Baitcaster BirdsNest Here how to stop

[kevin white]

coming from a tournament casters point of view,

one, learn to tune your own reels, it's not rocket science or the black arts, sure it takes alittle time to get it right, but once you have the know how, it's easy.

like has been said, line level is a big thing, to low and it'll kill distance, to high over runs galore, keep it level or slightly under for easier control.

also remember, if you set up the reel to run well with a level spool with .31mm line it will over run with .28mm because the line level on the spool doesn't lower as quickly.

depending on the braking you require, you could play around with blocks or mags, both work well, the harder you hit the cast the more braking you'll require, if you cast very slow and smooth the less braking needed because of the spools acceleration, i've seen guy's hit distances in excess of 860ft on the tournament fields with reels that were so blocked up or magged up they were boardering on the ridiculous.

another good method to get good control on your reels is change out the oil in your spool bearing to a heavier grade, or use TG rocket fuel, it's very easy to do, this alone will slow most reels down with out the need to completely tighten down the end float, also if you have a splindle through spool assembly, use some STP on the spindle ends that go through the end cap bushes, there are many other ways to gain control over an over active reel, so give it a go and learn something more about the gear you use.

kev

[nofearengineer]

860 feet?

Please tell me this is a typo as this is 1/6 of a mile.

[rodnreel]

I want to know what kind of reels those guys are using to cast 860 ft. and specifically where I can get one....

[Strike_King 609]

I am going to keep my bandaid as you called it. Been working great cast smooth and has tons of distance. I have 3 diffrent baitcasters they are setup for diffrent things so i dont have to keep playing with that brake. I have one for swimbaits/frogs 7'3 abu ventedda with kvd tour burner 7:3 ,mojo st. croix plasitcs 7ft with Quantum Acs5500 saltwater reel 6.4 , 6'6 st.croix trumpih with kvd tour power 5.3. for jerkbaits. I throw tubes and jigs on my Spinning rod Mojo Bass with the Quantum Enegry Ptia. And that just the bassin line up. But as far as tape on the bait caster i dont even notice its there.

[kevin white]

Originally Posted by nofearengineer

860 feet?

Please tell me this is a typo as this is 1/6 of a mile.

no typo, remember this is full blown tournament casting, using 12-14ft surfcasting rods and 6500 size multipliers with conversion mag plates etc, or oil and block set up's,most common sized weight's used are 100gram,125gram,150gram and 175gram, the weight's that tend to do the biggest distances are the 125gram on 0.28mm line with shock leader and the 150gram run on 0.31mm line the rods are mainly made by zziplex or century, reels are normally abu 5500, 6500ct cage (non-level wind), reels are tuned to hell and run right on the edge of blowing up especially when in competitions when you may only get to have 8-10 casts, we also cast with 18gram plugs with baitcaster style reels, i tend to use a abu revo and 0.18mm line with 0.25mm shock leader and cast on average 105yrs(315 feet), distances change with different condition's, high pressure will normally mean less distance, compare this with a low pressure that will usually mean bigger distances.

biggest cast i've seen made in a competition and officially measured was in weymouth, england which was 296yrds (888feet) by gary dickinson, i think he used a zziplex primo sychcro or H.S.T with a 150 gram lead and .31mm line, there are quite a few guy's now though that have broken 900feet plus in comps and in practice, my biggest recorded cast in a competition is 251 yards (753 feet ), anyway back to what i was trying to get at is, any reel is tunable for many applications it just takes time to get it right, the fastest way is mags, very user friendly and normally easy to adjust quickly, blocks and oil is a little harder to get right, but when it's right it's great and means you spend less time messing with your reels on the water when you should be fishing.

kev

[nofearengineer]

Okay, Kevin. That clears things up a little. Your post makes a 40 yard Spinnerbait cast seem like an underachievement. The rigs you are talking about aren't really fishable. Kind of like driving the Space Shuttle to the grocery store.

[kevin white]

no not in that sense, but tuning a reel to cast tournament leads and fishing lures is the same principle, if you get it right you will add yards to your casts but without the headache of blacklashs.

kev