am having a problem with the line coming off the spool in bunches and knoting up,and i did not put too much line on the spool, i am using 20lb test power pro, help

What kind of reel and what kind of lures? You should use lures with resistance so you've got line tension as you reel.

For spinning reels, make sure you close the bail manually and manually pull the line tight before reeling in. Loose loops tend to catch on the cast and foul up during the cast.

Don't cast into the wind either. Lures that can catch wind and fly oddly, will also cause line slack in mid cast. Severely twisted lines will then knot during the cast.

I have a question for you. do you try to reel your line in with the drag set real low where the spool will turn ? if so tighten up your drag as winding in line while the spool turns causes the line to twist on the spool this happens alot if you are using a spinning reel. another suggestion is if you're in a boat let all the line out behind the boat with a bobber(small) then take a piece of rubber like a piece of inner tube (after all the line is out ) pinch the rubber around the line and hold moderate pressure on line as you reel it back in . this makes the line unwind so it takes all the twists out of your line as it comes back on the reel good luck and TIGHT LINES TO YA !!!!

Try switching to mono or fluorocarbon and get rid of that braded crap. Fluro is just as sensitive and is invisable underwater so your catch rate goes up. I tried braded line and all I had was problems knoting, fadeing, cutting into the spool, and breaking in mid cast. Switched back to mono and been happy with the results.

Fluoro is not as sensitive as braid, and braid properly spooled and fished is not a problem. I have been useing various brands of braid since their introduction with no problems once I got past the initial learning curve. If you get line twist in braid, you will get it in fluoro or mono too. Tom

I can say that I gave braid (Fireline Crystal) a fair chance and even when spooled by a pro, using the appropriate pole, reel, and lure I still had problems. But Pegsguy is right. My inexperience gave me tangles, not the line. My line would come off the spool in bunches, especially on my Pflueger President (less on my smaller reels). I got tangles and a lot of twist. So for trout fishing I won't use it. don't get me wrong, I miss the ultra sensitivity and the zero stretch was nice. But I lost a lot of time out of the water. Now I use it for fishing cats and only as a leader. It works well and is thin and strong. For trout I'll stick to Fluorocarbon (Berkely Vanish) or Monofilament (green tinted). Good Luck!

Posted By basbandit on 15 Jun 2010 06:35 PM
Try switching to mono or fluorocarbon and get rid of that braded crap. Fluro is just as sensitive and is invisable underwater so your catch rate goes up. I tried braded line and all I had was problems knoting, fadeing, cutting into the spool, and breaking in mid cast. Switched back to mono and been happy with the results.

That is completely untrue. You bought junk line or did something else wrong or both. good braid is an invalueable tool for certain applications. Cheap Fluorocarbon will cause even more problems to someone like him.

Steve amd I don't always see eye to eye, but we agree on this one. Each type of line has it's applications. For the kinds of fishing I do, most of the time a superline is my line of choice, with fluoro being at the bottom of my list not because of anything wrong with it, it just isn't the best choice for what I do. All you can do is try what is available and see what works best for you. I do fish with fluoro, but normally only in very clear water or with a deep running bait, never with a topwater. Tom

try using a braid that has the same diameter of  the mono your used to using .  that could  be 40 lb breaking strength  if you fish 10 lb mono .  Some folks have problems with braid below 30 lbs .

I saw on TV today that Lake Fork Tackle is making a braided line coted with fluorocarbon. I guess it keeps it's round shape unlike other braided that get flatted out after prolonged use. Go figure.

That would be cool.  Hopefully they won't price it too expensive.

Hope you got the fouls taken care of trapp. I use berkley power braid mostly and don't have any troubles with it. Although I think alot of trouble with most twisted lines lay in the reel itself. If your spooling with braid keep the line taunt while spooling just not extreamly tight and don't let it get soft on the spool. make a few casts first with a heavy lure to get the line to sit right and as long as your bail if your using spinning reels isn't causing too much friction in the line while retireving you should be able to avoid those annoying birds nests. One thing you can do to help with twist is to be sure to use a leader tied to the main line with a good swivel. Braid is great for top water baits as it doesn't sink fast and if you use mono for a leader you will get a little give in your hook sets if you find yourself setting the hook too fast also. personally I use a 30 pound braid on mine with the mono leader and the line can litterally be reeled in with almost next to no tention and still not foul, so try the swivel.

One thing that helps with line twist is when you spool up your reel take it off the line spool the way it was put on the line spool. In other words place the spool so the line comes off the top and not the bottom. It will lay on your reel better. If you spool from the bottom it causes the line to twist. I know this works well with mono and should work with braid as well.

I have videos and detailed instructions on how to do this. Step by step.

I had problems with braids on my spinning reels, so I just reserve the braids for my baitcaster - they all cast like a dream and perform beautifully with the braids.

...I went back to XL monos on all my spinning rods and found them to be the perfect matchup...bottom line is that if you're using spinners without a swivel; or, you load your line onto your spool improperly you're gonna have issues with line twist and frequent birdsnests...if you only occassionally get a birdsnest, try using a line conditioner - I like the KVD line conditioner the best, a small container neatly fits in my fishing bag and you can treat your line the night before, or on the water whichever is necessary.

I've been using braid since 1959, at that time my only line. I "doodled" a Zara Spook or a live bait, wading a creek, never reeling the line in since I didn't have a reel. I finally got my hands on some mono and a reel and had nothing but trouble with the mono at first, so went back to my old hairy braid. Go figure.

All along braid has had one peculiar problem that regardless of diameter, will act up like super thin superlines like Spiderline. Even today hauling in a 25 pound striper on braid will cause the line to dig past the spooled layers, burying up sometimes 1/8 deep or more. The next cast results in all the problems mentioned above except line twisting.

Some folks put some electrical tape across the spooled line close to where it finishes playing out on a typical cast. As the line wets up the casting distance falls off a bit anyway. The idea is retrieved line won't dig in past that depth. I've learned to use a free finger of the hand holding the rod above the reel (for large fish) to flip the line side to side before it spools on while reeling. That keeps the line zig zagging across the spool at wider angles. Since most casts don't catch fish the next one gives me a chance to spool the line without a lot of pressure on it. I don't mind that problem, as I get a nice fish in exchange. Another way to keep a steady spooling going is not to horse a fish in, but "play it", keeping steady firm pressure on the line.

Every type and model of reel has a set of adjustments that fits braid. Find the right combination of brakes and spool tension, while practicing over a lawn. If you work at it enough you will come across an action that will make you shout "Wow!".  You might have two types of brakes and one spool tensioner. Whatever they are set at will not be right for other lines of different diameter. For that reason I have reels for braid, some for mono, some for fluoro (stiffer), and others for superline.

Begin with spool tension. With an average weight of lure tied on hold the rod tip out and release the spool. The bait ought to barely hold on the spool until slightly tipping the rod tip. The braid should peel off without stopping about as fast as a spider spins a web line. On average mine hit ground at about 3 seconds. If it hits quicker the spool will spin too fast, faster than line can play out, causing backlashes. If you change bait weight change the spool tension slightly. That only takes 4-5 seconds before the next cast if you hit it right the first try. Doing that will help reduce the greater time spent untangling line.

The brakes change the physics of the spool, slowing it down at the end of a cast, tightening the line a bit if set right. If you get line problems out there then the brakes need more tweaking. I like Curado low profile reels which have a radial set of pins riding on steel shafts. Some are half way down, others as far from the spool axis as possible. One reel has all the pins all he way down. Each selection is the result of many casts trying specific bait types tied on certain rods.

Jim

Jim: Lots of good info there, but when 'braid' is mentioned here in the forums it usually refers to the newer "super line" rather than the dacron braid of my youth. I have one trolling reel that uses dacron as backing behind lead core and the rest of my levelwinds are  spooled with fused line like Fireline or Power Pro. I also use fused lines on my spinning reels with no problems. I have found that fused lines need to be wound a bit tighter than mono to cut down on the digging in. Fishaholic: I have never had a problem with braid on my spinning reels but can't say the same for fluoro. I now use mono or fused line on all my reels.  Tom

I remember the old dacron braid and that was junk. I used it because we were too poor to buy line, so I waded out to retrieve lost line in tree branches, and climbed a pole now and then to get it off a phone line, along with a bobber and if lucky a sharp hook and lead sinker (better than using creek stones). We never did figure out a good knot for it other than a long series of square knots.

Here's what I am talking about. I have in front of me my last spool of unused old braided casting line labeled Oklahoma Tire & Supply "Longlife" Casting Line, 50 yards of 15 pound test braided DuPont nylon. It's a keepsake. I remember my granddad counting out coins to buy it, and that's what I used for years along with mono line until about 1980 when I got away from old fashioned level wind (and my first reel, a non-level wind) casting reels a while. It all got boxed up. I switched to Stren products, more modern braids, and decades later their Easy Cast, adding spinning reels and using all the same lines on those, then low profile Shimano Curados to this day. Meanwhile I accumulated maybe a total of ten miles of assorted lines, trying every new line out, buying too many 500 and 1000 yard spools. The worst for me was Berkley Ironsilk and their fluorocarbon line, too much memory, too many backlashes and breakoffs, but good for drop shotting and deep plugging. I use those for leaders now. Of all those I settled on Spiderwire Stealth in 65 pound test, but then I tried Power Pro and liked that too. I like the newest Suffix Performance braid, what appears to be woven fiber but tighter than most, and several other brands all seeming to be about the same line.

Funny, whatever they call "braid" today fishes a lot like that old line for me. However, I won't say that about every "superline", the ones that are fused and slicker. I learned to fish the "impossible to use" old braid and now like any limp line, dislike any stiff line except for topwater fishing with one mono, using Stren Original, the most limp I know about, and it glows pale blue well at night under my fluorescent headlamp.

Now back to braid line. I think maybe the most common error is letting a bit of line fold and lay across the spool, buried by line laying properly. Maybe a little jerk in winding causes that loop to form. I'm not sure why that happens. If you cast that there will be a terrible knot solved only by sharp knife. Another error is to see a loop in the line from line twist, hanging over water, bringing it on through the guides and onto the spool. Don't do that. You will set a knot in that loop. It's time to pick up another combo or let that line out behind the boat as you change locations.

Hope that clears it up for anyone getting confused. I know it can all get bewildering. I spent a lot of winter hours in the yard sorting it all out and now know what to stick with, though am a sucker to at least try a small spool of the latest. I wonder if there's a market for a trashcan full of lumps of discarded line?

Jim

Berkley has a recycling program that turns old line into fish habitat structures. Many tackle shops participate in this program. I am not familiar with braided nylon line. Must have slipped by me while I was chasing girls instead of fish! Now that I have a keeper of a girl I can spend more time fishing. Tom

Tom, I thought I was being safe staying away from town, but one country girl out there on the lake managed to change my plans for the next 43 years and still counting. Her dad was the fisherman. I was just that guy that keeps trying to fish where Dad fishes.

I called around a few years ago, but none of the shops here participate. in other than battery recycling. Over the years when the can gets full I've been pouring the gobs out and tossing a match to them. What a show! POW Well, now I pay more respect to the atmosphere and keep hoarding the stuff, though not as much of it since quitting guiding when the state started to collect guide license fees. Whats' there is my own spoiled or abandoned line. I haven't added a foot this year, slowing way down.