Casting Braid On A Baitcaster

[hgraves]

Ok, I have a very noob question.  I am trying to use braid on a baitcaster and I am having issues with casting.  When I cast, it is like I get an instant bird nest in the middle of the cast and the line suddenly stops and the lure slams into the water.  I have tried three different brands of braid, 20# and 30#,  and two different reels.  I just don't know what I am doing wrong.  I generally don't get a bird nest with mono or fluorocarbon. Any ideas?

[iabass8]

when the line or spool comes to an abrupt stop in the middle of a cast, you generally are having a line digging issue or you didn't pick out a backlash all the way and the spool is stoping at that knot. it's more often the latter. give the line a soft toss and pull it out to the point it is stopping at. braid is probably the easiest casting line on the market. 20# braid, though it works just fine on a baitcaster, has to be watched for line digging into the spool due to its smaller diameter. 

[aquaholic]

When i switched from mono to braid. I got some of the same issues. I found that with braid i needed to run the spool tension a little tighter. I think braid has a little more friction going through the guides than mono or fluro so you loosen up the spool more to compensate to get it too drop smoothly which causes it to get going faster than the lure when you are actually casting and not setting it. That has worked for me, or putting on another set of brakes.  I could be way off but i got that exact same issue when i was out on the water recently and made that adjustment and was fine the rest of the day.

[Fishwhittler]

when the line or spool comes to an abrupt stop in the middle of a cast, you generally are having a line digging issue or you didn't pick out a backlash all the way and the spool is stoping at that knot. it's more often the latter. give the line a soft toss and pull it out to the point it is stopping at. braid is probably the easiest casting line on the market. 20# braid, though it works just fine on a baitcaster, has to be watched for line digging into the spool due to its smaller diameter. 

 

There's the trouble.  20# braid is definitely on the small side for baitcasters; if you have your drag set high it only exacerbates the problem.  Run a lighter drag or switch to heavier line.  I use 30# braid with no problems, though I also run my drags around 2 to 3 pounds.  

 

Otherwise, braid is the easiest line out there to cast.  Single-filament lines are smoother and can be cast further with practice, but braid is pretty much the best there is when it comes to ease of handling.

[Hogsticker]

I fish 10 lb. Sufix performance braid on a two of my casting reels. This line only takes a short while to break in, and I very seldom have digging issues. The problem could be a few things. 1st - the reel. 2nd, if it has a deep spool that holds a lot of line. Last, you may be casting the rod to hard and fast, making the spool start up very quickly. The nice thing about thin diameter braid is you can back off your cast and still achieve great distances. Granted you have the right reel with a fairly shallow spool.

[J Francho]

I don't use anything less than 50# diameter braid on casting gear.  You can certainly use thinner lines, but starting out, I recommend sticking with line that equivilent to 12# mono or larger.  Diameter is your main concern here, never mind the the break strength.

[dodgeguy]

john francho is right on.use 50 lb or higher.get suffix 832.if you still birdnest in the middle of the cast turn your brakes up a bit or use your thumb.

[Ima Bass Ninja]

There's the trouble.  20# braid is definitely on the small side for baitcasters; if you have your drag set high it only exacerbates the problem.  Run a lighter drag or switch to heavier line.  I use 30# braid with no problems, though I also run my drags around 2 to 3 pounds.  

 

Otherwise, braid is the easiest line out there to cast.  Single-filament lines are smoother and can be cast further with practice, but braid is pretty much the best there is when it comes to ease of handling.

Curious to know why having a high drag produces more backlashes? Never heard of this before and can't think of why it would matter.

[Scott F]

If your drag is set to tight and you get a snag, pulling on the line causes it to dig in. Lighter drag allows the line to pull out without digging in. I never use more than 20 pound test on my bass rods. I never have problems with line digging in because my drag is not too tight. 

[tritondriver]

^{I use 65lb McCoy, but no matter what line u use if the BC is not setup correctly which means for every different bait the result just maybe a rats nest thumb or no thumb..check ur tension, the bait should drop to the ground slowly with very little thumb pressure.}

[Fishwhittler]

Curious to know why having a high drag produces more backlashes? Never heard of this before and can't think of why it would matter.

 

Thin braid + high pressure on the line = line digging into itself on the spool and causing problems during casting.

[21farms]

be sure your line is wound on tightly on the spool, initially and on every retrieve. otherwise, the reel makes a difference too. i've noticed that braid line digging is a bigger problem on my reels with narrower spools than on my reels with wider spools because i think reels with wider spools lay down line at broader angles and, thus, are less prone to letting the line dig into itself. is by any chance your reel a revo?

[hgraves]

Thanks for all the great tips. I spooled some 40# braid (Stren I think) on an Abu Garcia Silver Max and made some of the adjustments you all suggested and things are much better now. Still need a lot of practice though.