Wind Knots

[J.W.]

Been using Power Pro braid the last couple years or so, and I love it except I get wind knots with spinning gear. And when they happen, they're usually pretty nasty, not the little ones where you can just pull on either side and it comes out. Any pointers on preventing them or suggestions on another line to try?

[Pferox]

Spool the line on as tight as you can possibly get it.
Don't overfill the spool.
Insure that there is no slack in the line when you start to wind your line in.
Close the bail manually, DO NOT use the automatic bail closing mechanism.
Think about what those actions would fix, and you will begin to understand what is happening with your line and causing it to knot up.

[Capt. BassinLou]

Wind knots are the worst!! But as Pferox just mentioned. Being mindful of too much slack line when you're winding helps.

[Princeton_Man]

I've never had wind knot problems with Power Pro, used to have a big problem with Spider Wire and that was primarily on spinning rods. What size line are you using? I found that the lighter the line, the more susceptible it was to wind knots. I don't using anything lighter than 30lb on my baitcasting gear and nothing lighter than 15lb on my spinning rigs.

[coldfront]

I've never had wind knot problems with Power Pro, used to have a big problem with Spider Wire and that was primarily on spinning rods. What size line are you using? I found that the lighter the line, the more susceptible it was to wind knots. I don't using anything lighter than 30lb on my baitcasting gear and nothing lighter than 15lb on my spinning rigs.

been using 12# braid on spinning forever...  always spool it on tight.  really tight.  and manually close the bail.
helps to every once in a while pull the line off and wind it back on under tension.

as fogy used to say '...tie it off to your truck bumper and really lean into it...'

[Pferox]

Lets talk mechanics of wind knots on a spinning reel for a bit.
What is happening is a loop or two or ten on the spool is leaving the spool before it's turn.  Hope that makes sense.  Because it is out of order, it causes a tangle or knot if it comes off at the right, er or wrong time.
How this happens is because the loop gets looser than it's other loops on the spool and it jumps off earlier because there isn't enough friction from the tension to hold it in place.
The same thing happens with different results (usually a bird's nest tangle) when you overfill a spinning reel with non braid lines, or you try to spool an overly heavy line as compared to the rating on the reel.
Like I said earlier, if you understand what is happening and how line works on a reel, you can then figure out the correct action to prevent it.

[big g]

What Pferox said in his posts is spot on.  Also if a fish is taking line on the drag don't reel at the same time.  Alway take a quick look at the spool and the line before manually closing the bail. 

[Princeton_Man]

What Pferox said in his posts is spot on.  Also if a fish is taking line on the drag don't reel at the same time.  Alway take a quick look at the spool and the line before manually closing the bail.

X2
That's a biggie no matter what line you're using!

[apenland01]

I've never had wind knots with braid, but plenty with fluoro.  However, with braid, I get jams all the time after either catching a fish or yanking on the rod after getting snagged up.  The braid digs up on itself and won't cast right.  I have to manually pull out a bunch of line to get it unjammed...

[Pat Dilling]

Great advice and explanations on cause and prevention.  They happen to most everyone.  I carry a very small crochet hook in the boat and it works well to clear wind knots and to pick out the occasional backlash.

[J.W.]

Thanks for all the great posts on this. I'll be the first to admit I have a bad habit of clicking the bail over with the handle instead of closing it manually. I always got away with it when fishing with other types of line, so it's become a bad habit. I know that can cause/contribute to wind knots, so I've been trying to change that since they've become a problem. So far I haven't seen much difference, but after reading these posts, I think that might be because my line has become so loose on the spool from the way I was closing the bail before that I probably just need to let my line out and respool. Someone asked what size line I'm using. It's their 15 lb test, on a 30/3000 series reel.

[big g]

Another thing that may help is, when putting line on a spinning reel, I always lay the line spool flat on the ground and spool to the reel with line tension.  The label on the line must be facing up, never down!  It will always go on the reel with the correct rotation.

[Pferox]

We weren't kidding about tying your line to the bumper of your truck, and walk away with the bail open, when you get to the end (spool is empty) set the drag to max and reel yourself in like you were a 100 lb shark, keeping the line as tight as you can possibly do.  It will make a big difference and last a while to boot.  This also keeps you from digging in.
Always use your  drag, let it work for you, keeping the drag too tight will cause dig ins.
Keeping your line taught on casts also helps to stop tip wrapping which can be a problem also.
Braid, in my opinion, is probably the hardest line to use other than maybe silk or Dacron, but has the most benefits. Understand how it works and controlling it will make using all the other lines easy as pie.

[Oldfart9999]

Another thing to try is to make the cast then before reeling the line raise the tip a few inches, it'll take the slack out of the line.
Rodney

[njpaulc]

Also, if you see a loop forming on your spool, loosen the drag and pull out line with the bail closed.  If you pull out line with the bail open you will likely create a knot.