I love the braided line, but the wind knots are killing me. Seems like I get a knot about every 10 casts. Mostly throwing 1/8 jig head with various artificials. Power Pro and spider wire on penn battle reels regiment rods.
Might want to try taking some braid off your reel. I’ve found that you can’t fill a reel as full with braid as with mono…Also it’s handy to have a “pick” to get out those wind knots. You can get a set of lock picks at Harbor Frieght for a couple of bucks. They really help to get those wind knots out…
Ice Blue Pathfinder 2200
“Kemosabe”
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Once, I sprayed my spool of Spiderwire with aerosol silicone (Camp Dry stuff from Wal-Mart). That was years ago but it seemed to help a lot. I don’t know if this does anything harmful to the line over time.
Also, if you aren’t using a swivel, consider using it. I know on my spinning gear, if I don’t use a swivel, the inevitable line twist gives me an incredible fit when throwing jigs.
As said make sure the spool isn’t over filled, use reel magic or kvd line conditioner the night before, close the bail by hand and make sure line is tight when you start reeling and your wind knots should disappear
http://www.stripersonline.com/t/671111/curing-wind-knot-problems-an-illustrative-story
http://surfishmexico.pbworks.com/w/page/19215713/All%20about%20wind%20knots
Good reads.
X3 on closing the bail by hand.
X2 Putting in a small swivel will also help.
Semper Fi
18’ Sterling
115 Yamaha
Big Ugly Homemade Blue Push Pole
The issue may not be with the braided line. I was having this same problem in the fall using mono. I’m usually not an artificial guy but I was using the trout trick and casting way way more than usual (fish love that trout trick). My spinning reels were getting all tangled up. I had a baitcaster at home and spooled it with 10lb mono. It seems the baitcasters are a lot less prone to these wind knots. The down side being they are generally more difficult to cast. I don’t know if you have any baitcaster reels or have a friend who can lend you one? Maybe just try that to see if it eliminates the problem.
Dorado II
Carolina Skiff 25DLV
Not overspooling and manually tripping your bail after each cast (trust me it becomes second nature) is very sound advice.
Also be sure your braid is spooled with a fair amount of tension, loosely spooled braid is far more likely to come off in one big WAD and create 10 mins of 4 letter words! Or just bring it to me to be spooled 
Scott Hammond
Haddrells Point West Ashley
What Reelhunter said, I found most of my braid problems were all due to over-spooling. Took them down to about an 1/8" or so from the edge of the spool and have not had any problems. Of course keep your cast low when casting into the wind and what everyone else here said about manually flipping the bail.
X 3 on ReelHunters advise. I recently bought a Penn Battle 3000 (from Scott) for comparison purposes to the multiple Shimano Saros 3000s I own. The only slight negative about the Battle IMO is it doesn’t handle a FULL spool as well as the Saros (with 10 lb. PowerPro). I will just have to use it with heavier offerings. It is heavier by an ounce or so, but feels a good bit more solid than the Saros, especially the bail. Drags are both smooth. Seems as if it may be more of a work horse reel for reds than the Saros. I will have to report back in about 6 months to indicate how it holds up. I don’t baby my equipment, so I will keep it in the rotation to see how it fares. With all things considered thus far, I definitely would recommend it for those who seek a quality reel for inshore fishing around that magic $100 price point.
the trick is to stop your line manualy a split second before your jig hits the water. you can do everything else suggested and they will help, but if you stop your bait before it lands this keeps your line tight so that when you begin your retrieve you do not have any slack in your line and your spool will stay nice and tight. you get wind knots when line leaves your spool without your jig keeping it nice and taut. Florida fishing guide showed me this and now no more knots. Help this helps. Braid is to expensive to waste.
i use 15lb powerpro- while throwing arties, i’m usually picky enough to take a few more wraps off the spool at the end of the cast to make sure the bail will wind it level with the spot it came off. i think it helps not crossing the lay of the braid as it screams back off of the spool.
I agree, if you have a loop in the spool before you cast and see it…take the time to loosen the drag and strip off the spool, keep the bale closed. Back off of the drag and strip as much line as possible to get the loop off of the spool. Spread the line over a large space or strip over the boat and let the current keep the line from becoimimg a mess in the boat. WORKS FOR ME EVERY TIME…
quote:
Originally posted by ronfishinthe trick is to stop your line manualy a split second before your jig hits the water. you can do everything else suggested and they will help, but if you stop your bait before it lands this keeps your line tight so that when you begin your retrieve you do not have any slack in your line and your spool will stay nice and tight. you get wind knots when line leaves your spool without your jig keeping it nice and taut. Florida fishing guide showed me this and now no more knots. Help this helps. Braid is to expensive to waste.
And if you get a knot and have to cut it, save the braid! It works wonders for castnet repair! And I’ve used it as sunglass arms a time or two…
Hunter P. Hames
11’ Tarpon 100
19’ Sea Fox 125 merc
quote:
Originally posted by RADDADDYX 3 on ReelHunters advise. I recently bought a Penn Battle 3000 (from Scott) for comparison purposes to the multiple Shimano Saros 3000s I own. The only slight negative about the Battle IMO is it doesn’t handle a FULL spool as well as the Saros (with 10 lb. PowerPro). I will just have to use it with heavier offerings. It is heavier by an ounce or so, but feels a good bit more solid than the Saros, especially the bail. Drags are both smooth. Seems as if it may be more of a work horse reel for reds than the Saros. I will have to report back in about 6 months to indicate how it holds up. I don’t baby my equipment, so I will keep it in the rotation to see how it fares. With all things considered thus far, I definitely would recommend it for those who seek a quality reel for inshore fishing around that magic $100 price point.
I felt I needed to print a revision to this post, as I have put in a lot more hours on the water in the last 3 weeks preparing for and competing in the LCRC Charleston event Saturday. Finesse baits are definitely the key now, and the Battle 3000 absolutely cannot be stopped from producing wind-knots with lighter lures on 10-15 lb. braid. You can’t really define them as wind-knots as there was not much wind Saturday. I’ve been in the habit for the last 10 years of manually clicking the bail, but unless you are casting fairly heavy lures, you will be very frustrated with the performance of tha Battle. WAAAAAAAY too much line had to be removed in order to correct this problem which greatly reduces casting distance. I will keep it aboard for Carolina rigging and heavier popping corks for charters as it is awesome once a fish is hooked (great drag), but when high performance is needed with small jigheads and light flutter hooks, the Shimano Stradics and Saros
nice rad
That’s why I fish Okuma Trio 20’s and 30’s instead of battles
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Another thing I do automatically when I close the bail is to give the line a slight tug to make sure it is tight, just an automatic movement that had to be done way back in the day when reels weren’t quite as good with line lay. I personally have success with battles and even the fierces wiIth 10 lb braid and most jigs I throw are 1/16 and 1/8 but I only use the 2000 size reels and below. I also use KVD line conditioner on my braid to keep it soft and manageable could be snake oil but it works in my mind.
i have 2 battle 4000 and run 20lb pp and have been throwing arties and bottom rigs for months now with both and have yet to have a problem with them at all…maybe its the lighter line
“Fish On”