# wind knots in braid



## Marineside (May 8, 2009)

Does any body have a remedy for wind nots in braid or is it just something you have to deal with, wondering if its just cheap braid that causes it or maybe technique. :?


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## DougOut (Dec 31, 2006)

I've found that it helps to keep the line wet/damp.
I dribble a few drops from my water bottle onto the spooled braid if on salt water, or simply a few drops from my hand when on fresh. Also helps to keeps it wet by dropping the rod tip to the surface at the end of every 3rd or-so cast.


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## YakN00b (Jun 9, 2008)

use Fireline very few problems with it.


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## Junglefisher (Jun 2, 2008)

Decent quality gear and good quality braid. Pretty rare these days for me to get a wind knot.


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## Buff (Dec 31, 2005)

One common reason for air knots is over filled spools.
I only load mine to within 3mm of the lip of the spool and this seems to reduce most but not all ;-)


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## ssymmetri (Mar 14, 2010)

overspooling the reel is often a cause regardless of the gear you're using


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## Ranger (May 31, 2008)

Loose line on the spool is another culprit, so every 15 minutes or so, run the line under tension between your fingers as you wind it back onto the spool to retension it. Especially important when using light sp's and jigheads.

The occasional wind knot is just a fact of life with braid though, and there's no way to avoid it completely. The lighter the braid the more problems you will have. I don't normally use anthing lighter than 6lb for this very reason.


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## kiwipea (Jun 17, 2008)

Recently listened to a guy on one of the fishing shows talking about braid and wind knots and his main answer was to do your homework on the reel you are using. Some reels lend themselves better to braid.
He quoted a new recent release by Pflueger, The "Arbor" reel

Designed to handle todays superlines, the Pflueger Arbor is a new way of thinking about the traditional spin reel. Whether an angler decides to throw the fluorocarbon or braided lines the Arbor's larger design is perfectly suited to the unique demands that these lines place on a reel.

Large arbor spool design: This design really suits anglers who fish a lot of Braided and fluorocarbon lines. The advantage is the combination of the larger spool diameter and the short oscillation stroke. Both of these combine to give great line management.

* The larger spool diameter means that the line has less wraps around the arbor for a given distance when compared to traditional spinning reels, which allows less coils and a lot less line twist. 
* The short oscillation stroke, gives the advantage of really controlling the problem of "dropping loops" especially when fishing plastics with slack line techniques. Basically the short oscillation means less loose loops and therefore less wind knots.

I am no authority on this, but it does seem to make good sense to me

kp

PS: No affiliation or connection to product


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## Marineside (May 8, 2009)

Thanks for the tips, will experiment with all the above


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## NufinFlash (Oct 8, 2008)

i used to get them often, then as others have said every now and then wind you line under tension, seems to have stopped most of my problems


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## Ubolt (Dec 8, 2009)

ive found simply winding the line on under tension ie through your fingers
and try no to over elavate your cast thats what ive found to help


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## CatfishKeith (Apr 17, 2009)

Braid is effected by line twist more that mono. The so called wind knots are more likely to happen when some slack or loss of tension is introduced into the line either by an over loop on the spool caused when starting a retrieve and the line doesn't wrap correctly around the spool or casts into or diagonal to the wind.

Every few casts do an extra long cast and wind the line back on the spool as tight a possible this will not get rid of the twist but will help minimise knots. Alternatively you could without any weight or lure on the line, unspool the first 50 of so meters of line out across the water and let the twist come out of the line, then wind the line back on the spool as tight as you can. You could do this on land but you would need to run your fingers down to line to help push the twist out of the line.


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## dru (Dec 13, 2008)

I was getting better at avoiding it, very very gradually. Technique is the key, but I changed over to crystal - dont really seem to get the wind knots now. Definitely worth keeping some pressure on a retrieve every now and then.


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## smaas (Oct 5, 2009)

Catch a fish every cast that'll keep some tension on the spool ???? ;-)


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## dru (Dec 13, 2008)

smaas said:


> Catch a fish every cast that'll keep some tension on the spool ???? ;-)


Works for me - if only the bloody fish were listening. :twisted:


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## Ads (Apr 25, 2010)

Make sure the roller on the bail is well oiled, that'll help!


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## Levi (Nov 24, 2008)

All great quotes, all correct as far as i know, and all have helped me in the past

One GREAT tip i know (can't remember where i learned it)- when you do get a wind knot in braid (which you WILL get) put the whole knot in your mouth and build up saliva focusing on the knot and slowly pull both ends of the knot, whilst maintaining the 'spittle lube', and keeping the knot in your mouth. i get out at least 50% of wind knots this way with no apparant harm to line strength. you will feel the line getting warm in your mouth from friction if you are not lubing enough....

I'm sure those of you with dirty minds can make what you will of this, but it does work!

Good luck!


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## southcoastmatty (Jan 21, 2009)

I am not an expert on much on this site but wind knots are my specialty :lol: 
I agree that poor casting [especially if your leader knot is catching] or poorly tensioned spool are a big part of the problem but on newly spooled reels overfilling is the main culprit. The problem is you want your spool to be "just right" ie not too little and not too much so your casting is at maximum reach. I tend to overfill my spool fractionally then take the combo out in the field for a "tune". The first time out I cast with the knowledge I will a get a few wind knots and may need to "cull" some braid until the reels optimum capacity is reached. It pays to have that second combo to do the fishing with ;-) . I agree with Levi that most wind knots are easy to undo either with fingernails, saliva or careful untwisting.
scm


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## Marineside (May 8, 2009)

Some great tips coming here people, im sure a lot of people will appreciate, thanks


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## pavo (Jul 14, 2009)

You can actualy buy a spray that claims to help reduce wind knots, its basically silicon spray. I coated my braid in silicon spray and it did help, aswell less friction means longer casts


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## SnakeMan (Mar 8, 2009)

I've had one wind knot since I upgraded my rods to graphite.


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## soggypilchard (Dec 1, 2008)

I mentioned to the fishing guide in port douglas that i didnt like how my spinning reel bail arm wouldnt automatically close over after a cast.
he assured me that because it was a good and expensive reel that it was meant to be that way,
he reasoned that the bail arm closing on a line automatically causes twists in the line which end up as wind knots.
he also suggested pulling line sideways out of the reel rather than straight up.


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