Honesty time: I get a backlash 1 out of every ??? casts.

[Bass Turd]

17 minutes ago, geo g said:

If your equipment is working correctly, time on the water will solve a lot of your problems.  You have to readjust for wind conditions.  If its a real windy day I will put the wind to my back and let the wind be my friend.  This really helps if I'm throwing light baits on a windy day.  If I'm fishing from the bank I will always check wind direction before I leave the truck.   I will  find areas where I can keep the wind coming from my back.  This really makes for easy casting and makes for an enjoyable day.  Lots of videos on adjusting a baitcaster.  Also some lines are easier to handle then others.  I would start with Mono until your past the novice level.  Lots of good monos on the market.

At first glance this casting with the wind idea sounds good... but.... from what I understand the bass will face into the wind (read current in their face) as this is where the bait fish will come from... down current. I just tie on a heavier lure that will cut the wind like a rattle trap. I've been trying to find the windiest bank lately and fish paralell to the bank most of the time trying to picture how the bass would be positioned. Wind=Current=Active feeding fish=Moving bait. 

[BankBassing]

4 hours ago, bigfruits said:

1 out of 15 casts sounds high. what reel, rod and bait are you using?

Cherrywood HD 7ft Medium Heavy, Abu Garcia Silver Max, various baits.  My backlashes are totally my fault, not the equipment.  I get greedy and try to cast too far, and when I do I really sling it and cause one.  Sometimes, I'm backing off on my tension or brakes in an attempt to cast farther, and get just past proper adjustment.  The fishing where I am is extremely tough right now, so once I've exhausted all the shallow area, I'm trying to get as far out into the river as I can from the bank/dock.

[K_Mac]

Like most of the other experienced guys I don't get many backlashes. Pitching a light bait or a spinnerbait in the wind will cause a little fluffing of the line, but not a big deal. I get careless occasionally and catch something on the back cast. That will test your backlash clearing skills! 

With a proper setup of your reel, and the line, rod and bait sized correctly, along with a couple years of experience will eliminate most of your issues. Be patient and enjoy the process.

[geo g]

16 hours ago, Bass Turd said:

At first glance this casting with the wind idea sounds good... but.... from what I understand the bass will face into the wind (read current in their face) as this is where the bait fish will come from... down current. I just tie on a heavier lure that will cut the wind like a rattle trap. I've been trying to find the windiest bank lately and fish paralell to the bank most of the time trying to picture how the bass would be positioned. Wind=Current=Active feeding fish=Moving bait. 

Down here in south Florida,  we have so much thick heavy vegetation that treble hooks are often out of the question especially when fishing from the bank.  Plastics are often the baits of choice for us along with weedless frogs.  The more weight you add the less realistic the movement you get out of your bait.   When casting, the less weight the better the movement on the bait.  I often throw into the wind on normal windy days, but I'm not the one having the problem with a baitcaster and back lashes.  This post was to help a guy with a problem .  Adding weight just reduces the effectiveness of plastic baits.  I also use Floro or heavy braid for plastics, but I would not recommend for beginners having problems.    From the boat in deeper water, baits with trebles work fine 

[DogBone_384]

I sometimes backlash towards the end of the day, especially if I'm tired, when I drop my arm/wrist angle a bit. I also backlash more at pre/post dawn.

Other than the above and not adjusting my reel when the wind picks up, I don't backlash very much.

[flyfisher]

if i am pitching i might get a few before i get back into the groove since i don't do it a ton but otherwise i may see one small one each full day of fishing.  

[new2BC4bass]

17 hours ago, YakPirate said:

you are probably right about the adjusting aspect, i have the centrifugal brake set on 2 of 4 , and generally leave the external brake alone , and just calibrate each different bait with the tension knob .   Yea , i only had the reel for 3 months so i may need a little more trigger time.  you identify "over-runs" vs "back lashes. I may be having more over runs than back lashes because i can generally get them out with no problem. but they are frustrating to say the least , but it hasn't damped my like of the reel. I need some fall action to pickup around here as it has been skunk city lately.   i have been practicing my baitcasting primarily from shore to get the hang of it , normally i'd be in the Yak, but it has not earned my confidence yet to be welcomed on my ship.

Are you saying you don't use any external brakes?  I'd suggest around 8 on the external brake to start with.  I'd also increase the centrifugal brake to 3 while learning.  I believe my reels with centrifugal brakes all have 6 pins.  I can use 2, but casting is less critical with 3 on so that is where most are set.  Currently the only reel with less is an older blue Patriarch XT in which I have one internal brake on and 3 external. 

Magnetic brakes only work when the spool is spinning.  Same for centrifugal.  Spool tension is constant whether the spools spins or not.  Personally I'd rather run less spool tension and more brakes.  I feel this affects distance less.  Here is a good read.  http://www.another site/bassfishingforums/showthread.php?t=33004

I agree you should get better while bank fishing as sitting in a Yak is going to change your casting stroke.  In my case it takes some time to smooth out my casting stroke when I sit in the front of a dinghy.  Personally I feel it is easier to cast standing up than sitting down.  Sitting constricts side arm roll casts.  Speaking of roll casts, are you using a side arm or overhead cast?  Unless going for maximum accuracy, I use a roll cast even in my overhead casts.  This keeps the tip loaded throughout the cast which helps eliminate a jerk on the rod's reversal.  Make a bigger circle and/or speed up the forward part of the casting stroke for more distance.

[MassYak85]

It really depends, I could go all day and not backlash once in a few thousand casts, but it depends on the lure, reel, line and wind conditions. Heavier lures (like a whopper plopper 130) I rarely backlash with.Stuff that is more prone to catching in the wind or lighter baits I tend to backlash a fair amount until I get the reel dialed in perfectly. I tend to backlash more with fluoro/copoly/mono than braid too. The reel itself I feel plays a big part. I have a Conc. A and it takes a lot more to get that to backlash than some of my other reels. Then I have an LFS which I can dial in to cast really far but the line between backlash and a great cast is much finer and I tend to backlash more with that.  

[Preytorien]

It happens to all of us. Some more frequently than others. I think just being careful about what weight lure you're throwing, and what kind of wind you're dealing with helps, as well as knowing your rod/reel setup and its limitations. 

One thing I do that helps drastically is to re-seat the line every so often on an outing. Cast as far out as you can feasibly do and reel back in steadily. Let the guide do it's thing and re-wrap the line and then your line won't have as many errant loops over itself. Then at the end of every trip I completely re-seat the line on my reels and re-wind them with some tension on the line. 

Really seems to help.....

[Turkey sandwich]

It just happens sometimes.  Be it wind, size/weight of lures, trying to be over aggressive with the tension and braking, awkward casting angles, etc.. Some reels are just more prone, too.  I have some reels that may not backlash over an entire weekend on the water and others that I'll be pulling line from several times throughout the day.  I have a Speed Spool BB1 that will cast crankbaits a mile, but I have to stay conscious of it because of it's proneness to be be kind of a jerk.  On the other hand, I have Shimanos that I can all but forget about the brakes unless I'm trying to skip. 

[Team9nine]

On ‎9‎/‎28‎/‎2016 at 10:51 AM, BankBassing said:

 So fess up!  If you had to guess, what is your ratio of backlashes to casts. 

Also, is there something that helped you most to reduce this number?

I get a backlash about 1 out of every 10,351 casts...but who's counting

As for the latter question, time and experience

-T9

[fishwizzard]

I got a BFS combo the other week and have been fishing it like crazy.  If I am wading in the middle of a river, I get a small easily fixable backlash every 10-20 casts, depending on wind.  If I am on the bank, it is far far worse.  I am still learning and trying to work around cover and branches results in a small backlash every 5-10 casts and I am up to two "tangled to the reel" backlashes so far.  

 I may need to invest in a 600y spool of 10lb braid at some point soon if I don't quickly improve.  

[S. Sass]

31 minutes ago, Bunnielab said:

I got a BFS combo the other week and have been fishing it like crazy.  If I am wading in the middle of a river, I get a small easily fixable backlash every 10-20 casts, depending on wind.  If I am on the bank, it is far far worse.  I am still learning and trying to work around cover and branches results in a small backlash every 5-10 casts and I am up to two "tangled to the reel" backlashes so far.  

 I may need to invest in a 600y spool of 10lb braid at some point soon if I don't quickly improve.  

10lb braid is going to be headed the wrong way IMHO 

Honestly a for real backlash probably I average 1/1000 I don't consider a 2 pull and clear a "backlash". 

Many backlashes are easily avoided. If you make sure your all clear and the line is tight before ever reeling after each cast. It's real easy to cast and reel not catching that one loose loop. Two or three casts later your scratching your head on what was by all accounts a easy cast that went horribly wrong. 

[Turkey sandwich]

54 minutes ago, Bunnielab said:

I got a BFS combo the other week and have been fishing it like crazy.  If I am wading in the middle of a river, I get a small easily fixable backlash every 10-20 casts, depending on wind.  If I am on the bank, it is far far worse.  I am still learning and trying to work around cover and branches results in a small backlash every 5-10 casts and I am up to two "tangled to the reel" backlashes so far.  

 I may need to invest in a 600y spool of 10lb braid at some point soon if I don't quickly improve.  

The smaller braid actually makes the backlashes worse becaus the small diameter settles and cuts in all over the spool, causing weird pockets of tight and loose line (the best I can describe it).  I do not spool baitcasters with braid under 30lb test. Put the 10lb braid on a spinning reel and spool your casting reels with 30-40lb braid.  You'll notice a HUGE difference. 

[fishwizzard]

The reel I am messing with is a PX68. Using 10lb braid lets me get  a good amount of line on the spool while keeping it's ability to work small/light baits well.  I have 20lb braid on my M spinning combo and there is a noticeable difference working light lures compared to my ML combo which is spooled with 10lb braid.  Ideally I want to use 8lb YZH on this reel but I need to get better with it first, as that stuff is thick enough that a single bad backlash or breakoff will leave me very short on line. 

[PAfishing]

If i'm using my Diawa reels and i remember to turn my brakes up, I'm usually good to go. Then somedays different factors like wind, brush, my girlfriends hair get in the way then I birds nest bad. Best thing I ever did was buy a $2 metal pick from a hardware store to pick the knots out.

[Turkey sandwich]

4 hours ago, Bunnielab said:

The reel I am messing with is a PX68. Using 10lb braid lets me get  a good amount of line on the spool while keeping it's ability to work small/light baits well.  I have 20lb braid on my M spinning combo and there is a noticeable difference working light lures compared to my ML combo which is spooled with 10lb braid.  Ideally I want to use 8lb YZH on this reel but I need to get better with it first, as that stuff is thick enough that a single bad backlash or breakoff will leave me very short on line. 

 

 

What at do you need more than 50-70 yards of braid for?  

There is no good reason to run lighter line on a baitcaster than on a spinning reel.  The small diameter is a HUGE part of what's causing your problems.  Spool with 30lb braid and tie a leader of the 8lb Hybrid and you'll get he best of both worlds.  What you're doing right now will only sour you on casting gear, hinder your versatility, and set you back a TON of time no energy.  

[Airman4754]

Almost never. I only use magnetic brakes and I always leave them on 5. I adjust the brake to where the bait drops roughly two feet per second on its own. 

The two biggest factors to me is line diameter and rod power. If you're throwing a Senko with 20lb fluoro on a heavy rod you're going to have a much harder time than 20lb braid on a medium rod. 

[JustJames]

On September 28, 2016 at 7:51 AM, BankBassing said:

Spent the past couple months learning to cast a baitcaster.  Thanks to recently learning to better adjust my brakes and tension, my number of backlashes has gone down.  Still, I probably get a backlash once every 15 casts if I had to guess.  I'm curious how often it happens to more experienced anglers.  So fess up!  If you had to guess, what is your ratio of backlashes to casts. 

Also, is there something that helped you most to reduce this number?

Go with #4 copolymer then. I have that on my calcutta 50 and it goods for very lite lure/jig. 

[bagofdonuts]

Someone please delete this thread. I read it yesterday before going out yesterday afternoon. I havent had a backlash in a while. It was pretty windy and I had one so bad i had to cut it out. I'm blaming it on this post. I don't remember last time I had one that bad. Fish were blowing up all around me and im picking at a reel.

Its like talking about shanking a nine iron. It's just something you don't talk about. As soon as you do... look what happens.

[scaleface]

Ok , pulling a loop out is not a backash , so I  get them rarely ,once proper adjustments are made . Bad ones come when you hook something on the backcast , like your partner .

[new2BC4bass]

3 hours ago, bagofdonuts said:

Someone please delete this thread. I read it yesterday before going out yesterday afternoon. I havent had a backlash in a while. It was pretty windy and I had one so bad i had to cut it out. I'm blaming it on this post. I don't remember last time I had one that bad. Fish were blowing up all around me and im picking at a reel.

Its like talking about shanking a nine iron. It's just something you don't talk about. As soon as you do... look what happens.

Why didn't you just use one of the other 16 rods you had with you and removed the backlash at home? 

[fishwizzard]

Did it again this evening, lost about half of my spool.  Same dumb mistake, didn't look behind me. I was at a local pond, standing on the same rock I always do to cast under a dock.  Usually I have a 6' spinning rod with me and can cast from any angle without hitting the large thorn bush right behind my rock.   Today I had a 6'8" casting rod.  I guess I know now that the clearance from the tip of my spinning rod to the bushes is less then 8".  

New plan is to use only my 9' surf rod for bass till winter.  By spring the casting rod will seem so short and manageable!

[WPCfishing]

I don't get them often. I suppose using a bait caster for 30+ years may have something to do with my results. 

Keep on casting.. let the rod work for you.

[Jeff H]

I get minor backlash every trip.  Fluffs all the time.  2 weeks ago I had a backlash that rendered that particular reel unusable the rest of the day.   That has not happened in many many years. That reel is a highly modified Fuego w/100M spool.  Excellent performance but the spool seems a tad unpredictable.  I'm leaving it in there though because when it's good (which is 95% of the time), it's really really good!