jlgaustin

Appears to be a bad reel, I have contacted the company I bought it from and hoping they will just allow me to swap out the reel and not have to ship the entire combo back. Thanks for all the replies and help. Much appreciated.

Yes I tried with brakes on max and centrifugal brakes all on. Still backlashes... Is there a way to really verify if the brakes are working or not? I will give the stretching a shot as well.

I am a newb to baitcasters to start, about 3 weeks ago I picked up a Lew's Mach Pro from bass pro. Took me a couple of fishing outings to get to where I wasn't bird nesting anymore with that. I really like the feel of the bait caster and understand now why people like them so much. So I bought a second rod and reel, the lew's mach crush combo. I set the Crush up exactly like I am suppose to (made sure line went on spool correctly, turn off braking, adjust tension, set brake to about 1/2 to 3/4, test lure drop, etc). Casting it just like I do the Lew's Mach Pro, except every single cast it bird nest, and it's happening either at the beginning of the cast or mid air usually, rarely at end of cast when lure hits water. Same 15lb flouro on both reels. Also another thing I noticed is I opened the rod brake panel and adjusted the centrifugal brake, and put the brake back on. Weird thing I noticed is the brake doesn't make the distinctive clicking noise anymore when adjusting. Did I screw something up? I think the brake is still adjusting, because I took it back off and turned the dial and I can see it moving up and down. Any advice, help would be appreciated. Thanks!