Bassin in South Florida Posted February 18, 2014 Posted February 18, 2014 Hey guys, new member here! I've searched through the forums but I didnt find any concrete answers, so if you don't mine sharing some of your wisdom with the new guy...Recently I purchased my first baitcaster reel, a Lews TLZ1SH, and fished with it for several weeks with no issues. One cold day I decided to fish a rock/concrete pile and got snagged, I held the spool and proceeded to pull the lure off of the snag, inevitably losing my lure. I noticed that the line had dug into itself and pulled it back out and basically re-spooled it to avoid any crows nests or other issues. After retying an identical lure to the line I noticed an extreme difference in my casting distance. I re-tensioned and dialed in the reel to be sure, and the lack of distance was still an issue. I took it into a local bait and tackle shop thinking perhaps I had damaged the integrity of the reel while attempting to pull the lure free and they gave me the all clear. Has this happened to anyone else? What did you do to remedy this issue? Is there something either myself or the shop overlooked when going over the reel?My apologies in advance if this topic has been posted before and I overlooked it in the search function, I know how annoying us forum newbies can be!Thanks!Mike Quote
WhiteMike1018 Posted February 27, 2014 Posted February 27, 2014 I'm not sure what type of braking system the reel has but id check the brakes and the nob where your handle is... Look on the videos section of the site on how to tune a baitcaster..I dont really thinkk theres any way you couldve damaged the reel Quote
Super User A-Jay Posted February 27, 2014 Super User Posted February 27, 2014 Hello Mike and Welcome to BR ~ As that reel is equip with External-adjust MSB dual cast-control system, perhaps there is another adjustment to be made. A-Jay Quote
Rangerphil Posted February 27, 2014 Posted February 27, 2014 I am no reel mechanic but it might be possible one of the spool bearings got bent even slightly. Hope this helps. 1 Quote
papajoe222 Posted February 27, 2014 Posted February 27, 2014 Sorry I can't help with the reel issue. I just wanted to welcome you. Quote
macmichael Posted February 27, 2014 Posted February 27, 2014 Yes indeed. Welcome to a great site. You'll like it here. Quote
Super User RoLo Posted February 27, 2014 Super User Posted February 27, 2014 Hey guys, new member here! I've searched through the forums but I didnt find any concrete answers, so if you don't mine sharing some of your wisdom with the new guy...Recently I purchased my first baitcaster reel, a Lews TLZ1SH, and fished with it for several weeks with no issues. One cold day I decided to fish a rock/concrete pile and got snagged, I held the spool and proceeded to pull the lure off of the snag, inevitably losing my lure. I noticed that the line had dug into itself and pulled it back out and basically re-spooled it to avoid any crows nests or other issues. After retying an identical lure to the line I noticed an extreme difference in my casting distance. I re-tensioned and dialed in the reel to be sure, and the lack of distance was still an issue. I took it into a local bait and tackle shop thinking perhaps I had damaged the integrity of the reel while attempting to pull the lure free and they gave me the all clear. Has this happened to anyone else? What did you do to remedy this issue? Is there something either myself or the shop overlooked when going over the reel? Thanks! Mike Welcome aboard South Basser. I have no experience with Lews reels, but see no reason why a line-burrowing incident should damage your reel. I suspect it's something simple that can be remedied by resetting the spool tension, magnetic and/or centrifugal drags. One other thing, did you lose a lot of line during the break-off? If so, that in itself can reduce your casting distance. Roger Quote
bassinyea Posted February 27, 2014 Posted February 27, 2014 Depending on what pound test you have spooled you actually CAN damage your reel breaking line like that. Never break your line while holding the spool and never use your rod either. Take the line a couple of feet past the rod tip, wrap it around your hand a few times and break it that way. My guess would be that you either damaged one of your spool bearings or bent your spool shaft. Modern day baitcaster spools are made out of aluminum and aluminum will bend when put under pressure. If your spool shaft is bent even in the slightest it creates friction where it spins inside your pinion gear during casting and will drastically hurt your casting distance. 1 Quote
B@ssCrzy Posted February 27, 2014 Posted February 27, 2014 Depending on what pound test you have spooled you actually CAN damage your reel breaking line like that. Never break your line while holding the spool and never use your rod either. Take the line a couple of feet past the rod tip, wrap it around your hand a few times and break it that way. My guess would be that you either damaged one of your spool bearings or bent your spool shaft. Modern day baitcaster spools are made out of aluminum and aluminum will bend when put under pressure. If your spool shaft is bent even in the slightest it creates friction where it spins inside your pinion gear during casting and will drastically hurt your casting distance. I agree with this. I always keep a short piece of a dowel rod with me that I wrap my line around and and then use it to pull and break the line. What kind of line were you using and what pound test? If it is mono and only like 8-10lb test I doubt you bent the spool, and it may be something else. However, if you are using 50 lb braid and you used the spool to break the line then my assumption would be you did some sort of damage. The fact that your line dug in to me is an indicator that you put a good amount of force on the spool and that is not a good thing. Quote
Brian6428 Posted February 27, 2014 Posted February 27, 2014 If the tackle shop said it looked ok I would just take it apart, lube and grease it up, and check the brakes and spool tension. Amount of line on the spool does effect casting distance, as well. Quote
kschultz76 Posted February 27, 2014 Posted February 27, 2014 How much line did you pull off and respool to get rid of the dig in? Sounds simple but you may want either completely respool if its not cost prohibitive, or tie your line off to a tree in the yard and walk three cast lengths off the spool and respool with proper tension. My guess is that either you still have line dug in deeper in your spool, you've got some loose wraps or a knot buried from the line coiling when you pulled it off, or you didn't get enough tension on your line when respooling what you pulled off initially. I've done exactly what you did to break off snags often, after reading the recommendation here I'm going to start using a piece of dowel instead of my reel. But please don't use your hand, that's a great way to get some nasty lacerations from the line. Quote
Super User WIGuide Posted February 27, 2014 Super User Posted February 27, 2014 How much line did you pull off and respool to get rid of the dig in? Sounds simple but you may want either completely respool if its not cost prohibitive, or tie your line off to a tree in the yard and walk three cast lengths off the spool and respool with proper tension. My guess is that either you still have line dug in deeper in your spool, you've got some loose wraps or a knot buried from the line coiling when you pulled it off, or you didn't get enough tension on your line when respooling what you pulled off initially. I've done exactly what you did to break off snags often, after reading the recommendation here I'm going to start using a piece of dowel instead of my reel. But please don't use your hand, that's a great way to get some nasty lacerations from the line. Did that once with the line wrapped around my t-shirt wrapped hand. Cut through the t-shirt and then my hand :/ Quote
FrogFreak Posted February 27, 2014 Posted February 27, 2014 Ohh, great tip on the dowel. I use 65 lb braid so this is crucial! Quote
Smallmouth Hunter Posted February 27, 2014 Posted February 27, 2014 Hey guys, new member here! I've searched through the forums but I didnt find any concrete answers, so if you don't mine sharing some of your wisdom with the new guy... Recently I purchased my first baitcaster reel, a Lews TLZ1SH, and fished with it for several weeks with no issues. One cold day I decided to fish a rock/concrete pile and got snagged, I held the spool and proceeded to pull the lure off of the snag, inevitably losing my lure. I noticed that the line had dug into itself and pulled it back out and basically re-spooled it to avoid any crows nests or other issues. After retying an identical lure to the line I noticed an extreme difference in my casting distance. I re-tensioned and dialed in the reel to be sure, and the lack of distance was still an issue. I took it into a local bait and tackle shop thinking perhaps I had damaged the integrity of the reel while attempting to pull the lure free and they gave me the all clear. Has this happened to anyone else? What did you do to remedy this issue? Is there something either myself or the shop overlooked when going over the reel? My apologies in advance if this topic has been posted before and I overlooked it in the search function, I know how annoying us forum newbies can be! Thanks! Mike You bent the spool shaft.. Never ever, ever, use the spool to break off. Take some pliers or scissors, and wrap the line around them then pull it off with those. Quote
Bassin in South Florida Posted February 28, 2014 Author Posted February 28, 2014 Hey Guys,Thanks for the warm welcome, much appreciated! The dowel idea is a great one! I pretty much exclusively use braid, so pulling it out by wrapping it around my hand wouldn't end in my favor. It must be the spool shaft, I didn't lose too much line when I pulled it off and I re-spooled it this afternoon just in case. (BTW glad I stocked up on the braid during a clearance sale!). However, I noticed a pronounced wobble with the spool when I was spooling it up with the new line. If it is the spool shaft, it must have been a very slight bend or was overlooked when I took it to the shop. I'll go over that and the spool bearings and let you guys know what comes of it! If they're damaged I assume I can order replacement parts from Lews, hopefully they're not too expensive! Thanks again for all the welcomes and helpful replies, I really appreciate them!Mike Quote
The Rooster Posted February 28, 2014 Posted February 28, 2014 Yeah it's definitely the spool shaft or bearings or both. The guy at the tackle shop saying it looked ok doesn't mean a whole lot. If he's a reel repair man, then I'd say trust him, but I'd sooner believe he's just some guy who works there and doesn't know much about stuff like that at all. You've already seen proof something is not right with the wobble in the spool, which supports what these guys have been saying. Bent shaft, bearings, or otherwise. My guess is bent shaft. Take the spool out and roll it on a flat surface and watch the tip of the shaft. You'll be able to see it when rolling. Quote
Super User Darren. Posted February 28, 2014 Super User Posted February 28, 2014 Welcome aboard, Mike! Quote
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