I have casted with braid but this is short distancess off a boat to 5-10meters which is not a problem. I don't think it will be suitable surfcasting with it as the line is so limp that it wants to stick to the spool and will eventually get caught winding over itself.

was on looking round,,i am from away up north,,,,scotland and am a tournament caster,,i see you are having a few little problems with over runs while casting,,reel type etc,,it shouldnt matter what equipment you use,,if you use a techneque to your casting and everything is fluid and controlled you should overcome the birdsnests,,we use a techneque up here known as a pendum cast,,,i hope that im not trying to teach you to suck eggs here,,we have reels modified with special magnetic controls for extra distance,,that can be adjusted during the leads flight for max distance,,usually we would use abu,

if i can help you any more please ask,and if i dont get straight back to you dont worry ,,work away from home.reply as soon as i see,

 

you never know may be have to come down and have a chuck myself,,problem being if i do ,i dont think id head back home,sounds like the fishing is good down there,,we are all fished out up here,,massive commercial pressure,,some of our beaches ,you need to cast 200yds just to find small fish,

hope to hear from you all blacks soon

tight lines

 

 chris

 

The key to controling overruns is brakes either your thumb ,magnetic,centrifugal,and oils or all of them

The thumb will be used mid flight if you see the line fluffing up or starting to birdy...also when the lead hits the sea to stop the revolving reel.

 

Magnetic  adds a bit of braking to slow the spool so after the cast the spool dosent keep going at the same speed (as the lead and line slows down in flight faster then the spool slows down while spinning ) on most these can be adjusted with a knob or slidy switch on the beach even mid cast if your brave.

 

Centrifugal a lot of the abus and daiwa are like this small changeable blocks inside the reel that do the same thing as the magnetic ones .

A bit more of a fiddle to get this right but once you have got them dialed ...sweeet!

 

Oils you also you have to pay attenion to the bearings that the spool spin on. Grease is no good way to slow . finding the right oil viscosity cantake a bit of trail and error as well but start heavy and work down to lighter ones.Bicycle shops are good for small bottles of different sorts.

 

As for braid ???? wont make casting any simpler and will make a birds nest $$$.

It is all about your casting action, it needs to be smooth. If so you can take almost all of your brake off and let the spool run as free as possible. It is all in the action and a steady acceleration of the sinker.  Hehe... thats why i normally cast better after a couple of beers, it is like playing darts you need to relax and a smooth action. Don't try and force it.

 

once you get the hang of an overhead mate you wont go back to the dark side, started using one when i was about 7yrs old and to this day i still get an over run from time to time. its all about the weight of the bait, trust me.

 

 

Practice, technique, practice, technique, practice.   Diawa SL30SH best overhead to learn your casting craft before graduating to tn14 or sim.  Abu's are for girls.  Got it?!

If your freespool/overhead reel is designed for casting at all, ie if it has internal brakes, proceed with caution with the thumb as your best friend.

On the handle side of your reel, there is an adjustable spool brake, just looks like a knob with milled edges on it in most cases. (Abu's may have one on each end)

This can be tightened or backed off to suit and will need to be altered if you change from a lure to a bait to a whatever.

Salmon anglers use these reels over a fixed spool in most cases and a general setting procedure is this.

 

Tie on your desired lure/rig/whatever,

tighten the spool brake up a little till you feel some resistance,

press the spool release as if you are casting or about to cast.

The lure should descend steadily to the ground and when it meets the ground, the spool will stop and no loose line can be seen.

If it doesn't descend, back off the spool brake a fraction at a time until it does.

If you have loose line on the spool at this stage, "touch" the tension up on the spool brake but only a smidgin.

If you cast and get a slight over-run, touch up that tension again until it doesn't happen and your cast is controllable and smooth.

Similarly, if you are feeling confident with your thumb, this comes with practice, back off that tension knob until you hear the line "fluffing" on the spool while casting.

You will know what I mean when you hear the line fluff up for the first time but I suspect you will have heard that already (it precedes a birdsnest).

 

Remember to train your thumb!

It's like pulling on the handbrake when your car is rolling back into the briny on the slipway, after you trailered the boat.

 

Brands to go for Abu 6500, 6600, 7000 (not necessarily for girls, these are a boyz toy too)

Shimano Calcutta 400 or 700

Daiwa SL 20 or SL30

I hear Penn do one but I don't like Penn so don't expect a recommendation from me. (I reckon Penn are for girls...)

Try to get one with a level wind on it for starters, this will eliminate the need to spread the line, one less thing to think about when you are learning.

 

That should be enough to get you started.

 

 

 

Agree Billfish and the little Diawa SL30SH is a fantistic casting reel - lovely balance and awesome for 6 - 8 kg and maybe 10 kg mono. I've had one for 10 years and she's still going strong - although a little battered around now..! It's tough enuf to handle some big fish too in case a kingi or something jumps on by mistake..