Fishing with Braid- Line Problem

I have been doing a bit of lure fishing for pollock and when casting the braid is coming of the reel and getting badly knotted. It's driving me mad having to sort though the tangles constantly!

The set up I have been using has been braid tied to a mono shock leader with a cone lead, a bead and the mono tied to a weedless hook. Should I include a swivel somewhere is this setup to reduce the knotting of the braid? Could I tie the mono to a clip swivel and clip the swivel to the hook? Any help appreciated.

your spool may be too full, dont quote me though : P

I wouldn't worry about a swivel. It is generally suggested that you slightly underfill the spool when using braid to avoid wind knots and tangles. However in my experience the type of braid makes a big difference. I have never had a problem with the standard 4 strand Power Pro even with a full spool. However I have found the more expensive 8 strand braids a different story. When I first tried Sunline Castaway I had major probs with tangles. But I had ignored the standard advice and overfilled the spool! Once I removed some line it was fine. It also helps to make sure that the braid is wound on as tightly as possible when spooling up. Oh and you should manually close the bail after casting and keep tension on the line at the start of the retrieve to avoid a loop forming. This will become second nature and is no hassle at all!

Try the above and see how you get on. As I said I have had no probs with simple 4 strand Power Pro but in my experience you need to be more careful with the modern 8 strand braids.

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Id agree with the lads. It sounds like your spool is over filled. Ideally you want it under filled a few mm of the lip of the spool.
Wind knots can also be prevented by keeping the line tight on a retrieve so its not loose on the spool.
Also check for any loops on the spool before casting.

and last but by no means least - try to avoid cheap copies of braid at all cost (pardon the pun) they are easily recognised by using slightly altered brand names but similar or lesser quality packaging materials.

cheap braid gives terrible knots..... been there, any never again.. it's well worth the extra few quid to splash out on the good stuff..

Penn do decent braid and I never had any problems with it but I under filled the spool and put it on tightly .

Thanks lads. I reckon the reel was probably a bit overfilled until I lost patience and the end of a session the other day and cut a load of it off! I was out last night and it wasn't a problem. I am using Spiderwire braid. Does this fall into the cheap braid category of has anyone any experience with it?

I had the same problem. I found that the same Braid on a better reel (Shimano 4000) has no issues. Also try Berkley Whiplash. I fiind it 10 times better than the spidre wire. only 0.06mm in diameter for 20lb braid which allows me to cast light lures further.

Good luck!

I had the same problem. I found that the same Braid on a better reel (Shimano 4000) has no issues. Also try Berkley Whiplash. I fiind it 10 times better than the spidre wire. only 0.06mm in diameter for 20lb braid which allows me to cast light lures further.

Good luck!

You mean 0.06 of an inch!

Hi Rory yes the measurments they stats on Braids is very confusing. There is no way it is 0.06 Milimeters or 0.06 Micrometers. Tho on the Box and any advertisement you will see 0.06mm. Not inches which our American friends use. I think the 0.06mm is a diameter per dynema strand used to make up the Braid?
Anyhow all I know is it is twice as thin as the Spidre Wire

Colin

+1 berkly whiplash is very good

Wind knots are usually associated with a slightly overfilled spool. Excellent advice here.

The other small adjustment you can make on windy days is the length of the drop when casting. Kinda surprised you are using a shock leader when casting lures but anyhow, the shorter you can make the drop to the lure / lead & lure combo the better.

I experimented years ago with an up and over arrangement (similar to long distance ray rigs) to get a jelly out with a lead. It worked fine but it was a pain in the a** resetting it after every cast.

HTH

it will set in spool after time, be grand. you only want 2 foot leader to lure just stop fish cutting briad on a run of a rock

if there is any fish hahahahahah

Sorry lads it's not a shock leader it is a two foot mono leader. Just messed up my terminology!

Be careful too when using plastics in the wind,,,as sometimes they are fished slowly and the wind can make the braid go back loose on the reel. next time you cast you'll have a lovely wind knot (this seems to happen with all sorts of braid..believe me i have experimented €€€€€)

I have been doing a bit of lure fishing for pollock and when casting the braid is coming of the reel and getting badly knotted. It's driving me mad having to sort though the tangles constantly!

The set up I have been using has been braid tied to a mono shock leader with a cone lead, a bead and the mono tied to a weedless hook. Should I include a swivel somewhere is this setup to reduce the knotting of the braid? Could I tie the mono to a clip swivel and clip the swivel to the hook? Any help appreciated.

I am having the same trouble but i have no leader, i have not overfilled the spool and i am using a swivel it ruined my first 2 sessions with my new LRF rod, i had a spare reel with mono on it but now i am thinking how many more sessions will i try before i give up on this braid. Anybody have thoughts on soaking the line before putting it on the reel and does braid go on better with mono backing on the spool?

Sometimes its just down to crap braid. Had the same prob myself yesterday. Two reels loaded with two different brands of braid. The 20Ib Power pro was brilliant, not a knot to be seen. The 30Ib utter shite on the other reel hit the bin when I got home. Im sorry but 4 tangles in a session is my patience point. Not sure where I picked it up, will get the name of it and edit this post later. I try to use braid that looks/feels like it has a coating to it and wont loop when ye push it together. Take a piece of braid, hold each end and try to push in into itself. If it loops and opens up showing strands I find its usually going to be a pain.

I took up LRF recently and found that when you are slowing jigging the very light lures towards yourself and reeling in, the line can coil loosely onto the spool, especially in windy conditions (as luanaigh mentioned). The result is a wind knot next cast. I found that using a slightly heavier jig head and much gentler casts have helped.