Forays into baitcasting - Abu Ultracast

[MuskieBait]

Here's a little tip for practicing your cast and minimizing bird nest issues.

Bird nest is caused by a spool that is spinning too fast. When you lure is reaching the end of the cast, its momentum is reduced. It can no longer keep up with the spool speed and line is no long kept taunt while coming off the spool. So in the end, the spool continues to spin, the line continues to unwind off the spool, but there is nothing to pull the extra line coming off through the rod guide.

To minimize the amount of line you need to sort out in case of a bird nest, you can pull out the desired amount of line you wish to cast (eg. 100 feet), then put a piece of electrical tape on the spool, then respool the line you have pulled out on top of the tape. If you did backlash, the amount of line that overrun will stop at the tape. So in the worst cast scenario, you would only need to sort out 100 feet of line.


Another tip...

It is easier to cast with a spool that has been wet as opposed to a dry spool. With heavy mono and a fast spinning spool, it's not uncommon to get a thumb burn trying to slow the spool down. This is more of a issue if you were casting heavier weight (2oz and up) at a long distance (50 yards plus). The bigger the reel and spool, the more momentum is in the spool once it gets spinning, and the harder it is to stop. If you cast my Jigmaster, you'll understand very quickly LOL. Some of my friends actually bring a bottle of freshwater to wet the spool before making the first cast.

You were doing pretty well yesterday. But let's graduate from the 20-30 feet cast you were making and extend that to 50+ feet cast...and then we can try to get you to cast 70+ yards on the conventional reel.