birds nest w/ spinning reel

[bradster]

Help. I'm plagued by birdsnests with my spinning reel. I use braid. I even bought one of those new line spoolers for spinning rods and it seemed to work well--it was rotating back and forth as I reeled my line on.  I always try to close the bail just before lure hits water and I always hold the line tight when reeling in slack. And I still get birdsnests!!! what am I doing wrong? the only thing I've really changed lately is I switched to a longer rod. But I didn't think that would make a difference. the nests seem to occur less when i case sidearm,  vs casting overhead. I just ordered some of that "reel snot" stuff to see if that helps. #@#%% birdsnests are killing me!! Help. PS didn't seem to have this problem as much in the past. I can remember fishing all day without a birdsnest.

[The Bassman]

As much as I try to practice what I preach about line management I still get the occasional "surprize". What gets me into trouble is not paying attention to my spool when I'm absorbed in my fishing. If you see a small loop you need to make a long cast past it to clean it out.

[Jig Man]

Braid is better than it used to be but still can get "wind knots".  A line conditioner can make it easier to use.  I like Real Magic or KVD line conditioner.

 

Try making a cast and having the rod close to the 3'Oclock position when finished.  Stop the line by touching the spool with a finger of the off hand.  Close the bail by hand.  Lift the rod tip as you take up the slack from the cast.  See if that eliminates your problem.

 

 

[fin]

Don't try to cast as far as you can. You might be surprised that your bait goes almost as far without slinging your rod so hard.

[jimmyjoe]

   I don't do this, so take it for what it's worth.

   One of my friends uses fly line wax on the first 35 feet of line to prevent wind knots. He's got 8 lb 832 on a 1000 size Nasci, and he says he was getting wind knots up the wazoo. He says it works.

    I don't know. I don't fly fish.

   My attitude is that spinning reels have inherent line twist, and I just live with the problems. If you're careful, the problems are reduced. Somewhat.   jj

[johnmyers]

9 minutes ago, fin said:

Don't try to cast as far as you can. You might be surprised that your bait goes almost as far without slinging your rod so hard.

This is exactly right

[Fishingmickey]

One thing you might try is to "untwist" your line. I don't know how well it would work with braid. I do know it works excellent with Mono or Fluorocarbon. If your in a boat or kayak just go slow and let maybe half a spool of line out with nothing tied on the end. The water drag on the line will cause the line to untwist. After you have got your line out drag it for several minutes (5-10). Then reel the line back in and see if that solves the "birdnest" problems for a little while.

FM

[TOXIC]

Your reel is overfilled.  That's the major cause of wind knots in braid.  What size reel and how much of what lb test braid do you have spooled up?  

[813basstard]

Tends to happen more with real light braid. 

As stated, don’t attempt to cast so hard.

Catching a bunch of fish or getting hung up on something tends to ‘season’ the line as well. Seems to sit on the spool better and come of the spool better.

[papajoe222]

Which way was the line coming off that line spooler you have,from the top or bottom? You may have inadvertently added line twist when spooling. If so, just remove all hardware from the end and let 30yrds or so trail behind the boat. You can also walk off a casts length on your lawn and reel it back on with your rod tip down and that will help eliminate twist.  The other thing is, with braid, it needs to be spooled tightly and well below the rim of the spool.

[WRB]

Line twist is your issue creating birds nest problems. Braid is yarn made up of hundreds of tiny fibers and has no memory so it doesn't matter how it's spooled on initially.

There are a few good braid line conditioners availble that may extend use before the line twist becomes overwhelming, The Professer braid line conditioner is popular.

Here is the problem with spinning reels; every time the bail rotates 1 turn the line gets 1 twist per turn. Larger is meter spool the circumference is longer meaning more inches of line per turn equals few twist per inch, but it still gets twisted just takes longer.

Check your bail roller it must spin freely and be smooth without any grooves that snag the braid.

What lures are you using?

Tom

[MartinTheFisherman]

I believe it's because you could have too much line on your reel, which easily caused bird nests. Had this happen this weekend when I overfilled the spool, and every cast I had a bird's nest, but once I cut some line off it worked perfectly.

 

Tight Lines

[offsidewing]

From experience and as @TOXIC mentioned it sounds like you might have your spool overfilled.  You don't need $4 a gallon silicone spray sold as $20 a pint line conditioner to eliminate birdnests, unless you really want too. 

[Yumeya]

The best thing you can do is get a high quality spinning reel, one with a good oscillation that lays line nice.

 

I haven't had any problems with any higher end Shimano or Daiwa. 

[GreenPig]

I've had problems with Spider Wire(very limp) before. Changed to Berkley Fireline(fairly stiff) and have no wind knots or blowups. When I notice it's twisted I cut the lure off and drag it behind the boat in a fast idle to the next spot. Reel it in retie and fish til next time it's twisted which my be 3 or 4 fishing trips.

 

 

 

 

[bradster]

These are all good ideas/pointers. I probably overfilled the spool and the reel is pretty old. I also liked the idea about fly fishing wax--outside the box thinking! and the casting tips are right on too. It does tend to happen when I cast too vigorously! I love this forum and I really do appreciate all the replies I got. When I was complaining to my wife about the birdsnests, I said "But I'll bet the people on this forum will have ideas/solutions". And you all did! Thanks much.

If I'm still getting bad birdsnests, I may be back for more help but I think that all your ideas will fix. Much appreciated.

[Preytorien]

I had issues with the same until I started using braid with a leader. Even in the very rare occasion I switch to a spool with fluoro on it I have to really be careful since the line has so much memory. 

 

Might try the braid + leader option if you aren't already

[jimmyjoe]

14 hours ago, bradster said:

If I'm still getting bad birdsnests, I may be back for more help but I think that all your ideas will fix. Much appreciated.

  Heck yeah, c'mon back if you need. Remember .... we learn from you as much as you learn from us.     jj

[blckshirt98]

What kind of braid are you using?  I've always used basic 4-strand PowerPro but then one day decided to try PowerPro Slick8.  I got so many wind knots when casting Slick8 (not overspooled, used the same way as normal PowerPro) I got rid of it all and went back to regular braid.  Really soft/supple braid seems to have a huge issue with wind knots, you might want to try a different brand of braid.

[N Florida Mike]

Good advice above. I do most of the above and still occasionally get a nest.

I have a mystery spinning  reel that is actually a little more expensive than my avg. reel. High gear ratio. It would be in use every time except that the bird nests in it are so frequent it's just unusable. I have tried and tried. I finally gave up and it's now in my retired reel graveyard...?

[Kwoui]

The only time I get birdnest on a spinning set up is when I put too much line on the reel.

p.s. spooling it on too tight will have the same effect. ( if you put the perfect amount of line but super tight, once you cast and retrieve its gonna spool on less tightly and result in having too much line for your reel, making you birds nest on the next casts)

[bradster]

On 4/17/2019 at 3:21 AM, blckshirt98 said:

What kind of braid are you using?  I've always used basic 4-strand PowerPro but then one day decided to try PowerPro Slick8.  I got so many wind knots when casting Slick8 (not overspooled, used the same way as normal PowerPro) I got rid of it all and went back to regular braid.  Really soft/supple braid seems to have a huge issue with wind knots, you might want to try a different brand of braid.

I've been using Suffix 832 Advanced Superline but may switch to Berkley Fireline based on one of the recommendations above. I will avoid PowerPro Slick 8 based on your experiences with it. thanks.

[jbrew73]

The only time I get a birds nest on my spinning reel is when I actually use it.  As long as it sits on the rack it’s fine.  I’ll stick to casting reels until I learn to use those hateful things.  

 

Sesriouly though I think it’s the type lure that causes me problems as much as anything.  Texas rigs and inline spinners give me a fit but jigs and spinnerbaits aren’t too bad. I’m sure better technique on my part would help tremendously but I never learned to use spinning gear other than for bottom rigs.   

[Flatrock]

I suspect you don't use a swivel with your lures.  Spinning reels will twist your line.  What I suggest is to let your line out with no lure just line while you are going across the lake and when you empty you spool or at least half, reel your line back in.  It will untwist while your reeling it back in.

[bradster]

you're right. i don't use a swivel. but i fish a lot with soft plastic baits and i always assumed a swivel would mess with the subtle action of the bait. no?