new user-WHY is my braid tangled!?
Printed From: The Fishing Website
Category: Saltwater Fishing
Forum Name: Soft Bait Fishing
Forum Description: Anything to do with this latest and greatest way of catching our favourite species
URL: https://www.fishing.net.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=22282
Printed Date: 29 Jul 2026 at 2:50pm
Topic: new user-WHY is my braid tangled!?
Posted By: highside
Subject: new user-WHY is my braid tangled!?
Date Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 6:40pm
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)
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Replies:
Posted By: aharvnz
Date Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 6:56pm
| Depends a lot on the braid and the reel. I always use stiff braids like fireline now as like you I found standard braids either knotted when the line join knots hit the guides on th way out or got wind knots. |
Posted By: of2fsh
Date Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 7:18pm
| 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 |
Posted By: loryda
Date Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 7:29pm
What he said basically, also with new braid its still quite stiff, i just had my reel re-spooled with 200m of 10pd and talking to the expert at the tackle shop he says that when new it will come off the reel and fly through the eyes awkward, which makes sense and had seem to have been the case with my original line, abit of use will and did solve this for me.
Also just a side note, re-tying is never really a good idea (i lost a fish mid line once cos of this
 ) but still do it if i have to, just make sure i use extremely strong knots  Regards
Alex. ------------- "We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free." -Bill Hicks |
of2fsh wrote:Posted By: highside
Date Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 8:11pm
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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. |
Posted By: loryda
Date Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 8:20pm
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highside, give Pens braid a go, pretty cheap comparatively but its what I've run the last couple of spools and its been sweet as. (read: fireline equivalent)
Also what pd'age you running? The lighter stuff will tangle alot easier I've found..
Alex. ------------- "We all pay for life with death, so everything in between should be free." -Bill Hicks |
Posted By: highside
Date Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 8:27pm
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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.
Does this mean I have to ditch the string I've got on there now after one outing and get some more??
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Posted By: ChrisW
Date Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 8:56pm
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I presume you are not winding in line with the drag slipping? Each rotation puts one twist in the line - this is a newbie error.
You can take out those twists by cutting off the trace and trolling the affected line behind the boat for a while. All the line twists will work their way out. ------------- give it death! |
Posted By: Capt Asparagus
Date Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 9:03pm
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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.
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Posted By: sid fishus
Date Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 9:12pm
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Hi Highside,
I'm with Capt Asparagus on the packing of the line on the spool. If line is not wound on tight and even it can loop up as it winds off the spool on the cast.
I have found for me the best thing is to take care on the retrieve and get the line to pack on nicely on the spool makes for a reliable clean next cast.
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Posted By: highside
Date Posted: 05 Aug 2007 at 9:28pm
Hey Cap,Hard to describe-but I know what you're saying. After reading your little speel, I think you nailed it with the spool being too full...I thought it looked a bit too loaded when the shop guy filled it,but thought because I know nothing about braid,perhaps it would be cool.I might try stripping a bit off and flick a lure round on the lawn a bit.
I did experiment with the wind,headwind/tailwind, didn't make any difference. I was quite aware of the belly and slackline at the start of the retrieve,as I am with nylon but from now on I'll make sure there is NO slack loops on the spool. From what I've got out of you guys tonight I reckon I'll get it sorted, thanks a mill
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Posted By: Rank Amateur
Date Posted: 06 Aug 2007 at 1:59pm
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I found using spider wire was very prone to wind knots - very soft braid which doesn't help much and I also think my braid to flouro knot was not the tidiest knot I've tied which I'm sure was part of the problem too
I've since gotten very good a picking knots out of braid - a hook point if used carefully helps a lot - just don't pick thr braid apart and damage it
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Posted By: S-P addict
Date Posted: 06 Aug 2007 at 6:28pm
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What knot do you guys use.
a bimini twist and a deckies knot works for me but it takes a while for me to tie.
Ive tried the surgeons knot and the back to back uni but the bimini twist
and the deckies has been strong so far.
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Posted By: phantomdeviant
Date Posted: 07 Aug 2007 at 6:37am
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Can't help with the Tangling issues but I use Rapala Titanium braid and have never had an issue. Mind you I do all my SP fishing with overhead reels ------------- Skirt Pulla |
Posted By: Elpescador
Date Posted: 07 Aug 2007 at 11:39am
| 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!! |
Posted By: sooshee
Date Posted: 07 Aug 2007 at 7:41pm
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A safety pin is a handy tool to untangle the bird's nest. Just pin it to your shirt/hat, where it will be handy. |
Posted By: S-P addict
Date Posted: 07 Aug 2007 at 7:42pm
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The only problem with a saftey pin is it can damge your braid.
Better than breaking it tho
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Posted By: sooshee
Date Posted: 07 Aug 2007 at 9:23pm
Yes, you can cause damage if you are knot careful.
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Posted By: S-P addict
Date Posted: 08 Aug 2007 at 5:34pm
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