Braided Line Curse

[Gooch Bednarcik]

HELP!!!!  I have been bass fishing with my Rhino Spincast Combo my wife bought for me at Walmart for about 3 weeks now (Yes I'm a novice fisherman so I thought this was a decent setup).  I changed the mono line to a 10lb P-LINE Floroclear line and had some success with it. I only fish out of a retention pond near my house and I have caught 18"-20" bass several times (Today I actually caught my first 20" bass, on another pole).  The issue I had with my Rhino (RSC3 reel and Indestructible Glow-tip RNGC602MA pole - Line Weight 6-15lb) is the mono line gets twisted up above the reel 4-5 times per fishing outing.  Sometimes just 1-2 twists, other times 10-12ft of line).  And because I have also broke a few lines trying to reel in some biggons, I was told I should maybe try some braided line (Never used it before).  So I got some SpiderWire EZ Braid and hooked it up.  Now again I'm no expert, but it did not seem that I over-spooled with the line, it looked like plenty more could go on.

 

So today with my new braid I had a 6" plastic work in a Texas Rig setup.  I cast out maybe 8 times and BOOM!! Line snaps  right at the spool and rig is gone.  A little ticked off, I hooked up another one and after 4-5 casts...BOOM it too was gone.  So I gently sat the pole down (Which means I flung it 42 ft onto the lawn) and picked up my UglyCast reel with a jig and began using it (And this is what I caught my 20" bass with, having 10lb mono).  A few min later I decided to give the Rhino and Braid 1 last chance and I hoked up a small spinning bait.  After exactly 4 casts...it was gone...and so was my patience.

 

Now I will admit on the first 2 I did whip cast as hard as I could...like I do with mono.  However, the last one I did not...I gently and smoothly cast but it still broke.  My drag?  Hell if I know...maybe close to MAX.  I fish off the shore, no weights.  I looked on line to see if any Rhino reels didn't play nice with braid, other forums to see if Spincast reels across the board were having same issues...nothing really stood out.  I'm taking both the rod/reel and the braided line back to the store...unless someone can share their expertise and tell me what in the hell is causing this???

[CPBassFishing]

Probably a bad spool. I have heard dozens of bad things about spiderwire line. Try power pro, it is all I use and never fails me. I would also advise you to get a spinning combo to spool up with 15lb powerpro braid. You will cast further and catch more fish by detecting more bites. Braid has excellent sensitivity.

[Gooch Bednarcik]

Probably a bad spool. I have heard dozens of bad things about spiderwire line. Try power pro, it is all I use and never fails me.

 

Will give it a try.  Thx CP

[Jrob78]

Braid is prone to snapping off when you have sudden stops during a cast. The way line spools onto spincasters can cause overlapping which in turn causes sudden stops. I would stick with mono on your spincasting reels. Look into getting a spinning or baitcasting reel if you want to use braid.

[OkeechobeeAngler]

Also check the eyes on the rod for nicks etc. Check the hole where the line comes out on the cover. Seems something could possibly be cutting the line. 

[CPBassFishing]

^^ As Jrob said above, braid in the lower pound test (10lb for example) will easily snap off if it stops suddenly, especially if you have a bad spool. The way a spincasting reel works is that it has a small metal pin that holds your line in place while the reel is engaged. If the line catches on the pin while you cast, it might snap. Braid is usually best for spinning and baitcasting gear.

If I were you I would stick with mono on the spincaster. You can avoid tangles by spooling the line opposite to the direction the reel retrieves line (clockwise or counter clockwise). Another method is to tie a swivel to your line, clip it to something solid like a tree branch, then pull from far away. This will stretch the line and remove any kinks.

You have done the right thing by joining Bass Resource. This forum is a great wealth of information and all the members are very helpful. Don't be afraid to ask questions.

[Gooch Bednarcik]

Braid is prone to snapping off when you have sudden stops during a cast. The way line spools onto spincasters can cause overlapping which in turn causes sudden stops. I would stick with mono on your spincasting reels. Look into getting a spinning or baitcasting reel if you want to use braid.

 

I actually bought a baitcast and tried it for a day...yea I'm years away from that!  I also have 1 spinning rod that I put braid on....the 1 time I was experimenting with it I didn't get any bites (It was raining and very windy) but I wanted to practice using it.  I did OK with it but for using only spincast reels it'll still take a few more practice sessions (Maybe 50...lol).  I would throw the mono back on it (The Rhino) but the mono got tangled up so much above the reel I just assume take this one back and if I get another spincast it'll be for lighter fishing only.  GREAT POSTS ALL and THANKS!!!!

[tomustang]

Braid and spincasters aren't a good idea

[Gooch Bednarcik]

 You can avoid tangles by spooling the line opposite to the direction the reel retrieves line (clockwise or counter clockwise). 

 

OK I got to ask...what do you mean by this??

[CPBassFishing]

OK I got to ask...what do you mean by this??

well, to figure out how the line goes on the reel, take the cover off and start reeling. The line will be retrieved either clockwise or counter clockwise. Once you do that, put your spool of mono on the ground so that the line comes off in the opposite direction of how the line is reeled. This will eliminate most tangles. If you spool the line the same way that the reel retrieves it, you get tangles

You'll know if you're doing it wrong because you will get line wrapped around the rod tip.

[Jrob78]

I actually bought a baitcast and tried it for a day...yea I'm years away from that! I also have 1 spinning rod that I put braid on....the 1 time I was experimenting with it I didn't get any bites (It was raining and very windy) but I wanted to practice using it. I did OK with it but for using only spincast reels it'll still take a few more practice sessions (Maybe 50...lol). I would throw the mono back on it (The Rhino) but the mono got tangled up so much above the reel I just assume take this one back and if I get another spincast it'll be for lighter fishing only. GREAT POSTS ALL and THANKS!!!!

Spinning reels can be tough to get used to when you've been using spincasters because everything is upside down and backwards. Baitcasters are a more natural transition but good baitcasters are expensive and also involve a learning curve. Keep practicing with your spinning gear, it will payoff big time in the long run.

[roadwarrior]

Your issues have more to do with equipment than the line. It sounds to me like you have

become interested in the sport to the extent that you might consider devoting more time

and money for greater enjoyment. Spend some time in the "Rods, Reels Line and Knot"

section to get a feel for what other guys are using. In the meantime, spool up some 8 lb

Trilene XL on the reel you have.

[Preytorien]

These are all good tips. I also second the above advice to use Trilene XL. The "XL" means extra-limp, which means the line will have less of a tendancy to spiral when it's hanging free. I've used this for years on my ultra-light setups and when they say extra limp, they mean it. I have far less tangles than with other mono line.

[Crestliner2008]

You say your drag is "close to Max". With braid, that's your first mistake. Loosen up the drag. Braid has no stretch. If you drag is tight, no stretch equals breakage. With spincast reels however, I would switch to the Trilene XL and not worry about it. But....loosen the drag a bit with that line as well. Never fully tighten down a drag system, unless you are back-reeling during the fight.

[hooah212002]

Spincast reels are fine....if you are catfishing off the bottom (cast a hunk of liver and wait for a big 'ol cat to take it), but for repeated casts they are a pain. Is there a learning curve for spinning? Barely, but anything new has a learning curve. There are tips that you will learn and keep learning for years to come, but a spinning outfit will lead to far less trouble than a spincast. Namely because you can see exactly where the line is causing you trouble.

 

Also, don't let baitcasters scare you off. They do have a very high learning curve, but are worth it in the end. Spool up some cheap mono line doused with line conditioner, get a casting plug and go in your backyard. Check out some of the videos or threads here about how to cast a baitcaster and you will be on your way in no time.

 

Last but not least, as with anything, cheap gear will only lead to frustration. I say cheap as in el-cheapo, not on sale or inexpensive. High quality gear lends itself to more time fishing and less time futzing around with your gear on the water (but you'll end up futzing with it at home, much to your wife's chagrin).

 

You've already shown more dedication than most by coming to bassresource, so keep at it.

[Gooch Bednarcik]

Thanks everybody for your responses; I'll probably end up trying everything everyone posted, except getting a Bait Cast (Just kidding).  I do appreciate all the great feedback.

 

For the record, I so have 3 Catfish poles I use (All have 20lb or more mono) and all are Spincast; never had an issue with any of those (Except when the fish are not biting, but I blame them).  The Rhino I original had an issue with is/was for Crappie, Bluegill, and now Bass (Pond fishing and offshore lake fishing).  In the future I will leave Braid off of Spincast reels (I did purchase a Abu Garcia 1276SLi Spincast a week ago off eBay, will be here today I hope and it stated it comes pre-spooled with 12lb braid; I'll try some of the tips here when I get a rod and get it hooked up:  Set drag lower, cast smooth as possible, etc.)  Maybe this particular will give me better results!

 

I would also shy away from putting on 8lb test on the Rhino because as mentioned earlier I used 10lb mono and broke a few lines with large bass.  Maybe it was my drag that broke it, but not knowing the ins and outs of all that yet I'm one that would prefer 12lb test over 8 or 10. I can still feel and catch smaller bluegill on 12 and even 15lb test, and I seemed to be able to reel in the bigger bass with less line breaks (Using another pole with 12 and 15lb line).  Maybe I'll just get 4-5 poles with all diff setups and try them all  (wink) but my INITIAL reaction was to beef up to 12lb line for bass.  A few of you recommended Trilene XL over Spiderwire, if they have that in 10 or 12 maybe I can experiment with that??

 

Thanks all again!  I just woke up and I'm ready to go fishing again with all this discussions   :-)

[B@ssCrzy]

Spincast reels are fine....if you are catfishing off the bottom (cast a hunk of liver and wait for a big 'ol cat to take it), but for repeated casts they are a pain. Is there a learning curve for spinning? Barely, but anything new has a learning curve. There are tips that you will learn and keep learning for years to come, but a spinning outfit will lead to far less trouble than a spincast. Namely because you can see exactly where the line is causing you trouble.

 

Also, don't let baitcasters scare you off. They do have a very high learning curve, but are worth it in the end. Spool up some cheap mono line doused with line conditioner, get a casting plug and go in your backyard. Check out some of the videos or threads here about how to cast a baitcaster and you will be on your way in no time.

 

Last but not least, as with anything, cheap gear will only lead to frustration. I say cheap as in el-cheapo, not on sale or inexpensive. High quality gear lends itself to more time fishing and less time futzing around with your gear on the water (but you'll end up futzing with it at home, much to your wife's chagrin).

 

You've already shown more dedication than most by coming to bassresource, so keep at it.

 

 

Bingo!!  I use spincasters when I am trying to teach my kids how to fish with bobbers and for catfish, but other than that they are not made for the type of bass fishing that you seem to be interested in.  (my opinion)  Reason being is that a spin caster will twist the line and so cast after cast it builds up until you cast out and have this big birds nest in front of you.  Same thing will happen with a spinning reel since they are both essentially doing the same thing when they wind the line onto the reel.  However, the good thing about a spinning reel is that you can put braid on the spinning reel and it will solve this problem since it has no memory and does not coil as much when twisted.  I went to baitcasters after having my mono always getting tangled on my spinning setups, but once I put braid on my spinning setups that changed everything. With braid you have no line memory, and if it does tangle you can normally pick out the tangle with little effort.  Learn to tie a mono leader to the braid and you can fish with that line for years and not have to buy any more line.   I have no problems using my spinning setup for many different applications now that I have braid on it.  I probably do prefer my baitcasting combos better, but like previously said if you are going to go that route please invest in a good reel (at least $100).  If you don't you will be sorry.  If I was going to invest in a really good entry level combo I would look at a Pflueger President spinning reel and a Shimano Sellus 6'8"-7' spinning rod, or maybe a Powell Diesel rod for just a little bit more.  With the sales going on right now you would probably be looking at around $100, but it would be something that should last you quite a while.  Hope that helps.  Tight lines!!

[Hyrule Bass]

spincasters are just fine for bass fishing, its all some people use, and they have success using them. you just have to figure it out. when using your rhino combo did it come prespooled with line from the store? if it did, the first thing you shouldve done is rip all that line off and respool it with something different. 12lb XL sounds like a good choice. and also it sounds like youre underspooling your reel, which can cause problems too. when underspooled, its harder for the line to come off a spincaster reel. spool it until you have about an 1/8th of an inch lip left on the spool.

[B@ssCrzy]

Thanks everybody for your responses; I'll probably end up trying everything everyone posted, except getting a Bait Cast (Just kidding).  I do appreciate all the great feedback.

 

For the record, I so have 3 Catfish poles I use (All have 20lb or more mono) and all are Spincast; never had an issue with any of those (Except when the fish are not biting, but I blame them).  The Rhino I original had an issue with is/was for Crappie, Bluegill, and now Bass (Pond fishing and offshore lake fishing).  In the future I will leave Braid off of Spincast reels (I did purchase a Abu Garcia 1276SLi Spincast a week ago off eBay, will be here today I hope and it stated it comes pre-spooled with 12lb braid; I'll try some of the tips here when I get a rod and get it hooked up:  Set drag lower, cast smooth as possible, etc.)  Maybe this particular will give me better results!

 

I would also shy away from putting on 8lb test on the Rhino because as mentioned earlier I used 10lb mono and broke a few lines with large bass.  Maybe it was my drag that broke it, but not knowing the ins and outs of all that yet I'm one that would prefer 12lb test over 8 or 10. I can still feel and catch smaller bluegill on 12 and even 15lb test, and I seemed to be able to reel in the bigger bass with less line breaks (Using another pole with 12 and 15lb line).  Maybe I'll just get 4-5 poles with all diff setups and try them all  (wink) but my INITIAL reaction was to beef up to 12lb line for bass.  A few of you recommended Trilene XL over Spiderwire, if they have that in 10 or 12 maybe I can experiment with that??

 

Thanks all again!  I just woke up and I'm ready to go fishing again with all this discussions   :-)

 

If your line is breaking with 10 lb mono then I would assume that your drag is not set correctly unless you think that you are hooking fish that are over 10 lbs.  It is possible to bring in fish on 6lb mono that are over 6lbs if your drag is set correctly.  I set my drag pretty light unless I am fishing in a lot of cover where I have to get them out or they will get tangled up in a tree, weeds, etc. I want the fish to take out some line from my drag because that just wears them down and puts less stress on the hook pulling out as well.  Too much and you can't get a good hookset, so there is a balance you will have to figure out.  Also, make sure that when the break happens it is not your knot that is breaking.  Learn to tie a good knot to the hook as this can be one of the first places that you will get a break.

[smalljaw67]

I got a decent spin cast for my grandson and I can tell you that for the type of fishing you do that you don't want braid. The issue with the line twisting is because a spin cast is like a spinning reel in the sense that both have a fixed spool, it makes for easy casting but you will get line twist, it is unavoidable. The way to deal with line twist is to just tie a swivel on to the main line and then tie a 2 foot leader to the other end of the swivel and tie on the bait you want to use, this will really help with the line twist. Investing in much better equipment will help but I don't recommend doing it unless you plan on really getting into it as a serious hobby rather than just having it as a past time. The reason is the better equipment is much more expensive and much more complicated than what you currently are using so get the hang of the spin cast down then if you plan on getting in to fishing a little more then move to spinning but for right now go back to the 10lb mono, Berkley trilene is a good line and you can get it in XL for easier handling (which I think would be what you need) or the XT which is better if you have a lot of cover around. Spool that up and use a size #6 or a #4 barrel swivel, not a snap swivel, and see how that will help.

[Gooch Bednarcik]

If your line is breaking with 10 lb mono then I would assume that your drag is not set correctly unless you think that you are hooking fish that are over 10 lbs.  It is possible to bring in fish on 6lb mono that are over 6lbs if your drag is set correctly.  I set my drag pretty light unless I am fishing in a lot of cover where I have to get them out or they will get tangled up in a tree, weeds, etc. I want the fish to take out some line from my drag because that just wears them down and puts less stress on the hook pulling out as well.  Too much and you can't get a good hookset, so there is a balance you will have to figure out.  Also, make sure that when the break happens it is not your knot that is breaking.  Learn to tie a good knot to the hook as this can be one of the first places that you will get a break.

 

I know a few have said this...but I put on 10lb mono and lowered my drag by about 1/2 and tonight I caught 5 bass all over 15" with no issues...the only issue is the line, once again, got tangled above the spool and I had to take the reel apart...definitely need to look at the post that said to spool the reel counter than the line...or whatever that post was (LOL) but thanks about the drag....still learning process for me  :-)

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

I cant say really what is wrong but Ive used 8-10# braid on a number of spincast/underspin reels for years. zebco33, daiwa goldcast us, omega, pflu 1806 us, a Synergy micro underspin. My 7y/o son yesterday was throwing the Pflu 1806 w/10# braid no issues throwing very nice 40 feet or so only a small bobber. Ive used it for bass on occasion and with just nightcrawler it goes very well.

 

My only guess would be that by chance could you be getting the subtle braid caught in the threads of the cover as you put it on?  This would cause it to get stuck and too might cut the line at the same time. This why even with light power cast the line breaks.

 

Another tip if you still want to try your braid again get Reel Magic or KVD Line Conditioner take the cover off spray the line put cover on carefully. You can use this stuff for any of your other lines you have to help.

[SirSnookalot]

I'd be looking to use a traditional spinning outfit.  My level of enthusiasm would dictate my investment, the more you spend the more refinement the gear will have, price ranges literally run all over the map.  Everyone has their favorites in a choice of line,  I prefer braid and in the long run it may even be a bit cheaper, but nothing is wrong in using mono or copoly, some prefer it.  If I'm using mono I don't want a line too heavy for the reel (that can promote coiling and don't over fill) I soak my line in warm water first but the real important thing is to troll your line out before you fish, probably soaking and trolling wouldn't hurt for your spincast.  I for for sure would be setting my drag with mono just tight enough for a good hookset.  15 or 20# braid lines are very strong, it's doubtful a bass can pull out over 20# of force, even with a tighter drag the line should not break from a fish, but that's where you're knot tying ability comes into play.