What happened here?

[BigAngus752]

Duckett Terex spinning rod M/H Fast; Pflueger President XT (size 35);  20lb Power Pro braid; Texas-rig, 1/2oz weight (not pegged), 4/0 EWG, Zoom Trick Worm.

 

Sorry the pic is blurry but you'll get the idea.  I've never had this happen before.  Went to a nearby pond to try out my new Terex spinning rod for the first time.  On my second or third cast I felt a "thump" during the cast and when I looked out I saw a big tangle in the middle of my line about 15 yards out in the water.  I reeled it to me and spent five minutes weeding it out.  What happened and how to I prevent it?  I cast it 20 more times with no problems after.  Thanks in advance.  

[Russ E]

wind knot.

probably had a loose loop of line on the spool.

t happens once in awhile with braid.

If you have a lot of twist in the line a loose loop will twist and cause a knot.

one thing I do with braid is, manually close the bail and make sure there is no slack in the line before I start reeling

[BigAngus752]

37 minutes ago, Russ E said:

wind knot.

probably had a loose loop of line on the spool.

t happens once in awhile with braid.

If you have a lot of twist in the line a loose loop will twist and cause a knot.

one thing I do with braid is, manually close the bail and make sure there is no slack in the line before I start reeling

Odd.  The wind was almost at my back and barely 10mph.  I always close the bail by hand too, but this line was in a tangle before it hit the water.  I'm sure the "thump" I felt was this tangle going through the guides...or the guides causing the tangle somehow.  But I saw the tangle hit the water as the line was still sailing with the bail open.  Maybe the wind caught a loop during the cast.  Thanks for the info.  

[Brad Reid]

BigAngus752, yours is a case of classic wind knot.

 

Do take a look at how the line is stacked on the reel's line spool. If it isn't flat or evenly distributed, that is, there is more line toward the back or the front, you need to add or remove a washer to adjust it. Many models are shipped with an extra couple of washers for making these adjustments.

 

I'd also watch for spool face crossings where a loop of line is only partially lying on the spool and a part of it is over the lip. This is the source for many wind knots where that misplaced loop is grabbed by the line going out and it can get really ugly fast after that. 

 

Brad

[BigAngus752]

37 minutes ago, Brad Reid said:

spool face crossings where a loop of line is only partially lying on the spool and a part of it is over the lip. This is the source for many wind knots where that misplaced loop is grabbed by the line going out

I feel like this is what happened.  I knew when I was spooling that reel that I was being lazy about it because it was "only" a spinning reel with braid on it.  I just checked it and it's perfectly even top to bottom but I'm feeling like the braid is too loose on the spool.  I am going to redo it now.  Thank you for the help.   

[Jcj90]

Were you fishing a leader? If so, the tag end may have caught the guide which caused a wind knot. Also make sure spool isn’t overspooled 

[TOXIC]

Just for future reference....a wind knot doesn't require wind.  There's a number of reasons you could have gotten the "wind knot" you show.  How your line was originally spooled.  How much line was spooled.  Type of backing on spool.  If you made a few casts before it did this, you might have had a small knot that caused a bigger knot when re-cast.  Could have had a loop of line catch a rod guide.  I've actually had the line catch the rod hook keeper!!  With the weight you were throwing you could have had what I call the bullwhip effect from trying to cast too far with the setup you have.  I hate picking knots out of braid but there's not much you can do but untangle and reel it back up.  Just make sure the process of picking it out did not weaken the line.  

[Brad Reid]

5 hours ago, TOXIC said:

Just for future reference....a wind knot doesn't require wind.  There's a number of reasons you could have gotten the "wind knot" you show.  How your line was originally spooled.  How much line was spooled.  Type of backing on spool.  If you made a few casts before it did this, you might have had a small knot that caused a bigger knot when re-cast.  Could have had a loop of line catch a rod guide.  I've actually had the line catch the rod hook keeper!!  With the weight you were throwing you could have had what I call the bullwhip effect from trying to cast too far with the setup you have.  I hate picking knots out of braid but there's not much you can do but untangle and reel it back up.  Just make sure the process of picking it out did not weaken the line.  

Correct. Wind can create some of the circumstances but not all of them that create these knots.

 

Brad

[J Francho]

"Wind knots" are almost always from line twist.  Yes, braid can become twisted.  The solution is the same for any line, troll out a cast or more worth, and reel in using pressure with your fingers.

[WRB]

Why use a 1/2 bullet weight using 20 lb braid on a spinning rod?

Change to a 1/4 oz and with a casting motion you should be able to cast over 40 yards.

Line loops on Spinning reels are usually caused by operator error or reeling against something that doesn't allow the line to untwist, like a fish, heavy weight and some lures.

Tom

 

[BigAngus752]

14 hours ago, TOXIC said:

Just for future reference....a wind knot doesn't require wind.  There's a number of reasons you could have gotten the "wind knot" you show.  How your line was originally spooled.  How much line was spooled.  Type of backing on spool.  If you made a few casts before it did this, you might have had a small knot that caused a bigger knot when re-cast.  Could have had a loop of line catch a rod guide.  I've actually had the line catch the rod hook keeper!!  With the weight you were throwing you could have had what I call the bullwhip effect from trying to cast too far with the setup you have.  I hate picking knots out of braid but there's not much you can do but untangle and reel it back up.  Just make sure the process of picking it out did not weaken the line.  

 

5 hours ago, J Francho said:

"Wind knots" are almost always from line twist.  Yes, braid can become twisted.  The solution is the same for any line, troll out a cast or more worth, and reel in using pressure with your fingers.

Thanks guys.  I'm confident that at least part of the problem was poorly spooling technique to begin with, probably in combination with one or more of the other things you mentioned.  I appreciate the tips.