Braid for spinning, bloody nightmare

Message

#1 Post by **Stephen8wood** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 10:54 am

There is something not right in the world of braid at the moment which is frustrating me no end at the moment. I spent €35 on some new braid, very narrow dimension, 20 lb breaking strain. I'm using it on my light spinning set up and last summer (on different cheaper braid) had only a few problems. So far this summer form only a couple of sessions I've had nothing but snag after snag. The line is twisting around itself on the cast and comes back like a dogs dinner. Is it the fact that I'm using clip swivels. I thought it may be due to the wind but there wasn't any wind last night and the same thing kept happening. I'm not using plugs at the moment due to the ban so it was spinners and sidewinders for pollock on a clip swivel. Can any of you shed some light on what must clearly be mistakes I'm making. Thanks in advance.

#2 Post by **The Austrian** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 11:42 am

Spinners will twist any line due to their rotation, I always use a good quality ball bearing swivel to avoid this. Bait clips are alright to use with hard or soft plastics which are not rotating. To get the twist out of your line attach a suitable sized lead to the swivel and cast out a couple of times, this should untwist it or you could stand on a bridge over a river and let the line run out and reel back in. Another way to achieve this would be from the stern of a boat but I'm sure you've got the twist

#3 Post by **cd07** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 3:05 pm

What kind of reel are you using? some of the reels out there have crappy line-lay which causes all kinds of problems with braid

#4 Post by **SlackLiner** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 3:25 pm

cd07 wrote:What kind of reel are you using? some of the reels out there have crappy line-lay which causes all kinds of problems with braid

I've had these problems before and would tend to agree with cd07, decent line rollers should reduce the twist. It might be a reel issue? If its 'just off the spool' braid it really matters how you load it. The line will twist if the spool doesn't rotate whilst your loading it. Try putting it on with a line loader or get your misses to hold the spool whilst it rotates on a screwdriver??

If this doesnt help you can always do what I did and go back to mono - braid is too fine, dodgy on knots and way to expensive to keep replacing. And I can't stand the lack of stretch - well for spinning anyway

#5 Post by **Cormdogg** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 5:19 pm

Rinse your braid after a session or the salt makes it all crusty and strip back about 20ft aswell to get rid of frayed bits. Spose you should do this with all your line but most people me included dont!

bri · #6 Post by **bri** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 6:09 pm

If you have a decent reel with an anti twist system on the bale arm, check to see if the roller is fixed firm, if it rolls round so to speak, it wont be doing its job.A drop of super glue will cure it.

#7 Post by **bigballs** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 11:19 pm

Is the braid you are using famell sw?

#8 Post by **gerryl** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 1:37 am

This happened me on a muti-reel...didn't notice til was to late, lost bout 50yrs bad 'whip' snap (never ever seen baid snap like that!..been using it for 3yrs now!) put it down to the line lay after bout a dozen casts of feathers...braid seem to twist going back onto the reel leavin the line lay with 'deep' pits and troughs, only cure was to attach only the lead driectly to braid (on a swivel) cast out 'easy' and strip the line back each time and increase the castin distance til it clears...otherwise a long walk up the beech should do!

learnt me...its worth keeping an eye on the line lay with braid (every few casts!)

best luck...

#9 Post by **Kgarr** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 11:02 am

Had this problem earlier in the year, make sure you have only half filled your reel with braid(this was my main problem),close the bale arm manually and after you cast and pull the braid a couple of inches off the reel to make sure its tight before you reel back in. This solved it for me  got alot of help from some lads off TLF, if your still having problems with knots after doing all this, the problem is not your technique, and prob your reel, line is prob not being laid properly,
Good luck, braid knots can ruin a day fishing, very frustrating, but after following above advice, I've yet to have one tangle

Fri Jun 03, 2011 12:55 pm

bri wrote:If you have a decent reel with an anti twist system on the bale arm, check to see if the roller is fixed firm, if it rolls round so to speak, it wont be doing its job.A drop of super glue will cure it.

WHAT GLUE UP THE ROLLER

#11 Post by **Tommy B** » Fri Jun 03, 2011 3:20 pm

roger de dodger wrote:
bri wrote:If you have a decent reel with an anti twist system on the bale arm, check to see if the roller is fixed firm, if it rolls round so to speak, it wont be doing its job.A drop of super glue will cure it.
WHAT GLUE UP THE ROLLER

Exactly if you glue it up then it won't be a roller???

#12 Post by **dfella25** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:43 am

Stephen8wood wrote:I spent €35 on some new braid, very narrow dimension,

You may have answered your own question there man. If it's to narrow it might explain why it's getting tangled on you.

#13 Post by **40Footer** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 8:21 am

My take is that this is due to line quality. I use 12lb Suffix which is thinner & softer than most, also used 20lb PowerPro, no issue. Did you close the bail manually, if you didn't, try closing the bail manually as this may help. To reverse the twist memory, try unloading the line directly onto another spool to fish, may be the issue can be rectified

#14 Post by **Davy Murdoch** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 9:15 am

I`ve been using braid for years now with no trouble at all..
4lb and 8lb berkley crystal fireline for mullet,sea trout and shad..
I`ve used very cheap okuma reels with no probs,now using a shimano technium

Line lay has never been an issue for any reel..
When loading new braid on a fixed spool i ALWAYS wind it on the same way it`ll come off the reel during casting.
In other words i lie the spool flat on the floor and stand above and wind it off in coils!!
For multi reels i`ll put a screwdriver through it and wind it on so the spool of line spins!!

I use 60lb braid on my SLOSH 20 for wrasse,pollack and beach fishing...

hope this makes sense

#15 Post by **petekd** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 11:51 am

Do what Davy says above and dont overfill the reel and you will be fine. Overfilling is the root cause of 90% of wind knots etc. Always wind under tension also, be it gear induced or finger induced, loosely packed line is another recipe for disaster.

#16 Post by **Stephen8wood** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 10:59 am

Thanks lads, I'll give your suggestions a try and report back. I'm pretty sure it's got to do with a combination of the spinner/swivel issue, overloading the reel and casting in the wind. It's as if the line is coiled under tension and when I cast and the tension is released it springs into a twist and a miniature birds nest forms prior to clearing the last ring on the rod. This can happen two or three times in a single cast leaving me with the problem of trying to clear the knots with the lure 50 yards out in the water looking around for something to sang itself on.

Would a one oz lead with a swivel top do the trick of clearing up the mess? I don't think the rod tip would be happy with anything more.

I picked up a couple of barrel links (?) they look like two half swivels joined together if that makes any sense. For spinning I might put one of these about a foot above the lure along with a swivel connecting the lure to the line. Might this help?

#17 Post by **roger de dodger** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 2:09 pm

i think if it was me i,d bin the braid your using judging by the amount of twisting its suffering from it could be a potential rod snapper

, do you use a mono leader? the ball bearing swivels are good ,why not use a few (small)swivels incoperated in your leader ,what spinner are you using as some are worse than others for twisting ?

#18 Post by **The Austrian** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 2:22 pm

Stephen8wood wrote:Would a one oz lead with a swivel top do the trick of clearing up the mess? I don't think the rod tip would be happy with anything more.

I picked up a couple of barrel links (?) they look like two half swivels joined together if that makes any sense. For spinning I might put one of these about a foot above the lure along with a swivel connecting the lure to the line. Might this help?

A one oz lead should do the trick, keep casting and reeling back in until as long as you cannot see the line twists anymore or the lead rotating when you leave a drop hanging down after the first few casts.
You could even combine a few swivels to form a little chain in order to improve the effect, your other suggestion is definitely helpful to minimize the dreaded linetwist too.
For a few more good ideas check here: http://www.google.ie/#hl=en&safe=off&q= ... 29&bih=588

#19 Post by **Stephen8wood** » Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:55 pm

Thanks for the replies lads. I went out this evening and sorted the problem out. I had way too much line on the reel. I tried to straighten it with a lead but it cracked off 1st cast due to one of the snags catching in an eye. I stripped all the braid off and 40 or 50 yards of backing then put on the braid again. I was back in business and after about 50 casts I hadn't had any trouble. I didn't catch any fish (east wind, low tide and several other excuses) but the I got plenty of fresh air. On a sad note the mark I was at in South County Dublin was a total mess. Thankfully this time not due anglers. I think there must have been a beach party and there was some amount of beer bottles and junk left behind.

Sea Angling Ireland