Top Water Lures & New Braid Line ...

[Kram]

First post so here goes ...

Sorry to start with a question but I guess that being able to ask questions is really one of the great features of forum such as this ...

I have recently purchased a new reel for use from canoe & shore tossing top water lures. It is a Shimano 1000 Seido. I purchased 8lb braid to use with this new reel.

Now for my question ... I have found that the braid lays very loosely on the reel when the lure is retrieved, as you know there is very little weight in the lure being retrieved, I am sure that when casting eventually the braid will come off more than one loop at a time. Causing me to swear more that I should!

During the first use I would use a 'walk the dog' style retrieve on one cast, and on next cast keep some tension on the line whilst retrieving to get it to sit better on the reel.

Can anyone comment on whether the braid will eventually become a bit more 'pliable' and sit better on the reel?

Or should I scale back the breaking strain to 6lb or less? I guess the lighter the braid the more pliable it will be and it will site better on the reel?

Hope that paints a clear picture of my question.

Mark

[FishCQ]

What brand braid are you using.

Some are much softer then others and generally they do soften up and become very flexible, What size/weight lure u throwing around?

I remember when i started using FINS braid i hated it... but it got softer and softer and now its one of my favourites.

Edited May 28, 2010 by FishCQ

[Kram]

Thanks for the prompt reply, I had to wait till home from work to get the details requested ...

Braid ++>> "Sufix" Performance Fuse 8lb

Lure ++>> "Bushies Stiffy Top Dog" 70mm not sure of the weight I have tossed the box away.

[Michael Hatte]

Welome to fishing with braid mate...

I also find i get far less tangles as the braid gets older, once they loose there waxy feeling they come good.

Suffix is good stuff mate, i would'nt go changing it.

I know it hard but try running the line over your fingers before it gets on the spool for the first couple of casts when you start flickin, seems to work with me when i use new stuff.

[GregL]

Fused braids will do that especially fishing 8lb on a 1000 reel as the spool size is so small and the line has so much memory. Over time it will wear and get a little better. SPin a metal on it for an hour or 2 and see if it makes a difference after that.

A woven braid is more supple and will lay a little better but line lay care is always needed when fishing light lures.

G

[Kram]

Thanks for the prompt reply, I had to wait till home from work to get the details requested ...

Braid ++>> "Sufix" Performance Fuse 8lb

Lure ++>> "Bushies Stiffy Top Dog" 70mm not sure of the weight I have tossed the box away.

Normally Saturday is Kids Sport day, weather cruelled that.

So I have had some NET time today and researched a few sites for BRAID / SEIDO etc type posts ... (A long detailed discussion regarding the shape of the spool lip required for various line types really got me thinking!)

What will I do ...

Plan A! Persevere with the set up, use the metal lure for some 'line training'.

PLAN B! In case Plan A lets me down whilst on the water ... Rig the spare spool with mono.

And keep at it for a while.

Thinking of the future, if the above fails I think I will try a different type of braid, go down to 3-4 Lb, and pay careful attention to the amount of memory the braid has.

I guess in short it is all a matter of trial and error. Thanks for the suggestions, I am always happy to learn...

Mark

[brendong]

When i spool up my braid its always under plenty of tension (to the point where my hand aches after finishing, grab a mate and your oven mits to apply tension)and its also helpful if you wet the braid before spooling...i used to have trouble too but since using 4lb Stren (which is almost the same as Fireline) and buying a better quality rod wth a higher first runner, my windy's are all but extinct unless throughing really light hardy's or penicl poppers. I throw alot of 50/60/70 mm poppers and don't tend to get to many windy's and the larger the less chance I would have thought.

I know your not really asking this but you tend to find poppering most productive in the warmer months when the water is a little warmer - Late Nov to April as the fish tend to get more active and will hit the surface more readily (I mainly target bream and whiting on popper and occasionsaly bass)

However, I reckon you could hit Taylor and salmon on popper in winter if you could find them, but it could be an expensive excercise given their teeth....

Happy fishing....

[monch]

Hi Kram, to fishraider and there is no problem with starting with a question, in fact it is enjoyed as you can see from the wealth of information being immediately poured into this topic. You will find that more specfic questions such as yours will have more responses and more useful information than a generic question that requires a textbook to answer... so your on the right track

I started off with 6lb fireline which is a fused braid that is thicker in comparison to the 'true' woven braids. As mentioned earlier, your braid being 8lb and fused will be stiffer and hold more memory than other braids. This will cause more problems on your 1000 sized reel than say a 2500 sized reel due to the spool size. Your plan seems good, use the braid abit more to wear it in like you do with shoes. Metals will help to wear the braid in because of the extra weight and faster retrieve, leading to less loose line on your retrieves. Make sure after each cast you check that the line is on the line roller and i usually hold the line between my fingers to ensure the 1st few wraps are tight on the reel after the cast. With all lures i usually do my usual retrieves and once in a while i will do a straight retrieve with some speed so as to make sure the line gets reset with tension on the spool.

If that fails, i suggest you to try another braid, either woven and/or lighter breaking strain (with both leading to a smaller diameter braid) and save the 8lb fused suffix for use on a larger 2000/2500 sized reel.

Monch

[Kram]

Hi All,

Thought I better let the forum know the result of my testing ...

I had to move away from the braid as it was requiring a 'phantom' cast every seccond retrieve to get the line to sit propoerly on the reel, the spare spool loaded with mono was much easier to use, especially after I found the right capacity of the spool. This was the advice of other members and it worked a treat, Thanks!

(The Braid will have to be put on ice for the moment, I may put it on my Beach rod / reel, time will tell.)

I spent the weekend with some mates on a south coast estuary, spent only a small time fishing as there was many other past times to persue.

The best session of the weekend was a late afternoon, rising tide along a narrow channel lined with oyster crusted rocks, along this wall the Stiffy Top Dog lure coaxed 5 or six big looks resulting in 2 hook ups of 35 cm bream, also caught were tailor (Duro - diver monnow)and luderick (Top Dog Lure). Catching the blackie on the surface lure was a surprise!

Regards

[abecedarian]

Braid can be a real pain in the bum with the lower end reels like the seido, but don't give up on it! It's not so much the line memory issue in your case because there's no way it has as much memory as the mono your using, but more than likely I'd say most of your problem is the way the reel is laying the line.

I'm assuming that you're throwing off a lot of loops and getting tangles all the time? If so, one way to help with that problem is to take off the spool and remove the spacer washers just under it on the shaft. This will cause the line to load up towards the front of the spool and for some reason (not sure why, it just does...) you'll be less likely to get the loops. You won't notice the difference when looking at the spool, and will lose very little if any line capacity but it just might make using braid manageable...

Once you've taken off the spacers then if you have an empty reel about, use that to take off all the line again, then re-load your seido off the other reel with the drag done up to give quite a bit of tension, as much as you can handle without going too far and stripping gears... Make sure there's a bit of mono backing, at least a few wraps around the spool just to stop the braid slipping on the spool.

Hope that helps!

[stylo]

Combination of things but first thing you should do it ensure your reel is not overfilled with line. Ensure the braid is a good 2-3 mm from the lip and your problems will be gone ...

Other tips:

* Re-spool it under LOTS of tension (see oven-mits above)

* Send out a few big casts and wind it in under tension i.e. hold line between 2 fingers will while retrieving will do.

If that does not work, the braid is no good .. maybe go to fireline/stren.

Mono sux for lure fishing.