Backyard baitcaster practice...wet your line.

[Gearhed]

So I have been a spinning rod fisherman for years and have decided its time for me to learn how to use the bait caster. So I went to Dick's and bought a berkley lightning rod/abu garcia silver max combo. It was really cheap at $50 w/a $20 mail in rebate. I spooled it up with some power pro braid and headed out to my back yard with a practice plug. I followed all the great directions here about getting it set up right, keep my thumb on the spool(this one took some conditioning after using a spinning reel for a long time) but still backlash after backlash. I can't figure out what I am doing wrong, got a backlash so bad I couldn't get it out and had to cut the braid from my spool. So I spool up some mono, 12 lb Stren. Still backlash, backlash, backlash, but also i can't seem to get the distance I would like out of the cast. So i decide to tie on a heavier plug and as I am wetting the knot...I think OMG! MY LINE IS DRY! I tied my knot, dripped some water on my spool to soak it down well, and tried to cast again! EUREKA! Nice long cast with no backlash! What an idiot I am, or was, this stuff is all designed to work when it is wet!

So when you are practicing with your new bait caster in your back yard, wet your spool very often! You will then get the right feel out of your set up for practice.