# Wind knots with fireline.. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr



## BENM (Jul 4, 2007)

Hi Guys,

Have been using Fireline for a couple a years now and I think I have finally had enough!! It seems these days I spend more time re rigging due to wind knots than I do fishing!!!! I know the advantages with Fireline being better feel with no stretch when using SP's, however there must be a better way!! The problem occurs mainly when using light jig heads and casting in front of my drift, The line just seems the wind on too loose on the spool. Do all braids do this?

I was thinking about changing to low stretch Fluorocarbon? Does anyone else use 100% Fluorocarbon for their SP fishing?

Ben


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## FishinDan (Jul 3, 2006)

Ben,

I've actually found that the rod & reel will cause this alot more than the line... What setup are you using?

Also if you over-fill the spool this will occur.

I had a Nitro spin rod which did this ALL the time. I put the reel onto a different rod, and the problem went away.


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## BENM (Jul 4, 2007)

Hi FishinDan,

Thanks for your reply.

I use a 2-4kg Pfluger Medalist 6"4 with a Daiwa Caldia Kix 2000 with 6lb fireline.

Sounds like a good excuse to buy a new rod!!! :lol:

Ben


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## wolfy (Apr 27, 2007)

I'm going to jump in here - I have been silent for too long!

Braid is awful!!!! I have spent absolutely SQUILLIONS setting up almost all my gear with different braids and after two years I have to say I HATE IT. I am talking about baitcasters, overheads (trolling) and spinning reel setups in various configurations.

The "Fireline" fused lines are not quite so bad BUT I AM GOING BACK TO MONO - (sorry to the braid gods.) I have tried all the "fixes" as to spool tension and so on, but the difficulties in joining, even with biminis etc, tangles and slicing itself into the spool of line... jeez, enough!

I just purchased four large spools of a reasonable mono in red and it is great! Yeah, a little stretch, but hey... we caught fish on mono before braid came out. I'll use flouro tippet as usual, and it it breaks off I'll just chuck a length away and QUICKLY AND EASILY EVEN IN A PITCHING BOAT/YAK tie on a new tippet.

Too easy.

There. I feel better. Thanks.


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## colzinho (Aug 6, 2007)

Ive got the same reel and had the same issues. Its quite frustrating eh? Use it with a 7' rack raider 3-5 (7 pound braid) and a little BB spin 2-4 kilo (4lb). Once in a while knots happened when the line had been wound back on slowly under little or no tension (with light jig head) and a little loop sits jsut over the spool either at the bottom. Im sure its that loop and the resulting loose line laying over it unevenly that causes the trouble. I took about 10 yards off and it didn't seem to stop it. So Once in a while I do a long cast strip a few extra yards off and wind back under finger tension and I never seem to see that little loop anymore. Maybe to start you should get the whole lot on really tight,turn the line around and re-wind it on under tension. lazy method would be to drop/drift and retrieve a big sinker next time you fish.


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## Eberbachl (Jun 21, 2007)

wolfy said:


> I'm going to jump in here - I have been silent for too long!
> 
> Braid is awful!!!! I have spent absolutely SQUILLIONS setting up almost all my gear with different braids and after two years I have to say I HATE IT. I am talking about baitcasters, overheads (trolling) and spinning reel setups in various configurations.
> 
> ...


I agree somewhat. I'm currently using braid, and find it OK, but in my opinion it's hardly a necessity.

I never had any trouble catching fish with mono.


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## Garfish (Jun 2, 2006)

As Meg Ryan once said - "Yes, yes, yes, yes !!!!" :shock:

I too gave braid a 12 month trial... and it was a dismal failure. I hated the look of it all loose on my favourite reel. I hated not being able to chew threw my line! hated spending time fiddling around with better knots to join my mono leader to my braid.

"Rid me of this awful braid curse!!!", I pleaded.

And then it happened...

I bought myself a spool of my old favourite line - Platypus Pretest - and the world was okay again... the birds were singing, the sun was shining, and the fish were still biting.

Next time I respool, I'll buy some Platypus Lo-Stretch mono and see how that goes as a compramise. But get rid of it Ben - it's not worth it. Fishing is meant to be calming... soothing... not bloody $%^@* frustrating!!!!!!!!!!!!

phew... I'm glad it's off my chest.


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## Hard_Yakkin (May 23, 2007)

Ditto to Red's comments (tension between the fingers). Once you get used to doing that you're away...

cheers

Mick


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## Fishing Man (Oct 4, 2006)

hey ben,

im surprised that you are having trouble with the fireline, 
ive never had a tangle with it and use it about 4 times a week,

what colour are you using,.....my mate grabbed some pink the other day and it tangled when he cast but ive found crystal and yellow great.
dont know if its the setup mate, nothing wrong with what you have, 
my mates that tagled was on a sol/loomis combo


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## BENM (Jul 4, 2007)

Thanks for all your replies. I have been using the yellow one but I might give crystal a go.


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## Fishing Man (Oct 4, 2006)

4lb crystals the go


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## AdrianK (May 30, 2006)

Totally understand your frustration... I had never had this problem with fireline, but tried an expensive true braid, and got air knot after air knot (was a windy day admittedly). Haven't had this problem since swapping back.

I agree with Fishing Man - Crystal is good, though I only have my lightest reel spooled with it.

What I have found _really_ useful, is every 9 or 10 casts, put out a big cast, and crank it back under even, light tension (maybe the winding will be enough, if not, pinch the line with your fingers). This helps, because if you are stopping and starting and jigging in a 2gm lure, the line can lay pretty loosely, and sooner or later a cast will see the wrong loops slide off that reel, and this is usually followed by expetives ("@#[email protected]#$ @#[email protected]#").

Since occasionally cranking in the line instead of jigging every cast, I have only had an occasional air knot. 
Don't rush to give up the fireline - the advantages of braid are worth persevering for IMO.


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## Squidder (Sep 2, 2005)

I'm gonna have to go against the grain, ever since I started using it about 2 years ago I LOVE braid and use it for pretty much all my fishing (including bait fishing), yes it has its problems, but I find occasional wind knots a small price to pay for better sensitivity, feeling more hits, more direct contact with hooked fish and greater line capacity.


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## yakfly (Jun 8, 2006)

when you originally load the reel with the braid are you doing it under plenty of tension.if its not loaded under plenty of pressure youll have problems with it.
I have never had any problems with 2kg fireline on my bream SP rods even with the Squidgey finesse jigheads.it may be worth changing reels,a mate
was having problems then found out it was the way the reel laid the line onto the spool.as soon as he changed the problems stopped.


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## coomeraguy (Aug 11, 2007)

i lost about 30m the other day of fireline in a couple of casts,i have been told that about every8-10 casts put in a big one and run it thru your fingers tightly,specially when using sps,since i have done this havent had another one,touch wood


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## DGax65 (Jun 7, 2006)

Most of my reels are spooled up with 50lb Spectra and a short fluorocarbon leader. Spectra is a major advantage when trying to pull fish out of the kelp. Given the abundance of kelp at the local fishing grounds, I don't think I'd ever go back to mono. I didn't really have much of a problem when I switched from mono to Spectra. I get backlashes (air knots) with Spectra just like I do with mono. I don't think it's the line; it is just me, not paying attention to what I'm doing when I cast. I really have to concentrate when tossing light spoons or plastic swim baits. It's a lot easier when I'm chucking irons. I actually think I get much better distance on the Spectra when I'm throwing irons. The only problem is that when I do get a backlash when tossing irons the results are often expensive. There's nothing like that wrist-snapping pop as the spectra snaps and your no-longer-attached lure flies off into the distance. For me; the worst thing about Spectra is the damage that it does to your fingers and thumb during a day of fishing.
As has been previously mentioned, make sure that you keep tension on the Spectra when you load your reel. Using a line winder is the best way to do it. I can't afford an $800 commercial winder, so I use a terry wash cloth to protect my fingers as I guide the line onto the reel. I can keep a nice, tight wrap on the spool without overheating the Spectra or sawing my finger off. I also use my left thumb and fore finger to tension the line on the retrieve.


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## Guest (Aug 16, 2007)

try putting ur index finger on the spool lip it helps stop knots dw mate i had the same problem wif fireline changed over 2 surecatch tx braid its the bomb so smooth casts and theres always jarvis walker braid from kmart i got that on a reel cant bet it for heavy things


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## SharkNett (Feb 20, 2006)

Another option is to spool your reels with flourocarbon. Not that much more stretch than braid and nearly as sensitive, plus in alot of situations no need for a leader.

Rob.


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## oldmanandthesea (Mar 26, 2007)

I have given up twice on fireline and gone back to mono but after tasting the pleasures of braid I am ruined forever.What I have done is a pain, or it was until I got used to it has enabled me to fish almost trouble free to the extent that I have asked myself does this stuff ever wear out? Firstly I won`t buy a reel that doesn`t have a spare spool and I have that spool lined up and ready to go in case a problem occurs.What I do is put my rod hand as far forward as I can, even thumb and and forefinger on the rod shaft and run the line over my forfinger creating tension all the time. This can cause the rod butt to bump up against my body or upper arm but the hacksaw fixed that, the rod butt that is.Also I like to run two different line breaking strains on the leader in case I snag so I don`t have to tie one of those confounded leader to braid nots while in the heat of battle.It is good to know I am not the only one who has this trouble.


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