Birds nest/Wind knots with braid

[Slackdaddy]

I have been running Suffix 832 Braid for over 10 years on my spinning reels, 6-8 on my Ultrs light, 10lb on my 6' light rods, 20-30 on my med 7' rods for Sneks.
I run "cheap gear", almost all are Pflueger president series, 20 series on the UL, 25 on the light, 25 on the med. I have a mix of Amazon $15-20 reels to.

I have never had an issue with knots or birds nest, never ever.
I lost my 20 series UL last year and grabbed a $20 amazon special Reel for my 5'-6" UL rod, Spooled in 10lb Suffix 832,, it knotted on about every other cast,,
Next trip I spooled 6# Suffix,, same thing. Chalked it up to the cheap reel.
I grabbed a $30 Shimano small reel from walmart,, spooled in 6# Suffix,, wind knots every 5-10 casts,,,

For 10 years I never had wind Knots no matter how cheap the reel,, now this.
Anyone else having issues with recent Suffix 832 ??

[bignose]

I use Sufix braid exclusively. I prefer the old Performance Braid over the 832, especially in neon orange.


Wind knots and "pull off loops" are often caused when the bail clicks over on retrieve and there is some slack or a small loop along the spool in the line as you begin wind in. This gets trapped under the line you are winding in, only to get caught and pulled off as you make your next cast.

I always hold my index finger against the line as I begin my retrieve to make sure that as the bail clicks over, there is no loop getting trapped. Begin your retrieve with a little tension on the line.


If you are careful, you can usually remove these by gently pulling the longest section of the loop and slide the line thru what is usually like a slip knot.

The nice thing about Sufix and similar braids, J-Braid, for instance, the lines are pretty slippery and you can slide the loop out.


I also find that the cheaper reels do not lay the line as smoothly on the spool as the slightly more expensive reels do, which exacerbates the problem.

[john from md]

I second what big nose has said. I throw ultra light stuff with a President 20 or Sedona 1000 and do have to watch on the retrieve as l will get missed loops that will birds nest if I don't peel it off and re spool the line. I use Suffix Performance also.

[Mark]

Slackdaddy,

I doubt this is your problem since you have been using braid for a long time. However since you are using a new kind of reel make sure you have not put too much line on it. There should be an adequate portion of the lip showing on the reel's spool. Sometimes removing a few feet of line from the spool will help to prevent tangles and knots during casts because with less line there is not as much oppoortunity for it to loosen on the spool or unravel prior to the next cast. .

Also, after a cast, I never activate the bail on my spinning reels with the handle. I close the bail with my left hand prior to turning the handle. I think that helps to align the line properly for the retrieve.

I am an advocate of Pflugeur's President Series of reels. They're moderately priced, the spools are designed for braid, they retain their smooth operation for years with simple lubrication and they're more than adequate for the many species of fish I catch with them in my kayak.

Good luck finding a solution.

[dsaavedra]

Like others have mentioned, being sure to close the bail by hand after a cast and manually make sure your line is seated properly in the roller guide before beginning your retrieve is probably the single most helpful thing you can do to avoid knots and tangles.

Other things that help are to avoid reeling in slack line (this can be tough when fishing certain lures like walk-the-dog style lures which rely on slack line for their action), you want braid to be as tight on the spool as possible. Avoiding line twist will also help - use a swivel if the presentation calls for it (like if using inline spinners or spoons which have a tendency to roll in the water) and never reel against your drag. On those cheap Amazon reels I wonder if the roller guide was not very good and could have been adding line twist without you noticing.

[Slackdaddy]

I'll be picking up a new Pfuegeur 20 series President this week,,
I will try to evaluate how I cast , close the bail, etc.
But bottom line is,, I have used braid on Pflueguer 20 series Trion and President for years with never a thought of how I cast, etc.

[JAR]

Try pulling a couple inches of line from the spool after closing the bail on each cast (you will hear the drag click). This will take out any slack in the line before you begin the retrieve.

[Slobber Bob]

The only times I've ever had persistent wind knot problems it was always due to the reel spool being overfilled with line. The problem always went away once I reduced the amount of line on the spool a bit.

[Red_Beard]

You mentioned these were cheaper reels. Do they have infinite anti-reverse like more expensive spinning reels? If not, that may be what is allowing too much slack at the start of the retrieve.

[Slackdaddy]

Well an update, after going through those two cheaper reels,, I picked up a Pflueger President 20,, same rod, same suffix 832 braid and NO wind knots or unspooling on 2 full trips.
So it was the cheap reels giving me problems.

[Slackdaddy]

You mentioned these were cheaper reels. Do they have infinite anti-reverse like more expensive spinning reels? If not, that may be what is allowing too much slack at the start of the retrieve.

both cheap reels had infinite (instant) anti-reverse, and I reduced the amount of line, that did NOT solve the knot problem on the cheap reels.

[J.A. Veil]

Well an update, after going through those two cheaper reels,, I picked up a Pflueger President 20,, same rod, same suffix 832 braid and NO wind knots or unspooling on 2 full trips.
So it was the cheap reels giving me problems.

Line issues are not limited to "cheap reels". You discovered that reel design can enhance common line problems. A guide I fished with often was sponsored by Daiwa. He used Ballistic reels that worked well. At one point, his sales rep told him they had introduced a new model (I don't recall the name). This was not a bargain reel, but had a fairly high retail price. He ordered a few of them. Visually, they looked good, but the first time he handed one of the new reels to me to use, I kept getting tip wraps and wind knots. He had similar problems with other reels of that model and eventually traded them back to the Daiwa rep for new Ballistics. Something about the design on that reel made it perform poorly with braid.

[Slackdaddy]

Yeah, I'm gonna keep the cheap reels and put some mono on them for "The kids"

Line issues are not limited to "cheap reels". You discovered that reel design can enhance common line problems. A guide I fished with often was sponsored by Daiwa. He used Ballistic reels that worked well. At one point, his sales rep told him they had introduced a new model (I don't recall the name). This was not a bargain reel, but had a fairly high retail price. He ordered a few of them. Visually, they looked good, but the first time he handed one of the new reels to me to use, I kept getting tip wraps and wind knots. He had similar problems with other reels of that model and eventually traded them back to the Daiwa rep for new Ballistics. Something about the design on that reel made it perform poorly with braid.