Hey guys...This is my first post on this website...I have just bought a shimano softbait setup, we were supposed to be going out from the Mount today but the trip got binned cos of the weather.We shot over to the cut and flicked a few lures around instead. I have never used braid before and I don't know why but basically every cast the braid was getting tangled.I don't think it was a form of wind-knot, because as I cast(my freshly UNtangled line) I could hear the new knot hitting the guides on the way out. Was it something to with wind? Help! ( just to eliminate one factor,I am not a newbie to fishing/casting, I can spin fish all day and never get a single tangle)

Shorten the leader and cast with the knot off the end of the rod,the knot slows down while travelling thru the guides but the braid doesnt slow down coming off the reel and loops around a guide or tangles

That all makes sense, and I thought that perhaps it was to do with th line/leader knot, so just to eliminate that I cut the leader off and tied the lure straight onto the braid.Same thing happened. I did join the line a couple of times using a double uni knot,then got sick of that and cut it off and started again. It makes sense that the line may need to be "worn in" but if that's the case, at the rate I'm going I'll run out of braid on the spool before it's good to go! I will try fireline in the future, I'm just using the braid that was recomended when I bought the setup-I can't remember the brand but I know it was more expensive that fireline-I usually run with the policy of getting what you pay for. Any other ideas? I appreciate the feedback.

hey loryda, running 10kg. Matched to the gear it's sitting on.10kg fluro trace (while I had it on) Is wind an issue? it was blowing a fair bit.

OK, first, are you using fireline? That is still I think the most reliable of casting braids.

Capt Asparagus wrote: OK, first, are you using fireline? That is still I think the most reliable of casting braids. Next, your spool maybe too full. If you are using a normal braid line, it is so slick that it does not flick out away from the spool lip as the line is flying off the spool...fireline, being fused, is stiffer than a normal braid, so does tendto flip clear of the spool lip you see, anyhow, without this lift-off, the braid rubs over the rest of the line still packed on the spool and will pick up loops, causing tangles in the cast. Clear as mud, I am sorry, it is a lot easier to demonstrate than describe!:-)   Next, when you have been casting out, if you are not careful, the 1st few winds you put onto the reel after each cast is very loose line. This packs loosely, and causes tangles when you cast out next time, as the loosely packed line on the bottom of the spool grabs and tangles with the line leaving the reel at a million miles an hour..and viola, another wind knot.   To fix this, when you cast and see the lure starting to drop towards the water, close the bail arm or do something to stop the line coming off the spool. The weight of the lure will then pull out any loose line in the cast, meaning when you start winding line back onto the reel, it is coming in under at least a little tension. As you were probably casting into a pretty stiff breeze, this means you would likely have a huge belly of slack line every cast, so there would be your problem causing tangles in your line.   I suppose this is very confusing, I know what I mean, but it is very hard to describe. anyhow hope this helps a little anyhow, Cheers, Stu.

What knot do you guys use.

WHEN FILLING YOUR REEL THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT ISSUES ARE HOW TIGHTLY YOU PUT IT ON AND HOW IT COMES OFF THE SPOOL ONTO THE REEL IF YOU DONT HOLD THE SPOOL VERTICALLY AND CREATE A LITTLE TENSION IT WILL CREATE LINE TWIST!!

The only problem with a saftey pin is it can damge your braid.