Braid Tips

[MarshCappa]

I loaded one of my spinning reels w/ braid this season and took a few casts Fri afternoon. 6 casts and 2 knots later I was using my mono setup. Any tips on not getting those pain in the butt knots on casting braid? Should I just reload the mono?

[chief10]

MC- if your tying direct to a mono leader the knot will hit the guides and especially if your leaning into it you could get wind knots.If so try a swivel with a leader also when you finish your cast make sure to grab the line tight right under the rod blank with your index finger and flip bail manually. just to make sure all slack line is tight.

[niko]

what pound braid r u using? i gave up on 20#, it's not worth the hassle, especially if there is any wind in your face. if you just spooled up recently, as the stuff gets broken in it should be easier to manage - but by then you've lost a bunch off the spool and loose some of the advantage of using braid in the 1st place. i've switched to heavier braid even on my light setups. good luck, any life in the bay yet? i'm cod fishing tomorrow

[doc]

the manual switch of the bail and quick check to make sure braid is taught has made things alot less annoying for me...

[MarshCappa]

Yea it's 20# Niko and thanks for the casting advice Chief. I'm trying to remain optimistic about it but I have a feeling it's going to come off. Is it good to troll with? I'll probably slow troll with worms mostly. I got to think it probably isn't good for that. What about jigging off the bottom? I'm going to head out on Duxbury Bay this afternoon around 2:30pm and will let you know. Fri afternoon I took a few casts while wading in the flats but nothing. Yesterday there were guys lined up on the bridge???? Maybe they just had cabin fever to get out in the beautiful day, I know I did! Good luck with the cod!

[niko]

strip it off but don't give up on braid. the sensitivity is well worth the few hassles that come w/ braid. try 30 or 40 on light stuff and 50/65 on beefier stuff. good luck this afternoon. moving down there in a month, can't wait to start learning the bay and surrounding area -looks pretty fishy. take it east, paul

[Nebe]

One of the best tips i picked up along the way abut braid is this.. make sure to follow your plug out with the tip of your rod, so as it splashes down, your tip is down. This will help you get an extra foot or 3 on the cast as well. Once the plug splashes, flip the bail, lift the tip to 11:00 then reel in a few cranks.. this will take any slack out of the spool that would turn into a wind knot on the next cast. reeling in line under very little tension is the culprit with knots 90% of the time when I fish... dont know about anyone else.

[Redsoxticket]

Also, if the spool of braid appears to be loosely wrapped then remove the loose line by hand then reel in the line under tension.
I've casted the line out under these conditions, loose wrap, but it was to late. I'd had a feeling it was going to happen but I was trying to take the shortcut.

[Pete F.]

I use 20# Fireline on my Zs and 30# stealth on a Spheros. I would not use mono again.
A couple of questions
1. Is your spool too full?
2. Make sure there is not a loop when you close your bail.
A little patience while you try it is a help, the difference in feel is amazin
Good luck

[Moron_Saxatilis]

I had tons of trouble with what i called torque knots until I started using those expensive small ball bearing swivels.

[Mike P]

What kind of a reel is it? Not every spinning reel can handle soft spun braid, but I've yet to find one that can't handle Fireline.

Instead of 20# whatever, try 10# Fireline and see if that helps

Don't worry about the strength. 10# Fireline is stronger than 20# braid.

[EricM]

Agree with the ideas above, re: keeping tension on the line, keeping an eye out for loops when you close the bail, and not overloading the spool. If you do that, and then start encountering wind knot problems with the braid looping around the guide on the cast, try out some different guides. I was experimenting with the fuji lowriders last season and had good results.

[ilovetwofish]

I use power pro line 30lbs test I use it on all my saltwater stuff light and heavy.I WILL NEVER USE MONO AGAIN! Make sure the spool is not to full,use dacron for backing, and a swivel with about 60 lb mono liter.As far as the knots once the line has been used alot its time to change respool. I change my line 3 times through out the year.You can't beet the casting distance of this type of braid well worth the money.

[MarshCappa]

Thanks everyone. Mike P, My reel is a shakespeare live bait runner. I had the line put on at a bait shop in Green Harbor and it dosn't look like like he over spooled it. I must have taken off 15 yards by now though. I'll keep it on and keep it tight on the cast. I must not be casting it right though because I'm not seeing that distance you all keep talking about. I was out there this afternoon in my skiff and the wind picked up big time from the south and I didn't even take one cast with it. Oh well, next time out. I didn't catch anything either.

[beamie]

Originally Posted by Nebe

One of the best tips i picked up along the way abut braid is this.. make sure to follow your plug out with the tip of your rod, so as it splashes down, your tip is down. This will help you get an extra foot or 3 on the cast as well. Once the plug splashes, flip the bail, lift the tip to 11:00 then reel in a few cranks.. this will take any slack out of the spool that would turn into a wind knot on the next cast. reeling in line under very little tension is the culprit with knots 90% of the time when I fish... dont know about anyone else.

Eben is on line here imo. From what I have experienced all the wind knots originate at the beginning of the prior retrieve when the line has too much slack. You get that extra loop on the spool and then your next cast is You have to get that excess slack out before starting the retrieve.

[JFigliuolo]

Originally Posted by beamie

Eben is on line here imo. From what I have experienced all the wind knots originate at the beginning of the prior retrieve when the line has too much slack. You get that extra loop on the spool and then your next cast is You have to get that excess slack out before starting the retrieve.

OR...

When you flip the bail the line crosses the face of the spool.

[Back Beach]

I stopped using anything less than 30# PP braid for the reasons you mention. Nothing but trouble with it on spinning gear. 30# and up I've had no problems.

[zimmy]

I would definately check the line amount. Casting and such I'm sure has an effect, but 99% of the time if I have a problem it is right after a line change. I yank off a bit of line and the problem goes away.

As a note... I always close a bail manually (if the reel has one) and give a tug to make sure the line isn't looped over the spool. This becomes a second nature auto pilot kinda thing... Generally have no knot problems less those described above

[Flynny]

I used brad last year for the first time on some of my spinning reels (15# power pro). The first few times I was getting frequent knots, but I was also quite windy out. After that, never had any trouble and I will never go back to mono - in fact I am re-spooling my other spinning reels with braid for this year.

[Saltheart]

What kind of reel? Braid works better on reels with tapered spools. Old penns etc can have problems.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by Saltheart

What kind of reel? Braid works better on reels with tapered spools. Old penns etc can have problems.

He mentioned some kind of Shakespeare model that I'm not familiar with somewhere above, Mike

I say this again, for anyone who's having problems with braid--before you write it off entirely and go back to mono, you owe it to yourself to at least try Fireline. It's stiffer and has a little more memory and thus more "spring" on the spool than the softer spun braids, especially when new. It works fine on reels like the older Penns and the Daiwa BG series that give users of other braids fits.

[Pete F.]

20# Fireline and a 704 with manual bail is a match made in heaven.

[JamesJet]

I have to agree with many here, keep it tight, don't overfill and flip the bail by hand. In fact I kinda forgot that bails auto close its so natural now. The other thing I will say is different reels are more braid friendly, it has to do with the way they wrap the line. Good luck, once you get it, the sensitivity is hard to give up.

[HighTide]

Got a nice slice on my index finger from braid, That stuff cuts pretty deep. Cut my day a little short too

This ever happen to any of you guys or is it just me?

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by HighTide

Got a nice slice on my index finger from braid, That stuff cuts pretty deep. Cut my day a little short too

This ever happen to any of you guys or is it just me?

Yes, especially when you crank a cast ou but your finger has soaked in saltwater for hours and softened up - right in the joint crease between the tip and second finger segment - I know some people use those Cannon Triggers...

[teaser]

All I use is Fireline, the very 1st cast though I put a 3 ounce sinker on and give it a good ride. This takes out any slack or loose loops and once you get it in you'll have wet the line and it becomes more responsive, and most times you'll never cast a plug as far as you can with a 3 oz. sinker so you'll never run into dry line.

Always works for me, give this a try.

[Pete F.]

Originally Posted by teaser

All I use is Fireline, the very 1st cast though I put a 3 ounce sinker on and give it a good ride. This takes out any slack or loose loops and once you get it in you'll have wet the line and it becomes more responsive, and most times you'll never cast a plug as far as you can with a 3 oz. sinker so you'll never run into dry line.

Always works for me, give this a try.

Solves the fish on first cast problem also

[zimmy]

Originally Posted by HighTide

Got a nice slice on my index finger from braid, That stuff cuts pretty deep. Cut my day a little short too

This ever happen to any of you guys or is it just me?

I was fishing a rip rap along a river last spring. I went to make a nice long cast with a jig when ithe jig gets stuck in the rocks. I of course didn't know this... I was using a spinning rig with 50 lb stealth. When I went through my cast motion, the braid sliced into my index finger real deep. Ended my night fishing... As I sit here a year later, there is a grayish-black line tattooed into my idex finger where the braid went in

[Smokey14]

allot of good advice, I only have one more thing to add that I didn't see anyone mention yet. If you do get a loop in your line loosen your drag and pull the line out until the loop is found and taken care of. If you open the bail and try to remove the line and loop you may and probably will end up with a large knot and three different lines coming off your spool witch in most is resolved with a sharp knife and the loss of about 30 yards of line.

[gldnbear93]

Originally Posted by zimmy

I was fishing a rip rap along a river last spring. I went to make a nice long cast with a jig when ithe jig gets stuck in the rocks. I of course didn't know this... I was using a spinning rig with 50 lb stealth. When I went through my cast motion, the braid sliced into my index finger real deep. Ended my night fishing... As I sit here a year later, there is a grayish-black line tattooed into my idex finger where the braid went in

I always wrap a piece of that white linen athletic tape around my finger. Lasts all night even when wet, Haven't had a cut finger when using it.

I second the fireline. I used 50#PP and was constantly into wind knots. Switched to fireline and have had no problems.