reel handle to close the bail. Actually, I'm not convinced that this practice has anything to do with line twist but, it's certainly better for the reel.
Lots of mono sits on the store shelves too long. If you're buying from a discount store - like Walmart - there's a good chance that it's been on the spool too long before it ever got onto the shelf in the store.
Very true about the small diameter supply spools! The tighter it is wound onto the spools - such as the small quantity spools, the worse it will be. Equally true of small reels. I love UL fishing and my reels are tiny little things with very small diameters so, mono has to be changed frequently - it just won't live long on those little spools w/o getting memory like crazy.
To save some money, I usually only put new line on the top 1/3 to 1/2 depending on the reel capacity. Or, I "back" the mono with some of the new (and my new favorite) PowerPro 10-lb test as a "just-in-case" so that if I get spooled by a fish or if I end up having to strip off a lot of the mono, I'll have a reliable line there as a backup option.
Basically, I think mono is the most expensive option for line even if it's the cheapest to buy because it just doesn't last. I use braid a lot on all my reels - spinning and baitcasting. It will last at least a year and I usually don't fill the reel all the way so that I can leave room to overlay it with mono or flouro depending upon conditions. Mono is still the best for crankbaits and spinnerbaits because you want a little bit of stretch to get better hookups though that's less important for most UL applications.
Finally, I don't know if mono has gotten "worse" except that it's gotten somewhat smaller in diameter. And, smaller diameter lines are always going to be more susceptible to memory and twisting issues.
BTW: any reel manufacturer that tells you that their reels are "designed to eliminate line twist" is just feeding you a line of bunk! it's not the reel that creates most of the line twist - it's the baits you're fishing! I fish mostly weightless plastics - like Senkos and they are going to twist the line no matter how you rig them. If you rig "whacky" like I do a lot of times or drop-shot, you're going to twist your line like crazy - swivels may help a little but nothing will prevent line twist in those applications.
